A striking photographic record of how the Beeching cuts & modernisation saw our grand terminal stations soaring viaducts & cavernous locomotive works wiped from the landscape The current restoration of St Pancras Station & its Midland Hotel is a glorious exception to a melancholy rule
- that the finer our railway architecture the more likely it was to be demolished in the name of progress. Who would know that the ugly low concrete bunker of Birmingham New Street station replaced a handsome glass-roofed train shed or that until the 1960s the stupendously high Belah viaduct swept across a remote Cumbrian valley
- or that the outlet mall in Swindon selling cheap designer clothing used to be he great GWR locomotive works?
- or that on little bucolic branch lines in the West Country or Essex an old bus body was the waiting-room? In over 200 fascinating & often rare images John Minnis documents the remarkably rich architectural heritage of our railways from quaint country halts to distinguished railway hotels
- all of which exists now only in photographs.



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A handy-sized photographic field guide that aims to help both beginners & experts alike to learn more about some of the conspicuous picturesque & even bizarre galls & what causes them in the first place. The book

Features: * stunning colour plates showing typical views of each type of gall featured. Approx. 200 photos & 2 illustrations. * Detailed gall profiles covering key identification features & on what tree or plant to look. * Split into three sections covering galls on Oaks on other trees & shrubs & on herbaceous plants. * Details of other reading for those who wish to take the subject further. * A handy index of host plants Prepared by members of the British Plant Gall Society with the aim of encouraging an augmented interest in the topic & an increase in younger naturalists who will continue studying this fascinating subject into the future. Readership: Naturalists students land managers those interested in the interaction between insect & plant-life.

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The majestic architecture of nineteenth-and early twentieth-century railway buildings reflected the pride of the railway companies who commissioned them. The structures themselves from classically-designed stations to mighty viaducts tunnels & bridges inspired awe in a travelling public receptive to the splendour of a new kind of tranpsort that was changing their lives. Today helped along by the popularity of preserved steam railways these wonderful examples of railway architecture are widely appreciated for their beauty & the role they played in our social & industrial past. In this highly-illustrated book filled with his own photographs & detailed drawings Trevor Yorke describes the huge range of buildings associated with the golden age of steam including waiting rooms booking halls stations large & small & hotels. He explains the dynamics of their construction the materials used & the myriad of styles employed by leading architects & engineers of the day. For anyone with an interest in the world of steam railways this book will prove an invaluable guide o the architectural legacy it has left to us. ...

' George III is alleged to have married secretly on 17th April 1759 a Quakeress called Hannah Lightfoot daughter of a Wapping shoemaker who is said to have borne him three children. Documents relating to the alleged marriage bearing the Prince's signature were impounded & examined in 1866 by the Attorney General. Learned opinion at the time leaned to the view that these documents were genuine. They were then placed in the Royal Archives at Windsor; in 1910 permission was refused a would-be author who asked to see them. If George III did make such a marriage when he was Prince of Wales before the passing of the Royal Marriages Act in 1772 then his subsequent marriage to Queen Charlotte was bigamous & every monarch of Britain since has been a usurper the rightful heirs of George III being his children by Hannah Lightfoot if they ever existed'
- From Britain's Royal Families. Britain's Royal Families" is a unique reference book. It provides for the first time in one volume complete genealogical details of all members of the royal houses of England Scotland & Great Britain
- from 800AD to the present. Here is the vital biographical information relating not only to each monarch but also to every member of their immediate family from parents to grandchildren. Drawing on countless authorities both ancient & modern Alison Weir explores the royal family tree in unprecedented depth & provides a comprehensive guide to the heritage of today's royal family."

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Britain's Sea Mammals" is the essential field guide to all the sea mammals
- whales dolphins porpoises & seals
- found in coastal

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This beautiful book showcases the very best of Britain with remarkable imagery of the landscapes settlements & people that make this nation unique. The photographs reveal the diversity of the land from Southwest England to the Scottish Highlands. Special fold-out sections make the most of fabulous images showing the seaside splendour of Brighton the breathtaking waterscapes of the Lake District the picturesque Cotswolds & the distintive wildlife of the Mull. The book records & celebrates Britains loveliest countryside & some of its most appealing towns villages & historic buildings. ...

Britains Historic Railway Buildings is a magisterial reference work on the historic structures on Britains railways in England Scotland & Wales. First published in 2003 by OUP the author will bring the book fully up to date to provide a new book on the subject. In the last few decades the value of Britains railway heritage has become increasingly important & today thousands of structures are listed or scheduled. This book

Includes:: over 2 300 of these structures each of which is given a detailed description supported by photographs maps a survey of the evolution of structures summary of the listing process a list of important buildings lost biographical details of leading railway engineers & architects glossary of terms; bibliography & index. Many structures still play an active part in railway operations but this book also covers structures no longer in active use. In this book the reader will find detailed information about the history of all the surviving historic railway structures in Britain arranged in geographical order large & small from Brunels pioneering Thames Tunnel to the modernist Tooting Bec Underground station the monumental Forth Bridge to the small but delightful footbridges; gasworks & stations; viaducts & signalboxes
- a multitude of structures paying tribute to the verve & drive of one of Britains great industries of the last 200 years.


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King Canute Lady Godiva Guy Fawkes Bonnie Prince Charlie Grace Darling & other famous names from 3000 years of history live again in these 100 tragic comic stirring tales of adventure folly & wickedness. These stories many of them virtually forgotten are Britain's heritage told & illustrated with such verve & colour that they are the perfect way to give present-day children a sense of the excitement of history. ...

This book brings together the often separated histories of diplomacy defence economics & empire in a provocative reinterpretation of British decline. It also offers a broader reflection on the nature of international power & the mechanisms of policymaking. For this Second Edition David Reynolds has added a new chapters & extends his lively & incisive analysis to the beginning of the new millennium. ...

The Women's Royal Naval Service was formed in 1917 when the call was for volunteers to release a man for sea service. At the peak there was over 5 000 women serving in Britain & overseas but efforts to maintain the service in peace time were unsuccessful & it was to be 1939 when the Second World War threatened before the Wrens were reformed. Theirs was a different & altogether more demanding role which involved the carrying out of some highly secret & responsible duties & many more of them served outside Britain. By 1945 there were over 75 000 officers & ratings & when the War ended & those who wished were demobilized a permanent Service was set up providing a career for women alongside men of the Royal Navy.rnrn This is their story often told in their own words which mirrors the changing place of women in our society in a century of tremendous social progress. ...