Seventeen-year-old Liza is happy working as a lady's maid
- until her employers decide to emigrate & her father makes up his mind
...

At eighteen Cathie longs for more than life as a settler in the Australian bush. She accepts her uncle's offer to send her to England & runs away from her family not realising he is using her to get revenge on his sister Liza. Attacked at the docks in Liverpool Cathie takes refuge with the man who saved her a man who has his own troubles. But as she slowly regains her memory & meets her Lancashire relatives she must confront the legacy of her mother's past. & even in 1876 the same wealthy families who forced her mother to leave Lancashire are still powerful enough to threaten Cathie's happiness & safety as well as that of anyone close to her. ...

Contained within the pages of this book are the stories behind some of the most notorious murders in Lancashire's history. The cases covered here record the county's most fascinating but least known crimes as well as famous murders that gripped not just Lancashire but the whole nation. From Liverpool's Florence Maybrick (was she really guilty of poisoning her hypochondriac husband with arsenic & was he indded Jack the Ripper?) to late Victorian Bury's disturbing ' Body in the Wardrobe' case; from the infamous Drs Ruxton & Clements who saw off five wives between them to Blackpool's Louisa Merrifield whole loose tongue was undoubtedly her downfall this is a collection of the county's most dramatic & interesting criminal cases. Alan Hayhurst has been uncovering evidence about the county's historic murders for more than forty years. In writing this book he has visited all the murder sites consulted original documents & contemporary reports & spoken to those who have personal memories of the cases concerned. Lancashire Murders is a unique re-examination of the darker side of the county's past. ...

In the febrile religious & political climate of late sixteenth-century England when the grip of the Reformation was as yet fragile & insecure & underground papism still perceived to be rife Lancashire was felt by the Protestant authorities to be a sinister corner of superstition lawlessness & popery. & it was around Pendle Hill a sombre ridge that looms over the intersecting pastures meadows & moorland of the Ribble Valley that their suspicions took infamous shape. The arraignment of the Lancashire witches in the assizes of Lancaster during 1612 is Englands most notorious witch-trial. The women who lived in the vicinity of Pendle who were accused convicted & hanged alongside the so-called Salmesbury Witches were more than just wicked sorcerers whose malign incantations caused others harm. They were reputed to be part of a dense network of devilry & mischief that revealed itself as much in hidden celebration of the Mass as in malevolent magic. They had to be eliminated to set an example to others. In this remarkable & authoritative treatment published to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the case of the Lancashire witches Philip C Almond evokes all the fear drama & paranoia of those volatile times: the bleak story of the storm over Pendle. ...

The landscapes of this beautiful & rewarding area range from the shores of Morecambe Bay & the wild Forest of Bowland in the north to the coastal flatlands & Pennine mill towns in the south. Lancaster the historic county town boasts some of the finest Georgian buildings in northern England while Blackpool is unrivaled anywhere for spectacular seaside architecture. The resorts of Morecambe & Southport the planned Early Victorian port at Fleetwood & industrial Preston with its grand Victorian churches all add to the urban diversity. Rural highlights include the celebrated Jesuit school at Stonyhurst & the extravagantly Neo-Gothic Scarisbrick Hall two key sites of Catholic architectural patronage. A diverse inheritance of gentry houses & some distinctive traditions of vernacular building lend further variety. Each city town & village is treated in a detailed gazetteer. An expert general introduction provides a historical & artistic overview. Numerous maps & plans over a hundred new color photographs full indexes & an illustrated glossary help to make this book invaluable as both reference work & guide. ...

It is no accident that the RAFs Battle of Britain Memorial Flight consists primarily of three aircraft types the Spitfire the Hurricane & the Lancaster. The Spitfire & Hurricane of course are famous for their roles during the Battle of Britain over the skies of southern England in 1940. The Lancaster on the other hand did not enter operational service with the RAF until 1942 long after the official Battle of Britain was over. Yet the aircraft has more than earned its place in the Battle of Britain flight. The Lancaster has carved its place in history in its own unique way. During the Spitfires lifetime more than 20 000 were built while the Lancasters total is less than half of that. Yet the Lancaster had a crew of seven with at least as many again in each Lancs ground crew. More personnel therefore had a close association with the Lanc than with the worlds most famous fighter plane. Neither should it be forgotten that when Britain defended its shores as an island fortress during the darkest days of WW II the Lancaster & its crews were taking the fight to the enemy delivering their deadly payloads to targets deep in the heart of Germany. A tangible reminder to everyone suffering in Britain that we were still striking back still fighting the Lancaster & its crews won the affection of the British people. Lancasters dropped Barnes Wallis bouncing bombs on Germanys Ruhr Valley dams to earn 617 Squadron its Dam Busters nickname & Tony Iveson was among those Lanc pilots whose aircraft crossed the North Sea to sink the battleship Tirpitz. In Lancaster" Tony Iveson has created a riveting biography of the aircraft focussing not just on its operational history but on the crews who flew & maintained Lancs even talking to German fighter pilots who flew against them. The stories in " Lancaster" run from the time of its initial design right through the war to when variants such as the Lancastrian entered civilian service BOAC using the aircraft on scheduled services between Britain & Australia from May 1945. A salute to the men & women who built flew & maintained the Lancaster this book stands as a tribute to a truly great British icon." ...

OS Explorer Map is the Ordnance Survey's most detailed map & is recommended for anyone enjoying outdoor activities like walking horse riding & off-road cycling. Providing complete GB coverage the series details essential information such as youth hostels pubs & visitor information as well as rights of way permissive paths & bridleways. ...

The war between the houses of Lancaster & York for the throne of England was characterised by treachery deceit &
- at St Albans
...

The legendary Avro Lancaster receives the famous Haynes manual treatment with the full co-operation & authorisation of the Royal Air Force. Here is a unique insight into what it takes to restore & operate a Lancaster as well as a wonderful insight into the engineering & construction of this remarkable aeroplane. Presented mainly in colour this highly detailed & attractively designed book is based primarily around the major overhaul of the Battle of Britain Flight Lancaster at RAF Coningsby. ...

The Avro Lancaster was the RAF's most famous & successful heavy bomber of the Second World War. Used predominantly at night ' Lancs' dropped 608 612 tons of bombs in 156 000 sorties in the period 1942-1945. Some of these missions were incredibly daring
- notably the 'dambusters' raid of 617 squadron on the Ruhr valley dams in May 1943. The success of such operations was testament both to the rugged reliable qualities of this amazing aircraft & the bravery & skill of the pilots navigators bombardiers flight engineers & gunners that crewed it. They relied on their training & experience supplemented by various pamphlets & manuals that were produced throughout the war. This fascinating pocket manual collates such period literature to provide a unique guide to this awe-inspiring aircraft.
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