The author's paternal great grandparents, Charles Ernest Hardy and Edwin Hall Bailey, both worked in collieries in the Barnsley area as did their descendants. At the end of 2017 author Jane Ainsworth transcribed a ledger containing the minutes of the Colliers' Relief Fund Committee of the 1847 Oaks Colliery Explosion for Barnsley Archives. This stimulated her empathy with and curiosity about the lives of the people referred to in the Minutes, widows, orphans and a few survivors of the disaster as well as the 73 victims. Despite the challenge of limited early records, she fleshed out the stories and pays tribute to the families of mineworkers whose lives at the time were considered of little value to the colliery owners and managers. She has created a memorial book like no other and a contribution to Barnsley's mining heritage. She has researched dozens of images which are reproduced to the best possible quality given their age, many woodcuts, images of graves and newspaper articles to tell the story of Richard and Thomas Beardshal, Francis Birtles, Robert Hazle (Hessle), William, William, John and Luke Roe (Wroe) from the family who suffered the largest loss of life with four members killed in the explosion on 5th March 1847. For each there are details of who they married and in which church, how many children and how intertwined the families were and how widows like Rebecca Roe (1804-1881) would have struggled to support her family, even with relief from the Subscriptions Fund. She returned to Alfreton with her children to avoid the threat of being admitted to Barnsley Union Workhouse, but she suffered another three deaths there. Also includes hand drawn maps and early views of Barnsley in etchings. 270 page large softback.

Was the Méthode Champenoise really invented by a Gloucestershire country doctor whose main interest was in making glass bottles strong enough to contain sparkling wine? Was the kilt really invented by an English Quaker for the convenience of his Scottish charcoal burners? Why did Oliver Williams, Lord Protector, call himself Oliver Cromwell? Why was Winston Churchill with all his other responsibilities in World War Two really concerned with Britain's last witchcraft trial? What was Adolf Hitler's brother doing in Liverpool before World War One? Why was it once fatal to impersonate a Chelsea Pensioner? Discover how taxation on windows coined the expression 'daylight robbery', extraordinary places like an underground church, royalty, murder, Shakespeare, food and drink, cleaning your teeth with sugar, our love affair with teeth, government, politics, money and the law, diseases and prisons and extraordinary Britons like Arthur Ransome the children's author or 'dangerous Bolshevik'. Read on. 144pp. First published by David & Charles in 2011 and reprinted many times. Well illus. with line art and photos.

From the Wars of the Roses and the Earl of Essex losing his head, London turning against Charles I, Wellington and Nelson crossing paths, Russell's despatches from the Crimean War, spies in World War One, women wearing the trousers in industry and services, World War Two and queueing becoming a pastime, weekly allowances, nylons, whiskey, knicker elastic, digging for victory, eating out, bombing casualties, Ian Fleming taking his naval role with zeal, hospitals, the BBC, over five million books destroyed in the Paternoster Row hit, Penguin revolutionising paperbacks, tensions developing between US troops and Londoners, the ATS and the Home Guards, here are stories of mighty battles, heroic deeds and staunch determination in the face of adversity. A rich history of our remarkable capital city in times of war, an absorbing collection of stories and trivia. 142pp, well illus. with line art and photos.

You cannot move far in London without being reminded of the personalities who made its history - Dick Whittington who helped make London the centre of the trade in wool, Thomas Gresham who ensured that London would become the financial centre, Prince Albert who left behind the Kensington museums. Then there is Big Ben which caused its creator so much trouble that he died prematurely, and the Underground Railway. Whatever is that strange London Stone almost hidden behind a grill attached to a bank in Cannon Street, not to mention the metal tube which passes above the trains within Sloane Square underground station? Why that's the River Westbourne of course. Here are amphitheatres and temples, bars, taxes and taxis, Bazalgette and the Great Stink, rhyming slang, smog, parks, how the posh streets got their names, retail therapy and the story of Leicester Square along with royal rowing and dodgy dealing, fountains, lost rivers, hidden tube stations, famous prisons, police forces and power stations, Art Deco, philanthropy and the poor, tea shops and corner houses, theatreland and life beyond the fringe, London's drinking culture and its cemeteries, all the colourful characters and history, surprising events and iconic buildings of our capital city. 144pp, woodcut illus.

Archaeology, architecture, culture and customs, national costume, national parks, movers and shakers, art, literature and language, celebrities, Tom Jones's telephone box, black gold and industry, fun and games and weird sports like snorkelling which saved a Victorian spa town and the great Orme Tramway where day trippers share their journey with a coffin, to the Welsh lad Arthur Linton (1868-1896) who got on his bike and became the Champion Cyclist of the World. Wales is a small country but one with a rich and varied history despite its size with contributions and a passion for song, poetry, sport, food, fun and humour, an ancient land of myths and legend and curious traditions. Discover how Welsh pioneers changed the world, powered flight, and all about the world's first industrialised nation with its prehistoric copper mines to the black gold that fuelled the Industrial Revolution. Facts to amuse and intrigue. 144pp, well illus.

A superb selection of walks which introduces themes and characters that define the beautiful landscape of England. Walk along the coast at Robin Hood's Bay, a medieval walk from Fountains Abbey, out on the tiles at Boltby and Thirlby Bank, along Ullswater's shore to Silver Point, lilies and lakes seen from Loughrigg, Dovedale and ivory spires, scaling the Heights of Abraham, Blakeney Eye's magical marshes, Castle Combe, walking with Rosie in the Slad Valley, Lulworth to Durdle Door, the Dartmouth National Park and Bovey Travey, Wanstead and its royal connections, the New Forest trails and Devil's Dyke and the world's grandest view. These are just some of the highlights including the glorious scenery of the Lake District and majestic views across the South Downs. 20 walks carefully written and compiled by expert local authors, each includes a clear, easy-to-follow route description, map and a gradient and difficulty rating. Very appealing full page colour photographs of some of the most quintessentially English villages, country cottages, churches and coastlines. 112pp, landscape format 27 x 22cm.

A magnificent Thames & Hudson heavyweight quality 496 page softback packed with 273 colour illustrations, a personal selection of paintings admired from public collections during the course of Christopher Lloyd's career in art, here are highlights and unexpected treasures. If you find yourself in Hull, Cork or Dundee, what paintings should you go and look at? Many masterpieces are waiting for you, sometimes neglected, in our galleries and museums and here the distinguished broadcaster and critic Lloyd identifies over 265 masterpieces from the National Gallery to The Burrell Collection in Glasgow around England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Admire The Dice Players from 1650 at Preston Hall Museum Stockton-on-Tees, children using pebbles to play Knucklebones on the beach in Philip Wilson Steer's canvas found in Ipswich, masterpieces by Sir Alfred Munnings depicting his wife and horse and himself from 1935 in Dedham, Vuillard, Augustus John, Alma-Tadema, Titian all found at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, the strikingly graphic The Butcher's Shop of 1583 by Carracci and a Virgin and Child and Three Angels from 1475, a Lady with Book and a Pissarro landscape, Holman Hunt all found at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Mother and Child by the Sea is a particularly atmospheric, dark and brooding image of a calm and peaceful night with the moon half hidden by clouds over the sea, the child pointing expectantly suggesting his father is onboard the sailing ship in the near distance. This is on page 267 and immediately before the colourful Jockeys Before the Race by Degas, both of which together with Gainsborough and the Travelling Companions by Egg, the Music Lesson and The Rest on the Flight to Egypt by Orazio Gentileschi all to be seen at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. Page after page of well and lesser known masterpieces, beautifully curated with an unobtrusively erudite detailed text, a model of art-historical writing and a sustained pleasure to read. 496pp, 273 colour illus. 21 x 16cm, softback.

World expert on the history and archaeology of King Arthur and British myths and legends, Geoffrey Ashe explores compelling and ancient stories from King Lear and King Arthur, to Fingal, Beowulf, Gwendolen and Guinevere, the Giants King Albion, the 'Scots' from Ireland which made frequent raids on Britain, from the misty centuries of British and Irish prehistory to the height of the Dark Ages come tales of giants and fairy-folk, druids and saints, but who were these characters who shaped the nation? Ashe shows how these ancient stories have taken on fresh significance as historical and archaeological research has uncovered the truth behind each legend. 356pp, paperback.

No country on earth has a higher concentration of churches and castles than Wales. The most famous date from the late 1200s and are rightly associated with Edward I of England who commissioned the construction of what is now often known as the 'Iron Ring' to act as a sign of dominance over the Kingdom of Gwynedd. Assisting Edward was his master mason, James of St George, probably of Crusader pedigree judging by the castles' appearance. It was in 1277 that Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Gwynedd, met with Edward I in Aberconwy to finalise a treaty that would change the fate of both nations. His hand forced by Edward's invasion earlier that year, the acceptance of the terms confirmed not only short-term peace, but also that the rule of Wales would pass to Edward on Llywelyn's death. Both before and simultaneous to William the Conqueror's establishment of timber and stone fortresses in the south and borderlands, a process continued by many of his descendants, native structures also existed. Though often more palatial than protective, such constructions proved decisive to the ongoing wars, and were often chosen as sites for future castles. Many had begun as Roman forts whereas others date from more modern times and many now are romantic ruins, and others cherished family homes, hotels or museums. From blood-soaked heroes to long-lost legends, violent pirates to despotic Marcher lords, the book offers a fresh investigation into 69 castles and an extra Best of the Rest chapter covering another 30 with a paragraph or two each and a further 16 where gatehouses and ruins remain. 246pp, 16 pages of archive photos.
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