Local History

Featuring a range of picturesque vistas, from freshwater lochs and wooded glens to majestic mountains, granite cities and medieval castles, each stunning scene is full of intriguing detail sure to fire the imagination and make you reach for yourcolouring pencils.

The incredible story of how the village of Lesmahagow has influenced the world in a variety of fields, from industry to espionage, throughout history.

A fascinating account from award-winning author, Adam Nicolson, on the history of Nicolson's own national treasure, his family home: Sissinghurst.Sissinghurst is world famous as a place of calm and beauty, a garden slipped into the ruins of a rose-pink Elizabethan palace. But is it entirely what its creators intended? Has its success over the last thirty years come at a price? Is Sissinghurst everything it could be?The story of this piece of land, an estate in the Weald of Kent, is told here for the first time from the very beginning. Adam Nicolson, who now lives there, has uncovered remarkable new findings about its history as a medieval manor and great sixteenth-century house, from the days of its decline as an eighteenth-century prison to a flourishing Victorian farm and on to the creation, by his grandparents Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson, of a garden in a weed-strewn wreck.Alongside his recovery of the past, Adam Nicolson wanted something else: for the land at Sissinghurst to live again, to become the landscape of orchards, cattle, fruit and sheep he remembered from his boyhood. Could that living frame of a mixed farm be brought back to what had turned into monochrome fields of chemicalised wheat and oilseed rape? Against the odds, he was going to try.Adam Nicolson has always been a passionate writer about landscape and buildings, but this is different. This is the place he wanted to make good again, reconnecting garden, farm and land. More than just a personal biography of a place, this book is the story of taking an inheritance and steering it in a new direction, just as an entrepreneur might take hold of a company, or just as all of us might want to take our dreams and make them real.

Animal tales full of folklore and magic, chosen for for children aged 7-11

Beautiful collection of old postcards showing the Lake District's enduring appeal over the last century and more.

A history of Stourbridge

From the world's oldest indoor loo to a theatre where spectators fill their pockets with poo, the definitive guide to the stranger side of Scotland shows there's a lot more to the place than tartan, haggis and tossing the caber. Inside you'll find: The world's longest man-made echo A city where aliens are welcome What the Royals really think of it Britain's weirdest wig The worst Scottish accents ever Our tallest hedge and oldest tree Loch monsters nastier than Nessie A road you can roll up Scots in Space Whether it's Ruthven or Ruthven? Britain's loneliest bus stop (and its loveliest) A school for spies The cost of burning witches An aeroplane made from seaweed . . . and why the Queen needs rubber glovesPraise for Bizarre London: 'In a market niche that's now as crowded as the 18:22 to Reading, Bizarre London pummels its bantamweight rivals with knockout clouts of trivia that even this weary correspondent hadn't encountered before.' The Londonist

Half-way between Eastbourne and Brighton, the quiet Sussex town of Seaford is often overlooked as a holiday destination but it has an abundant and fascinating history. Seaford's past looks down on the town, quite literally in the form of the Neolithic Hill Fort on the cliffs at Seaford Head. Over the centuries the town has been a bustling Cinque Port, a rotten borough, a quiet seaside backwater, a centre for education, a garrison town and a target for enemy action. Seaford today is a residential town nestled between the sea and the South Downs National Park, however there are still clues to be found that point to the rich tapestry of its past. In this book, local historian Kevin Gordon embarks on a nostalgic trip using old photographs and postcards to discover how the town has developed and changed.

The collection of images in this book portray the presence of Rolls-Royce in Crewe from the heady days just prior to the Second World War. It was decided then that a factory to manufacture desperately needed Merlin aero engines to power Spitfires and Hurricanes in the defence of these islands would be erected in the town. Images of both production and destruction chart the progress of the struggle with fascism until peace was won, allowing normal life to begin again. It was then that RR made the decision to turn the Pym's Lane factory away from armaments and concentrate all car production in the town, so the rest of the images show the many differing marques of the cars that bore the iconic RR logo along with the winged 'B' of the various Bentley models that were manufactured in south Cheshire. Many of the photographs that illustrate the production methods and machines in this volume have not been available to the general public, making it an interesting and informative read. The book closes with a long chapter concerned with the people and activities associated with the proud history of Bentley and Rolls-Royce in Crewe until the sad day when the marques divided leaving Bentley as the sole yet worthy owner of the Pym's Lane factory.

Compelling street photography from Manchester and Salford during the slum clearances of the 60s

Classic memoir of country life during the Second World War

For avid outdoor fans, Canada's 47 national parks are beautifully showcased in this new edition of the official guidebook, updated for the country's 150th birthday

London is a city of markets: markets in meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, money, insurance, shipping and, occasionally, in stolen goods.

Featuring eyewitness accounts from a haunted room, sealed up for forty years at the Blue Boar pub, to the ghostly female resident at the Old Duke and the Westhoughton poltergeist, this book includes pulse-raising narratives that are guaranteed to make your blood run cold.

Discover London's tiniest house, a 4,000-year-old mouse made from Nile clay, and have a giggle at things people leave on London's transport (including false teeth, a human skull and a park bench - yes, really.) Why did a dentist keep his dead wife on view in a shop window?

Since it was first broadcast on British television in 1997, Midsomer Murders has become one of the most-beloved detective dramas on television, instantly recognisable for its attractive backdrop at the heart of rural England.

Featured here are chapters on the village itself, the community, schools, seashore and fishing industry, high days and holidays and local events. It is sure to evoke many happy memories of yesteryear.

The story of Golborne's history told through archive photographs

World of William Morris

Just as Peter Ackroyd's bestselling London is the biography of the city, Thames: Sacred River is the biography of the river, from sea to source.

A guide to the 'living' medieval churches of Norfolk, helping the church visitor to understand both the universal features of churches and the unique aspects of those in different areas.

Teddington, Twickenham and Hampton past and present