The YouCaxton Charity Ball (in February) raised £500 for the Severn Hospice and we’ve just had a very pleasant letter of thanks from them. We’re planning another ball for next year and hopefully we can raise even more.
All posts by Bob Fowke
Leominster Library
Bob Fowke will be giving a talk at Leominster Public Library, 6.30 pm Thursday 7 May, on self-publishing and on some of the problems facing authors wishing to self-publish today. The talk will embrace both digital and print publishing and will look at problems of marketing as well as at the more technical problems facing authors who take the self-publishing route. The talk starts with an historical overview of self-publishing from earliest times and looks at the constraints on authors imposed both by the publishing industry and by states throughout the centuries.
The Guardian on Flora and Vegetation of Shropshire
The Guardian of 1st April has an excellent review by Dr. Paul Davies of The Flora and Vegetation of Shropshire, compiled and written by Sarah Whild and and Alex Lockton and published by YouCaxton Publications: ‘The Flora was produced from 350,000 records collected by more than 1,000 volunteer naturalists … a wonderful collection of botanical records, distribution maps, illustrations and photographs … the diligent and heart-felt work of amateur naturalists and conservationists is easily lost in the noise of human progress. However, I see each bite of data, each act of witness as bright and vital as a lesser celandine flower, humble in its title but brilliant in its presence – a collective joy.’
Birmingham during World War I
The Great War Birmingham, published by the History Press, September 2014, describes life in Birmingham during the ’war to end all wars‘. This beautifully illustrated book describes local reaction to the outbreak of war and follows the experiences of individuals who enlisted. It looks at the changing face of industry; the work of the many hospitals in the area; the effect of the conflict on local children; and the women who defied convention to play a vital role on the home front. The picture is of Birmingham ‘aliens’ in an internment camp of the period.
History of General Practice
On 28 January, Dr Richard Mooore gave the second YouCaxton Literary Lecture to be held at Shrewsbury Library. His subject was ‘The Coalbrookdale Doctors’, based on his book of the same title. He gave a detailed and fascinating account of the evolution of GP practice from apothecary to medical professional using the example of three generations of doctors/apothecaries working in Coalbrookdale. He was careful to include colourful background details about technology and social conditions of the period, where these had a particular impact on the doctors concerned and on their patients. His large audience included more than a few medical people interested in the background to their own profession.
St Chad’s and a Charity Ball
From publishers to dance impresarios, are there are no limits to the YouCaxton basket of talents? On Thursday 15th January, 7.30 – 9.30 pm, we’re holding a preparatory session at St Chad’s Church Hall, Shrewsbury.
This preparatory session will allow revellers an opportunity to prepare for the YouCaxton Charity Ball to be held on 28 February in aid of Shrewsbury Hospice and to Launch Those Were the Days by David Corbett.
Dances at the preparatory session will include Quickstep, the Gay Gordons and one other.
The Footloose Dance Orchestra, who are playing on 28 February, are a remarkable sixteen-piece dance orchestra and not to be missed.
Hard-Rock Mining
Publication of Martin Stoakes’s Travels of a Hard-Rock Mining Engineer is due shortly. The book is a chronicle of the travels and experiences of one of Britain’s most successful mining engineers during the last half of the Twentieth Century. It gives a vivid and an instructive insight into the generally little known subject of hard-rock mining (the excavation of hard materials such as gold, nickel or lead and a source of conflict in some countries), often in remote locations. Various mining projects are described in detail and provide a fascinating insight into the complexities of mine design and evaluation.
Martin Stoakes worked on 125 mining projects in thirty-seven different countries over a forty-four year period. His graphic account of the sometimes nerve-racking conditions and locales that he experienced includes encounters with Shining Path guerrilla fighters in Peru, MNLF Islamic fundamentalists in the Philippines and the RPF guerrillas in Rwanda/Uganda. Hard rock mining was never for the faint-hearted.
Wolverhampton Express and Star
The Heritage Lottery Fund granted nearly £60,000 in June this year for the digitisation of the Express and Star’s photographic archive. The Star was founded in 1880 as a liberal news paper and was joined with the conservative Express (founded 1874) in 1889 under Andrew Carnegie, so the the archive contains over a hundred years of Wolverhampton’s history. Once digitised, will be of even greater value to researchers than it is already.
The Molineux Building, in which the Archives are now housed, is itself of historical interest. It was built for the Molineux family over three hundred years ago and became a hotel in the 1870s – the Oak Room was once used as changing room by the town footballers. It was derelict for thirty years from 1979 but, after an arson attack in 2003, it was bought and later restored by the City Council.