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Arriving in Ramsbottom in 1835, aged only 21, McDouall is appalled at the state of health endured by factory workers. He condemns the treatment of them as inhumane. However, no-one seems prepared to listen to him. This is the great age of the Industrial Revolution and the Factory System is the price that has to be paid. Possessing a fiery, idealistic temperament, he cannot stand back though. Championing the rights of workers becomes a natural course of action despite it bringing him into further contention with the Grants. Not confining his protests to the cotton town of Ramsbottom, McDouall is attracted towards becoming a leader in the militant movement of Chartism which, raging like wildfire throughout the industrial North, crusades for working class people to be given the right to vote. |
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With McDouall delivering impassioned speeches across the country advocating the use of physical force to overthrow the Government if necessary, Ramsbottom’s Revolutionary Doctor reveals the turbulence of the times and the deep conflict developing between ‘two nations’ within one country. Armed insurrection appears inevitable when Parliament is not only unwilling to agree to Chartist demands but sets out to exact hefty retribution on ‘ring-leaders’ like McDouall. While nothing seems to daunt him, incurring two separate prison sentences as well as a period of enforced exile in France, he is eventually destined to die in mysterious circumstances in Australia at the age of forty.
This is the compelling story of a courageous young man who sacrifices his career and family to fight for a cause that he must know will also ultimately cost him his life.
Nigel Jepson lives in Ramsbottom and is a keen supporter of Ramsbottom United. He moved to the area in the mid-90s after taking up post as Head Teacher at nearby Haslingden High School. His last UK head’s post was at Kearsley Academy in Bolton from 2010 to 2014. ‘Retired’, he has carried out interim work abroad in the meantime, serving as Principal in Dubai during 2016 and carrying out a teacher training programme in schools in New Delhi in 2018. | ||||||||||
All posts by Sarah
Ramsbottom’s Revolutionary Doctor – The Life of Peter Murray McDouall
Presumed Dead
James Holder
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Bored with his job, with no real prospects and barely a penny to his name, the last thing Wally Mortimer needed was a letter from a solicitor delivered to his home one Saturday morning. But instead of a letter threatening legal action for one of his many unpaid bills, things are about to change for Wally - the letter tells him that he has inherited the estate of George Hart, a wealthy benefactor unknown to him. Assured that the letter is genuine, he turns to his family to see if they can tell him anything about his benefactor. But the only lead they can give him is one from his grandmother whose fading memory remembers a George Hart who died more than 60 years ago. So, who is George Hart, Wally’s benefactor? Is it just a coincidence that his grandmother once knew someone with the same name? If not, who is he and why did he leave his estate to Wally? Wally’s attempts to find an answer lead literally to a dead end. It is not until he finds a notebook at the chateau he has inherited that he discovers who George Hart was and uncovers secrets about his family unknown to them, secrets never meant to be discovered. |
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James Holder was born in Somerset and, after reading law at Cambridge University, practised as a solicitor; he now works as a consultant. He and his wife have four children and two grandchildren and live in Oxfordshire. |
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The Great War’s Sporting Casualties
Football’s Golden Decades
Barry McLoughlin
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Four of Wembley finest finals Decades before England’s Euro 2020 success, there was another gilded era for English football… massive crowds packed stadiums as fans regained their hunger for professional soccer after the war. From the sensational Cup Final of 1939 to England’s World Cup triumph twenty-seven years later, football was still in its Age of Innocence, before superstardom and eye-watering wages. Players were part of the same community as those who watched them – and, thanks to the maximum wage, didn’t earn much more than them either. The business of playing and watching football has been transformed beyond recognition since then. Grounds are safer and more comfortable, players are faster and fitter. Tactically, too, football is much more sophisticated than when players used to line up in a rigid 2–3–5 formation. Yet, as the game has become a multi-billion pound industry, fuelled at the top end by lucrative TV contracts, has soccer lost its soul? |
£9.99 (+ £3.50 postage) |
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| In a blend of personal reminiscence and reportage, Barry McLoughlin – the son of an FA Cup-winning England international – looks back to four of the most famous Wembley finals, and examines the social and cultural background of the era through a study of grounds and football programmes. Packed with colour and black and white illustrations, it’s an essential guide to a pivotal period in British football. | ||||||||||||||
London Blood
Ian McKinney
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LONDON BLOOD A bomb explodes at Angel Underground Station. Two years later the survivors are being brutally murdered. MI5 begin searching for a terrorist mastermind. While Matt Ross, a detective with PTSD and a guilty secret, believes that it is linked to the drug case he is investigating. Neither realise that they are actually in the middle of a vampire vendetta. Only Edward Jago understands that London could soon be overrun by new vampires. Nobody wants that – least of all its old vampires. And as the line between mortal and immortal becomes increasingly blurred, will Ross find the truth or will he pay for his curiosity with his own blood? |
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London Blood Scouse Gothic 1 - The Pool of Life... and Death Scouse Gothic 2 - Blood Brothers... and Sisters Scouse Gothic 3 - All you need is blood? | ||||||||||
Scouse Gothic 2
Ian McKinney
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Sheryl wakes; why can’t she move? Where’s Lee? – Is he safe? Return to the bizarre world of Scouse Gothic where Melville mourns another lost love and searches for clues to her disappearance. Where Lathom decides to have a fresh start in Liverpool but finds his past waiting to haunt him and where Peter finds love but is having trouble with some ‘psycho’ mice. Meanwhile Frank finds that being a pigeon can have its drawbacks. But, two questions remain to be answered: who is the man in black? - And is blood really thicker than water? Books by Ian McKinney... London Blood Scouse Gothic 1 - The Pool of Life... and Death Scouse Gothic 2 - Blood Brothers... and Sisters Scouse Gothic 3 - All you need is blood? |
and Kindle e-books Pay with PayPal £9.99 (+ £2 postage) |
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Reader Reviews...
Amazon Review: Maz
I really enjoyed Scouse Gothic 2, even more than Scouse Gothic 1 which I loved ... Ian McKinney has certainly found a niche combining humorous fiction, intelligent plots and interesting history all set against the backdrop of Liverpool, the place and especially the people. It is a real page-turner.
Scouse Gothic
Ian McKinney
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But as their lives converge, who will be expected to atone for past sins? Books by Ian McKinney... London Blood Scouse Gothic 1 - The Pool of Life... and Death Scouse Gothic 2 - Blood Brothers... and Sisters Scouse Gothic 3 - All you need is blood? |
and Kindle e-books Pay with PayPal £9.99 (+ £2 postage) |
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Reader Reviews...
Amazon Review: Sarah Barnett
If you've never read any gothic fiction, then Scouse Gothic by Ian McKinney is a great place to start. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The characters are many and varied, and held my interest throughout. The plot lines weave teasingly from chapter to chapter, and the characters move effortlessly backwards and forwards through different times and places in history.
Amazon Review Mr. A. K. Tierney
I really liked this book. It weaves the seemingly different stories of a strange group of characters together ... with classic human feelings of love hate malice, avarice, revenge and lust for power. It does so with a lovely blend of light and dark humour ... the characterisations are believable and the plot has for me the right amount of complexity with out trying to be too clever.
Scouse Gothic 3
Ian McKinney
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Life can be difficult – even when you’re dead. Lathom lies awake. His nights are plagued by nightmares and his days by hallucinations and cravings for blood. Worse still he’s stone cold sober all the time - immortality has its drawbacks. Melville has decided to put his past behind him and live for the future - unfortunately his past has other ideas. Peter is worried that his research might create human vampires - and also that he may already know one. Frank ponders how to make an omelette without breaking your favourite egg. And Sheryl wonders if it’s unnatural for vampires to live together. Perhaps, love isn’t all you need – perhaps all you need is blood. Books by Ian McKinney... London Blood Scouse Gothic 1 - The Pool of Life... and Death Scouse Gothic 2 - Blood Brothers... and Sisters Scouse Gothic 3 - All you need is blood? |
and Kindle e-books Pay with PayPal £9.99 (+ £2 postage) |
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Reader Reviews...
Adela Basset
Joanne McShane
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Adela Basset In this, the sequel to Mistress Whiddon, we find ourselves in December 1611. The Basset family of Umberleigh has been bankrupted as a result of Robert Basset’s misguided notion to lodge a claim to the throne of England after the death of Elizabeth I. When a daughter is born just nine months after his return from exile both he and his traumatised wife refuse to acknowledge the child. She is rescued from an uncertain fate by her older sister, Anne, who names her Adela. When Anne leaves Umberleigh in 1614 to marry Jonathan Rashleigh of Menabilly in Cornwall, she takes her young sister with her. As a child Adela struggles with feelings of rejection and, as she enters her womanhood, with the conflicting emotions she feels for the two men in her life; her childhood friend, the woodcutter’s son, Gilbert, and her dashing Cavalier cousin, Thomas Basset. Her story is told against the backdrop of the tumultuous politics of 17th century Cornwall and Jonathan Rashleigh’s own close involvement with the Royalist cause during the Civil War. |
UK Only £9.99 (+ £2.50 postage) Number of copies: Available on Amazon For Australia and USA, order from Amazon.com | ||||||||
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Joanne spent her childhood on a sheep and cattle farm in Tasmania, Australia. After marrying and raising a family in Tasmania she moved to Wales in 2003 and still lives there, close to the Herefordshire border.
Always a keen historian, she became fascinated by her own family history and by the lives of her ancestors - some of whom she discovered to be very colourful indeed. This led her to begin writing. Honora and Arthur - The Last Plantagenets is her first published book. In her own words 'I am the end product of a melting pot ranging from convicts to Royalty. There are so many stories waiting to be told. I just hope I live long enough to do it.' Books by Joanne McShane... Honora and Arthur - the Last Plantagenets Mistress Whiddon Lillias Adela Basset Miss Jane |
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Reviews... |