This book, Special Purpose Aircraft, covers aircraft which were designed or used for special research or experimental purposes. It also includes prototypes, VTOL, X-planes and US Presidential aircraft. The book contains entries for around 250 types of aircraft and each entry contains at least one photograph or more. Technical details on the aircraft type and a detailed background about its special purpose are included in each individual aircraft.
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By Frank Hitchens
Publication Date: 14th February 2022
Paperback: 462 pages with 340 Colour Photographs
ISBN: 978-1-914424-46-5
This book, Special Purpose Aircraft, covers aircraft which were designed or used for special research or experimental purposes. It also includes prototypes, VTOL, X-planes and US Presidential aircraft. The book contains entries for around 250 types of aircraft and each entry contains at least one photograph or more. Technical details on the aircraft type and a detailed background about its special purpose are included in each individual aircraft.
The Joy of Knowing Pete Much was said, yet no words spoken
‘Poor Pete he can never have an adventure on his own.’ His brother’s words describe Peter’s dependence on others for his care and safety.
He had Down’s syndrome and profound and multiple learning disabilities.
He never used words but still made a profound impact on the lives of his family, friends and those he met. His individuality, love of music, his friendships and his determination all shine through The Joy of Knowing Pete.
This memoir focuses on Peter’s teenage years, his home, his surroundings, his schools, his church membership, his outings, his holidays and his three months in hospital following severe strokes and his final months in a Sue Ryder home.
In her first book, Through Peter's Eyes, Hazel Morgan captured the life of her younger son, who had Down's syndrome, up to the age of eleven, first in Durham and then in Suffolk. Now in her second memoir, The Joy of Knowing Pete: Much Was Said, Yet No Words Spoken she focuses on what Peter taught her in his teenage years and how he touched the lives of so many people. She also reflects on services and supports for people with learning disabilities over the years arguing for greater opportunities, equality and fairness.
Peter's death shortly before his nineteenth birthday prompted her to change career: she had studied Modern History at St Hugh's College Oxford and taught for many years in secondary, further and higher education. She subsequently became a Co-Director of the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities, then part of the Mental Health Foundation, overseeing research and projects. Now in retirement she is a trustee of People First Dorset.
Hazel lives in Dorset with her husband and enjoys being close to her son, Philip, and his family, reading novels, researching family history and exploring the local area.
Reader Reviews...
British Journal of Learning Disabilities January 2023 This book is an enjoyable read. I recommend it to a wide readership....'The Joy of Knowing Pete' is a rare treat as few books have been written about the life experiences of people with profound and multiple learning disabilities...Pete's life story is a plea to challenge discrimination, act imaginatively and enable all people with learning disabilities to live full and healthy lives in their own communities, where they are treated equally.
NASEN’s Connect magazine July 2023 The Joy of Knowing Pete is a heartwarming story…Hazel shows the importance of developing experiences for those who are non- verbal with complex needs….It is clear Pete has inspired the family…..the detail in this book will help to change society, develop inclusion and ultimately change the way we care for those with learning disabilities. nasen.org.uk
Sarah Palmer, Emeritus Professor in Maritime History, The University of Greenwich This book is a kind of love letter, not just to Pete but to the power of memory itself. Never sentimental, it is very moving.
Rev. Janet Bellamy This is a loving and yet unsentimental depiction of life with Pete, beautifully drawn, in which Pete’s gift of himself to the family is powerfully illustrated and (implicitly) their gift of themselves to him is also movingly evident.
Dr Sue Brown, Writer Hazel's book will contribute to a better recognition of how important it is to recognise the wishes and needs of those with disabilities and take them far more into account in responding to them. No one speaks with more insight and authority about that than she does.
Virginia Astley Writer Through a series of snapshot recollections and the words of those who knew him, Hazel Morgan provides the reader with a memorable and poignant account of her son’s life…… The joy that Pete expresses in his own particular way radiates throughout the book and leaves the reader with the sense that this young man’s life touched a great many others.
Christine-Koulla Burke, Director the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities This book is beautifully written with fairness and equality at the heart, reminding us that all life is precious.
Sally Bayley, Writer Hazel’s book is a moving account of how one family learned to live - often joyfully - alongside a young son with a disability. There is not a shred of self pity here, only a reminder of the brevity of all our lives and our universal desire to make meaning.
John Swinton, Professor in Practical Theology and Pastoral Care, The University of Aberdeen This is a lovely book. It’s a testimony to Peter, but it is much more than that ... Hazel gently and kindly brings Peter’s voice to the fore.
Chris Hatton, Professor of Social Care, Manchester Metropolitan University This is a beautiful and moving memoir - of joy, grief, pain, faith, belonging, love, and a life well lived.
Christine Towers, Director, Together Matters This is Peter’s story written many years later. It also subtly hints at the need for the rest of society to be more inclusive and for a greater national policy commitment to people with learning disabilities.
Letters on the Nature of Love
Janet Braithwaite was born in Staffordshire in May 1939 and has spent most of her life in the Midlands. Her life-long interest in languages, culture and psychology and love of music, dance, art, travel and mountaineering led somewhat haphazardly to a B.A. in classics, her first job working for three and a half years in rural development in north west Greece and a subsequent working life divided between psychological development work with troubled adolescents and freelance teaching English to adult foreign students. In her thirties she trained and worked as an artist printmaker. Her prints, deeply influenced by her memories of the Greek landscape and her love of modern Greek poetry, have been exhibited in galleries in London including the Royal Academy’s Summer Show, and the Midlands. She has mountaineered in the Austrian Alps and the Pyrenees and journeyed extensively on foot through the mountains of Greece, and has taught English in Athens and Paris for a year each. The same themes which inspired her working life inform the subject matter of her book and design for its cover.
Published:
May 2022
Paperback:
162 pages
Size:
210 x 297mm
Price:
£9.99
ISBN:
9-781914-424489
£9.99 (+ £3.50 postage)
Number of copies:
Her first published work, it is a collection of recent drawings and poems written mainly since 1990 on the threshold of the second half of life. It is a celebration of love in all its permutations and of the joys of chance meetings with strangers and foreigners with all the enriching opportunities they bring for expanding horizons, experiencing different cultures and engaging with “the other”. Its ambition is to be deeply serious and light-heartedly humorous.
175 NOT OUT! offers a must-read experience for all cricket buffs who relish the peerless nature of the game as it is played at local level. Since Ramsbottom Cricket Club was founded in 1845, ‘generations’ of players have partaken of the sport and stamped their character indelibly on the style in which it has been played.
As an original member of the Lancashire League, formed in 1892, Ramsbottom has also succeeded in attracting many famous world-class professional players, for example arguably the greatest of all-time Australian skippers, Ian Chappell, plus in more recent years, Michael Clarke.
Few other cricket grounds have the same iconic atmosphere as Rammy’s Acre Bottom with its splendid green and cream striped pavilion, built back in 1904. Within its hallowe d portals, Ramsbottom Cricket Club’s own Long Room, much like the one at London’s Lords’, contains evocative evidence of the club’s illustrious history splashed across its walls.
Drawing on the club’s archive base, containing a wide and fascinating range of memorabilia, the author has succeeded in penning a vibrant narrative going back to 1845. In addition, interviews conducted with ex-players, the earliest of such recollections taking the reader back to the 1950s, provide rich and very often amusing first-hand accounts.
The club’s ‘roll of honour’, from 1892 onwards, reveals the remarkable record of success achieved by Ramsbottom teams across a distinguished history of involvement in the distinctive world of Lancashire League cricket. Going far beyond raw facts and figures, 175 Not Out! explores the human dimension and the way in which cricket resides in the soul of the town’s community.
Above all else, this is a book which richly conveys the memories and recollections of all those who, whether as players, volunteer workers or spectators, have contributed so splendidly to the fascinating history of Ramsbottom Cricket Club.
Nigel Jepson lives in Ramsbottom and is a keen supporter and member of Ramsbottom Cricket Club.
He first came to the local area in the mid-1990s when taking up post as Headteacher at nearby Haslingden High School. As far as the broader community was concerned, it didn’t take long to pick up the vibes regarding the longstanding rivalry between Haslingden and Ramsbottom, much of it existing on a cricketing front as traditional close rivals in the Lancashire League.
Nigel’s last UK Head’s post was at Kearsley Academy in Bolton from 2010 to 2014. ‘Retired’, he has though carried out interim Headteacher work in Dubai during 2016 and has also conducted teacher training programmes in New Delhi in 2018.
Although having always been keen on team sports, he developed a passion for long distance running which started with the London Marathon in 1982, moving through other events to New York in 2001. More recently, over 2017 to 2019, prior to the Covid pandemic kicking in, he ran four more marathons in Dubai, Belfast, Manchester and Liverpool.
‘The Inspector and the Superhead’ (2000)
‘Cut and Run’ (2006)
‘In a League of His Own’ (2011)
‘Speed is of the Essence’ (2015)
Stately Lancashire
A county better known for its industrial landscape and urban sprawl, Lancashire in fact contains some of the finest country houses in the United Kingdom.
This book – a sequel to Stately Homes Alone: Independent Country Houses in the North West, published in 2021 – explores another eleven great houses in Lancashire. They range from much-visited National Trust properties to lesser-known mansions, a romantic ruin and a huge stately home that virtually vanished overnight.
Stretching from Lancaster in the north to Manchester in the south, and Liverpool in the west to Burnley in the east., they span Tudor gems such as Speke Hall and Rufford Old Hall, the just-restored ‘Jacobean Gothic’ jewel Bank Hall and undiscovered Heskin Hall.
The Wars of the Roses, the Reformation, the ‘witch trials’, the Civil War and the Jacobite Rebellion… Lancashire’s stately homes have witnessed a catalogue of major historic events.
Illustrated in full colour, the book includes richly detailed descriptions of the houses, their owners and their gardens, their restoration and how to contact them. Several of the chapters first appeared in Choice magazine.
Published:
May 2022
Hardback:
94 pages
Colour images:
35
Size:
6 x 9 ins
Price:
£9.99
ISBN:
9-781914-424533
£9.99 (+ £3.50 postage)
Number of copies:
Available from Amazon
This book also examines how some of the houses have attempted to deal with the growing recognition that their owners were involved in the transatlantic slave trade.
A journalist, editor and author since 1973, Barry McLoughlin has worked for local, regional and national newspapers and magazines, including four years as editor of Steam World, Britain’s biggest-selling historical railway magazine, and a spell as a parliamentary lobby correspondent at Westminster. He is the author or editor of fourteen books, on subjects ranging from railways to politics. He is a Life Member of the National Union of Journalists.
Reparation Entwined Victorian Lives and Cotswold Gypsies
Set in rural Victorian Cotswolds, we follow the intrigue of a fleeting love affair, mistaken identity and the tragic repercussions of jealousy.
Albert’s combustible temper together with Peggy’s secret past, lead their twin children into an adult life of risky adventure and heartache.
Truth will out but not without personal torment and devastating consequences.
Gail Fulton has recently moved to the Cotswolds with her husband and Border Collie, Monty. Their two daughters and a future son-in-law have also relocated to the area and they look forward to many hours of dog walks, dining out and laughter.
Gail is now retired from teaching but has also always been passionate about interior design and floral art is also. Another passion is people watching! Gail gained an M.A. in Psychology, focusing her interest on personality development and she is intrigued by body language. She so loves her visits to coffee shops and observing behaviour.
Up the Wrekin, here we go! Barley, the clever BorderCollie dog, Basil, his nephew and Mick, their human friend, have an exciting adventure and learn fascinating things about the Wrekin, a Shropshire beauty spot of fabulous rural charm, and a place of legends and wild imagination. When Mick runs into an old friend and local hero Gary, they start chatting – and the two dogs rummage around for an adventure...
Barley and Basil soon find themselves involved in a dangerous stand-off between a massive red-deer stag and a tiny meadow pipit bird.
The stag is very distressed and Barley is not sure whether he’s friendly or not. But the stag is standing between Barley and a meadow pipit in serious life-threatening trouble – and she has a nest full of newly born chicks. Barley has to think quickly of a way to rescue the pipit. He needs to trust his instincts...
Does the meadow pipit understand that Barley is a friend? A new friend might just be able to help…
Teaching in primary, secondary and special educational needs schools gave Roy Bradshaw a broad experience in the joys that a good adventure story brings to young minds (and not so young minds). Coupled with a previous career in engineering, the teaching helped to gel a problem-solving mind with fun one. Growing up in the Black Country, then moving close to Ironbridge some thirty years ago has allowed him to discover many of the local beauty spots and to use them as a background for my children’s books.
A new novel about double dealing in the murky world of international football. Snouts are in the trough and fortunes are to be made from World Cup campaigning and presidential patronage.
Who will host the Global Football Organisation’s World Cup 2003? Six countries are bidding but Russia and Germany have a gentleman’s agreement that will fix the result to suit them both. Or so it seems...
Meanwhile, the GFO’s President is up for re-election. He and his confidants – including the sinister ‘Laundryman’ – are desperate to hang onto their golden tickets. And they don’t care how they get the support they need.
Bumbling onto the international stage comes England’s credulous football chief. He begins to unravel a web of corruption, some of it closer to home than he ever imagined. But how can an elderly Cornishman bring down this monstrous organisation? Or will he get blown away by ruthless men with too much to lose?
Sometimes this is a world of farce. Where a drunken former footballer is slow to unravel the mysteries of Bangkok. And where a GFO Board member happily offers his World Cup vote in exchange for naming rights to a royal baby.
Then suddenly it all becomes a matter of life and death...
Alec McGivan
Alec was born and brought up in Bristol, the son of Welsh parents.
In 1981 he was appointed National Organiser of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the new party’s first member of staff. He quickly established a reputation as a formidable campaigner in a series of high-profile parliamentary by-election victories.
A decade later Alec was recruited by The Football Association to be part of its management team established to plan and stage manage the highly acclaimed Euro 96 tournament. He then became Director of a bid to stage the World Cup in 2006. Following the bid Alec joined the BBC, working first on the project to renew the BBC’s Charter, and then as Head of BBC Outreach.
Hugh Roderick
By a strange coincidence, Hugh Roderick was also born in Bristol to Welsh parents. But the authors first met much later, while living in the same village in Oxfordshire.
After university he became a journalist, specialising in education. He went on to write speeches for Government Ministers (including Shirley Williams…coincidentally one of the SDP ‘Gang of Four’ that Alec was working with shortly afterwards) and IBM UK’s chairman and CEO. Hugh later headed marketing and communications at the Science Museum, and then became director of a corporate marketing agency.
When you have produced the final draft of your book, it is always advisable to have the text read and checked by a professional editor or proof reader.
You may have friends that are willing and competent to do this and we can advise you on the type of editing that is required.
We can offer four levels of editing as well as proof-reading.
You choose which, if any, are appropriate in your case: 1. Edit of sample pages and short report (£30)
We will edit a few pages to highlight editorial issues so that you can look for similar problems throughout the book.
This will reduce the amount of further copy-editing required when the book is finished. 2. Broad structural editing and criticism (£5 per thousand words)
A structural review is particularly relevant for works of fiction.
The structural reviewer will address the following main areas and produce a short report for the author ” Read More 3. Copy editing (£10 per thousand words)
A copy-editor takes a close look at your text, line by line, with an eye to grammatical errors, repetition, inconsistency and lack of clarity. The copy editor will make changes to the text, with suggestions for rewriting, grammar, and punctuation. When you receive the edited version, you have the final choice about accepting of rejecting the individual changes. 4. Proof Reading (£8 per thousand words)
Proof reading is a line-by-line check that the book is ready for publication. Proof readers will make small corrections for punctuation, grammar and spelling but they will not make significant changes to the text.
A proof reader will identify any significant issues and add comments to the text so that you can make those corrections yourself. 5. Consistency Scan
If you decide your book doesn’t need a full proof reading, we offer an electronic scan to search for common errors and inconsistencies. This looks at issues such as inconsistent spelling and inconsistencies of hyphenation and capitalisation.
We can also identify inconsistencies in the spelling of proper names. 6. Cover text
The quality of the text on the cover is very important as it indicates the quality of the writing in the book.
The title, sub-title and back-cover blurb are all important elements and we can work with you to make sure that these are correct and effective.
Copy Edit
Copy-editors get the raw material into shape for publication i.e they edit the copy.
When they have finished, the designer can lay out or typeset the book and produce a proof.
It is quite normal for the author to make additional changes after a book has been copy-edited.
Working through the material, the copy-editor may identify errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar, style and usage, but also very long sentences and overuse of italic, bold, capitals and exclamation marks.
They should correct or query doubtful facts, weak arguments, plot holes and gaps in numbering.
In fiction, they should also check that characters haven’t changed their name or hair colour, look for sudden changes from first to third person among other things.
The Copy-editor is not a proof reader and should not be expected to find all of the errors in the text particularly if the text is badly written to start with.
This is the job of the proof reader.
The final proof should be checked by a proof reader or an experienced reader friend before going to print.
It is almost inevitable (and acceptable) to miss a few errors which can be corrected in a later edition.
Proof Reading
Proof reading is a line-by-line check that the book is ready for publication.
Proof readers will make small corrections for punctuation, grammar and spelling but they will not make significant changes to the text.
A proof reader will identify any significant issues and add comments to the text so that you can make those corrections yourself.
If you have decided to complete this stage of the process yourself, we will send a detailed check-list to help you.
We ask you to try and ensure that the book is completely ready before we start the layout.
Once the layout has started, we expect that you might want to to make a small number of amendments but
if there are a significant number, we may need to charge for the extra time it takes to change the layout
so best to discuss this with us first.
Structural Review
In fiction, the main areas that a structural editor will address are:
Plot: Does the plot make sense? Is it believable? Is it satisfying or does it leave the reader frustrated? Themes: Are the themes effectively handled? Are there so many that the book lacks focus? Do they interfere with the plot or complement it?
Characterisation: Are your characters well developed and believable? Are they cast in a role that fits their personality? Do they sometimes behave out of character? Point of view/voice: Is the voice consistent or is it sometimes confused? Is the voice authentic? Are you using too many or too few POVs? Pace: Does the plot move forward at an appropriate pace? Should you cut that preface? Should the action happen sooner or should the tension build more slowly? Dialogue: Do your characters sound real when they speak? Is your dialogue cluttered with adverbs and beats? Do you use clunky dialogue to move the plot forward? Flow: Is the narrative interrupted by dead-ends and tangents? Is there so much back story that the main plot is dwarfed? Are there missing plot points that would give the narrative greater integrity?
In non-fiction, the principle is the same, but the specific issues are slightly different:
Thesis: Is your thesis relevant? Is it clearly defined or is it lost among marginal issues? Exposition: Are your arguments clear and cogent? Are they well researched and properly supported? Do they have a clear relationship with your thesis? Content: Are all the necessary topics sufficiently dealt with? Are the chapters weighted correctly? Is there superfluous content? Organisation: Is the information organised logically? Are tables and illustrations used appropriately? How many levels of subheads do you need and how should they be arranged? Tone: Is the tone appropriate for the audience? Do you need to eliminate jargon? Is the text accessible? Pace: Are there passages that are bogged down in detail? Do you spend too long on detail irrelevant to the main thesis? Are there areas that need further exposition lest they be skipped over?
Cover Text
The quality of the text on the cover is very important as it indicates the quality of the writing in the book.
The title, sub-title and back-cover blurb are all important elements and we work with you to make sure that these are as effective as possible.
Consistency check
If you decide your book doesn’t need a full proof reading, we can run an electronic scan to search for common errors and inconsistencies.
This looks at issues such as inconsistent spelling, hyphenation and capitalisation.
It also checks for consistent formatting of numbers and dates as well as undefined abbreviations.
Subsequent Script Edit
It is very normal and generally beneficial for the script-editing process to go through at least a couple of cycles
i.e. the rewritten draft to be worked through once again by an experienced script practitioner – though this would be entirely at the discretion and behest of the writer.
Full Script Edit
The script that you deliver to us will probably constitute what the industry would classify as the ‘Initial Rough Draft’, i.e. a full screenplay written without any other professional input or advice, and probably without a great deal of rewriting. We work through your draft, line by line, scene by scene, and come back to you with a comprehensive set of notes from which you can then work towards the official ‘1st Draft’. Some of our notes will be broad and general, dealing with such areas as the overall shape and structure, pacing, plot and character development; others will be far more specific, with corrections, clarifications and suggested cuts etc. It is of course entirely up to you whether or not to take these suggestions on board, and to what extent.
Ongoing Support
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Publishing is a complex business and we treat every book as a separate project.
We explain all of the stages at the outset and we manage the project schedule for you. This will include all of the expert services you have requested for editorial, design, printing, distribution and collection of royalties, keeping in close contact with you throughout the process.
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