Come on You Rams!
The Story of Ramsbottom United Football Club
What makes Ramsbottom United unique as a football club?
Well, for one thing, which other club could boast of having a character like Harry Williams at its helm for the whole of its 54 years of existence to date?
Starting out as manager at the age of 22 in the year Ramsbottom United was founded in 1966 – the same year England won the World Cup – Harry continued in that role until becoming chairman in the 1980s, remaining in this latter post right up to the present day. Still as young-looking as ever!
While charting the history of the club as a whole, this book features the extraordinary role played by Harry, who has succeeded in doing everything within his forward-looking (and famously thrifty!) powers to launch the club on its way to becoming a giant within the folk-lore of the semi-pro circuit.
Not for nothing has Harry been dubbed ‘Mr Ramsbottom United’.
Even so, this story is crowded with many other colourful characters who have followed in Harry’s pioneering foot-steps.
For example, the fiery managerial duo of Bernard Morley and Anthony Johnson, later to be featured in the TV programme ‘Class of 92’, cut their teeth at the Harry Williams Riverside Stadium.
In essence, this book provides a heady cocktail of tales and testimonies, triumphs and tragedies, on and off the pitch, told through a vast number of eye-witness accounts across the years – managers, players, fans and all those working tirelessly behind the scenes to make the club what it is to-day.
Above all else, this is a story about a club always punching above its weight. A story which contains a wealth of interest to anyone curious to learn more about football played at this distinctive level of ‘the great national game’.
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.
Keen throughout his life on team sports, he has also taken to the challenge of marathon-running starting with London (1982) and moving through to New York (2001). Over 2017 to 2019, he has run four more marathons in Dubai, Belfast, Manchester and Liverpool.
Nigel’s writing has to date concentrated on novels, with four publications:
‘The Inspector and the Superhead’ (2000)
‘Cut and Run’ (2006)
‘In a League of His Own’ (2011)
‘Speed is of the Essence’ (2015)
Having studied for a History degree at Cambridge University back in the day, it is ironic that this work marks his baptism in the sphere of history-writing!
Writing on Shakespeare's Walls
The Historic Graffiti in the Guild Chapel, Stratford-upon-Avon
Pamela Devine
The historic graffiti in the medieval Guild Chapel in Stratford-upon-Avon gives a wonderful insight into a world where writing on the walls was routine.
Barely visible without a torch, it has remained largely unnoticed and unexplored until now, despite the building’s close association with William Shakespeare and
his family.
The Chapel is unique within Stratford: no other building in the town has such a broad range of historic graffiti. It tells the story of the Chapel and its famous neighbour in a completely new way, shedding light on the innermost thoughts of the people who have come and gone from the building for over five hundred years, some of whom may have been Shakespeare’s family and friends, perhaps even Shakespeare himself.
Published:
Nov 2020
Paperback:
112 pages
Price:
£8.50
ISBN:
978-1-913425-20-3
Images:
60 B/W
£8.50 (+ £3 postage)
Number of copies:
Available soon from Amazon
The Chapel’s medieval graffiti reveals the hopes, fears and beliefs prevalent on the eve of Shakespeare’s birth; later graffiti reveals the changes in the way the Chapel was used during his lifetime, and changes in belief after the Reformation as graffiti gradually became more about recording a visit or remembrance. The absence of more modern graffiti tells its own story, and reflects the different attitude towards graffiti in churches, particularly as the Victorian period progressed. The walls really do talk!
By Patience and Perseverance and a Bottle of Sweet Oil
Grandpa’s War, Volume 1
Edited by Effie Cadwallader
By Patience and Perseverance and a Bottle of Sweet Oil is the first volume of an account of an ordinary soldier`s experiences during World War 2, one man`s course through seven years of activity not of his own choosing, recounting episodes, individuals and activities in extraordinary detail.
We follow George West from the shock of being transformed from a teenage accounts clerk into a soldier before war broke out in 1939, through the confusion of the Phoney War to the horror of Dunkirk and its aftermath.
George`s story isn`t really about fighting or regimental business; it is a chronological account of the incidents and elements of his daily life, described in interesting detail, with a few adventures and some odd characters thrown in.
There are simmering feuds, romantic dalliances, humanitarian rescues and comic moments, as well as the inevitable fear and danger.
George matures from an innocent nineteen-year-old driver into a highly competent, resourceful and inventive Sergeant Mechanic, Royal Engineers.
Volume 2, “The Snail, at Length, Reached Jerusalem” covers the second part of George`s war, from North Africa, through Sicily, D Day, “A Bridge Too Far” and Belsen, to demob in 1946.
George West was brought up in South Shields. His mother died in childbirth and his father disappeared to Australia, so he was adopted by his mother`s elder sister and her husband who were late middle-aged when they took the baby. His upbringing was strictly Methodist and difficult, but he spent a great deal of his childhood with his close friend Bill Sharp whose family was open, loving and lively. After the war George married Bill`s younger sister, Kathleen.
George qualified as a primary school teacher soon after demob and had a successful career back in South Shields, specialising in teaching literacy and numeracy and, of course, drawing and painting, before retiring to live with Kathleen in Shropshire.
At the turn of the 19th century, in support of the first animal welfare campaigners, cats told their own stories through a series of best-selling children’s books. They moused in high places but pay was often poor, as revealed by Florence Nightingale in her memo complaining of the meagre rations for cats in the War Office. Many cats worked at home in London - where rats were a scourge – and enjoyed the luxury of a daily fast food service: a slice of horse flesh on a skewer delivered through the letterbox by the Cats-meat man. On the steam railway network, cats had power: the safety of the travelling public was largely dependent on the hunting skills of the signal box ratters.
Crowds flocked to the first cat show held at the Crystal Palace in 1871, when aristocrats and royalty obsessed over their competitive hobby of breeding longhairs.
Published:
April 2019
Paperback:
166 pages
Size:
250 x 250 mm
Price:
£18.50
ISBN:
9-781912-419579
Paperback edition (UK only)
£18.50 (+ £2.50 postage)
Number of copies:
Also available from Amazon
Hardback edition (UK only)
£27.50 (+ £2.50 postage)
Number of copies:
A spoilt Persian puss scratched the hand of the Prince of Wales and even more spoilt ladies chased the terrified exhibition organizer round the hall for something he had forgotten to do. The National Cat Club was founded along with the first stud book as a guide for ‘points of excellence.’
Technical advances in colour printing raised the profile of cats; their image was everywhere, on greetings cards, valentines, picture post-cards, sheet music and advertisements that sold every kind of product imaginable.
Poor Puss is the story of cats as they bravely clawed their way up the social ladder - out of persecution and superstition - to gain their rightful place as cherished family pets today. With impressive research, over three hundred archival pictures and entertaining anecdotal detail, meaty as a plump mouse.
You may never view your cat in the same way again!
Reviews...
Jilly Cooper Marvellous historical background and all the glorious illustrations
Dear Marilyn, A million congratulations on your wonderful book Poor Puss. A Social History of English Cats, the marvellous historical background and all the glorious illustrations make it the perfect present for any cat lover. Truly well done, Love, Jilly Cooper.
London Metropolitan Archives 'impressive in every way'
Born in 1782, Charles Waterton was the eldest child of Thomas and Anne Waterton, of Walton Hall in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Based on extensive research, Barbara Phipps's fascinating, fictionalised biography show us an intelligent, and fearless man, one gifted with humour and strongly held opinions. His early love of nature, especially of birds, meant he was often in trouble as a tree-climbing, bird-nesting boy. He travelled extensively, seeking to show others all he had observed by publishing his notes and preserving specimens. His method of taxidermy has never been bettered. He survived yellow fever and malaria, earthquakes and shipwreck, and many accidents both at home and abroad.
By building a wall around his parkland, and banning the gun, he created a sanctuary for all creatures with the exception of the fox and the rat, having a particular dislike of the latter. His book, ‘Wanderings in South America, the North-West of the United States and the Antilles,’ has never been out of print.
Waterton can justifiably be given credit for creating the first nature reserve. It is a concept that has spread, not just around Britain, but also right across the world. Bill Oddie
Reviews...
28.6.2019 - Amazon, five star: Great Story Telling Took me back to my own childhood, a lovely read. Anyone with a love of nature will identify with Charles Waterton.
15.4.2020 - Amazon, five star: Easy Read An interesting book about a fascinating if accident prone man. The author writes through Waterton’s eyes bringing alive his adventures in an easy to read manner.
From doomed East Prussia to Tunbridge Wells
A young boy's escape across war-torn Europe
Dieter Teubler was just nine years old when he and his family left their farm in Memelland for the last time. Along with thousands of other terrified refugees from East Prussia, their only aim was to head west as Stalin’s vengeful Red Army forces surged in from the east. The perilous journey, which included a thirty-hour trek across cracking ice on a frozen lagoon, took five months and left the young boy with horrific images of death and suffering which would haunt him for the rest of his life.
With their mother Erna, Dieter and his younger brother and three sisters eventually found refuge in the quiet seaside town of Laboe on the German Baltic Coast. But their day-to-day struggle to survive in a country still reeling from the impact of war continued long after the war ended in 1945. Food was scarce, many local people resented the huge influx of refugees and the family was almost penniless.
However the persistent dream of a fresh start in America would change the young man’s life in a way he could never have envisaged. He had intended to spend time in England simply to learn the language, but the appearance of a young national tennis player from Tunbridge Wells would turn his world upsidedown. In 1960, he and Susan Waters were married, and the country boy from East Prussia began a new life in the heart of middle England.
Now a father of four and with twelve grandchildren, Dieter Teubler’s dramatic story of loss and renewal continues to resound amid the human challenges of a new century.
Mary Queen of Scots in Staffordshire
This is a local history with national and international dimensions. It has always been known that Queen Mary was imprisoned in Staffordshire, and other Midlands counties, but the crucial role of this county in the many plots launched around the captive Queen has been underestimated. The times when the Queen was put in Staffordshire always meant that the plots and plotting which followed her had reached crisis proportions. Staffordshire was a highly secure backwater, but her jailers could not isolate herf - until the very end, and then with unexpected consequences.
At first the government of Elizabeth, her cousin, knew she was plotting but not how. In the first year of her captivity she sought a court intrigue to marry a Duke - and was caught up in the Earls revolt. In the final eighteen months in the county the spymaster Francis Walsingham organised a ground-breaking counter plot to find out what was going on. But was his counter plot a trap? This was an illegal captivity - but was Mary making political choices which triggered her downfall? Staffordshire was the crucial stage for the key developments in her English captivity, explored here for the first time in unique detail.
Zillah Smith and her Romany Gypsy ancestors have travelled the lanes and roads of Staffordshire and the surrounding area for centuries. This memoir, set in the present day from the viewpoint of ninety-one-year-old Zillah, follows the stories of six generations of her family through a series of remembrances. Dating from the late 1800s, this memoir gives us a glimpse into the resilient lives of a Romany Gypsy family in one of the most transformative centuries in British history. We enter into their world of birth and death, childhood and schooling, courtship and marriage, their domestic and working life, and their love of life up close to nature in their tents and caravans. These stories of the old and current travelling traditions show how Zillah and her family have survived and thrived through times of war, violence, evictions and persecution.
Netta Cartwright is an author of educational books. This book, her first memoir, is written with and on behalf of Zillah Smith and her family.
Netta is a graduate of Aberystwyth, Cardiff, Keele and Birmingham Universities and is a school counselling trainer with thirty years school-teaching experience. She was Equal Opportunities Advisor for Staffordshire LEA where she promoted anti-racist projects in schools. She leads peer-support courses in the UK and abroad in primary and secondary schools in the public and private sector. Her publications include: "Towards Bully Free Schools: Interventions in Action" (OUP); “Peer Support Works: a Step by Step Guide to Long Term Success” (Network Continuum); and many articles in educational journals. Her work in schools has been featured on Channel 4 and BBC1.
Dr. Martin Kovats
Political Scientist, Former Advisor to the EU Commission on the EU Roma Integration Framework
“I enjoyed this book very much. It provides such an insightful account of Zillah’s life as a Gypsy from an age of horse powered freedom to council sites. Zillah’s story illustrates the central importance of kinship as the world changes around her and her own life is transformed. For her it is caring for the chavvies, parents, siblings and husband that is most important. I also liked the use of photos, themselves treasured family mementos, to illustrate her memories. The text is honest using direct quotes to provide authenticity.”
Pat Sanderson, Poet. “Netta Cartwright invited Zillah in and got to know her and her family in a relationship that has spanned thirty years. This remarkable book is the result. She has told Zillah’s story with compassion and humour. It is a fascinating piece of social history.”
Thomas Acton OBE, Emeritus Professor of Romani Studies,
University of Greenwich. “An unaffected and deeply felt depiction of the complex intensity of English Romani family life over the past one hundred years. It is a rare book about a Romani woman by a woman and valuable for that.”
Dr Liz Doherty, Professor Emerita, Sheffield Hallam University “This is an important piece of social history. The evocative narrative weaves Zillah’s current life together with memories and stories from the past, and a world of freedom, colour, hardship and fierce loyalty is opened up to the reader.”
Roy Samson, Writer. “Zillah’s story is of a life lived more intensely than most of us experience. The Many Lives allows us glimpses into a world that is close to ours yet intriguingly strange, seeming more natural but rapidly passing. Netta Cartwright tells the story with warm commitment and love.”
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
We aim to make your self-publishing venture an enjoyable and rewarding experience.
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.
You will be allocated a project-sheet on the YouCaxton website so that you can monitor progress and ensure that all stages are properly completed.
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