The Ironbridge Ogre, a children’s story by Toni Sian Williams, published by YouCaxton Publications and supported by Telford Council, is being launched on 1st November at Southwater Library Telford, 11.00 am – 2 pm. All are welcome.
Auntie Emmie’s Suitcase
Susan Davies
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Emmie Chester died on 9th March 1988.
For the previous ninety five years, she had lived a quiet life in Shropshire, looking after her parents and family and later her great-niece Susan Davies, but once, long ago she had lived a very different life. It was something she didn't talk about very much. During World War One, she had served in France in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps and was wooed by a handsome Australian entertainer. She might have moved with him to Australia. On Emmie's death, Susan found a battered old suitcase in the attic, which contained a jumble of her aunt’s letters, photographs, documents and souvenirs from that time. The suitcase revealed a life of comradeship, austerity, romance and also of sadness and it gave an insight into the changing role of women in society during the early twentieth century. This is the story of Emmie Chester’s life in France told in words and pictures, as it emerged from the contents of a battered old suitcase. |
£7.99 (+ £2 postage) Available on Amazon | ||||||||
| Following a long career in the Probation Service, Susan Davies now enjoys an active and varied retirement in Shrewsbury. | ||||||||||
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Reviews... |
Ironopolis: Establishes Wolverhampton as the heart of the Black Country
Nick Moss
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Increasingly, he found strong evidence that fundamentally contradicts the now-widely accepted definition of the Black Country based solely on the existence of the thick coal seam. And Wolverhampton, once widely considered its original ‘Capital’ or ‘Metropolis’ has increasingly seen itself removed from Black Country history in recent years, and this work attempts to correct what he perceives as an anti-Wolverhampton stance and a misrepresentation of local history. |
Available from Amazon |
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Story Telling Revisited
Alan Kestner
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They tell stories which are open to interpretation. This book has been produced to accompany his exhibition at the North Wall Gallery in Oxford. |
£10.00 (+ £2 postage) |
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Atlantic Lady – The oldest woman to row any ocean
Dianne Carrington
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In the spring of 2016, recovering from burn-out and depression after many years in the NHS, Dianne Carrington was ready for a new challenge. So when the phone rang and an old friend asked if she was ready to row the Atlantic in the Talisker Whisky Challenge, how could she say no? She had always had an interest in outdoor activities and a big project like this was just what she needed to get back on track. Or was it? To row the Atlantic at any age is an undertaking beyond most of us but for a team of women in their sixties, and that was the idea that her friend was suggesting, it seemed almost impossible. After all, the Talisker Whisky Challenge is one of the most demanding competitions on this planet. |
£9.99 (+ £2 postage) Available on Amazon | ||||||||
| At twenty-one I was in the Olympic squad for white-water slalom canoeing but left to take up my career. I taught outdoor pursuits for ten years by the sea. I've always loved the sea and canoed on it almost daily, challenging my limits. Then learnt that I couldn't have children and I trained as a nurse, working my way up the career ladder in the NHS. At fifty-five I had to end my career prematurely after I burnt out, having given more than 100%. I lost confidence and my body was racked with pain; I was in a bad place. A team of wonderful people helped me get well again and I wanted to give something back. What better way than to raise money for charity and go back to the oceans that I love? Life is too short to not live it to the full. I set out to gather a lovely team of ladies as close to my age as possible who would be passionate about rowing across the Atlantic with me. I wanted to inspire women and show them that we are never too old to do what we want to do. I wanted to help them embrace the courage to leave sight of the shore and to accomplish great things.” | ||||||||||
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Reviews... |
Listen Carefully to Me
Sue and Hugh O’Donnell
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£12.99 (+ £3 postage) Available from Amazon | |||||||||
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Reviews... |
The Great War’s Sporting Casualties:International sportsmen who were killed in the Great War
James Holder
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The Great War claimed the lives of many professional and amateur sportsmen, including over three hundred who had represented their countries in one sport or another. The Great War’s Sporting Casualties contains details of the sporting achievements and, where known, the circumstances of the deaths of those international sportsmen who were killed in the War or died as a result of injuries sustained in the War. It also contains details of nine other sportsmen who were killed in the War but who, although they did not represent their countries, did achieve something exceptional either in sport or in war. Included amongst those listed are twenty-two Olympic gold medallists, twelve who captained their country at rugby, two who won the Tour de France and one who was a four-times Wimbledon champion. Also included are the three international sportsmen who won the Victoria Cross, one of whom was the only person to win two Victoria Crosses for deeds during the War and the fifteen who won the Military Cross. |
£25.00 (+ £3 postage) Available from Amazon | ||||||||
| James Holder was born in Somerset and, after reading law at Cambridge University, practised as a solicitor; he now works as a consultant. He is passionate about sport and has always taken an interest in family history much of which involves relations who were fortunate enough to survive the Great War. He and his wife have four children and one grandchild and live in Oxfordshire. | ||||||||||
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Reviews... Andrew Brown, Oxfordshire This is an impressively comprehensive guide to how the Great War led to the loss of so many top level sportsmen. While that in itself is not surprising –it led of course to the deaths of people from all walks of life-it is a stark reminder as to how many young, talented people were lost in the prime of their lives. The book focuses on international team sports - football, rugby and cricket - and Olympians and it is interesting to see the different rates of losses; for example, the worst hit proportionally were rugby players and Scottish rugby players in particular. The author surmises that this could be because a higher proportion of rugby players were privately educated and as a result officers who led from the front. As well as the many fascinating and tragic individual stories in the main section of the book, I also enjoyed the appendices. One gives useful summary accounts of the many different Great War battles while one also details the losses by the internationals which they played; of the 30 players who participated in the January 1913 Scotland versus France rugby international, 14 were to die in the subsequent conflict. |
Tales From The Archive: Reading University Wives’ and Women’s Club – 1948–2018
Margaret Houlbrooke
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1948–2018 The journey travelled by the University of Reading Women’s Club has mirrored the individual paths taken by very many women between the late 1940s and today. This book brings to life the archives of seventy years and through them it is possible to note the changes in women’s lives and attitudes. Tales from the Archive is invaluable for the social historian as well as a memento for all Club members old and new. |
£10.00 (+ £2 postage) |
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