{"id":8,"date":"2020-01-17T11:32:32","date_gmt":"2020-01-17T11:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lancashireloominary.co.uk\/?page_id=8"},"modified":"2023-11-02T14:58:29","modified_gmt":"2023-11-02T14:58:29","slug":"publications","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/lancashireloominary.co.uk\/index.html\/publications","title":{"rendered":"Publications"},"content":{"rendered":"

My books<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/h5>\n
Allen Clarke (‘Teddy Ashton’) – Lancashire’s Romantic Radical<\/h5>\n

A completely updated edition of the 2009 biography with fresh material and a new chapter on his railway writings. A great companion to Moorlands, Memories and Reflections<\/em> (see below). I’m doing a special offer – order both books and you only pay \u00a320 in total (free local delivery or add \u00a34 for UK postage). See ‘ordering my books’ or just ring me on 07795 008691.<\/p>\n

Moorlands, Memories and Reflections<\/h5>\n

\"\"A hundred years ago, Allen Clarke brought out his Lancashire classic, Moorlands and Memories<\/em>. My book is a celebration of this unjustly neglected work which extolled the beauties, history and people of the West Pennine Moors. Clarke\u2019s book was conversational, philosophical, entertaining and lyrical. My book covers some of the ground that Allen Clarke wrote about \u2013handloom weavers, dialect writers, the Winter Hill \u2018mass trespass\u2019, links to Walt Whitman and that fearsome Lancashire creature, the boggart. He discusses Clarke\u2019s links with Tolstoy and his attempts to \u2018get back to the land\u2019 and the great Barrow Bridge picnic in support of the locked-out Bethesda quarrymen in 1901.<\/p>\n

Clarke was both a keen cyclist and walker. His original book includes rides and rambles through Rossendale and Pendle as well as around Rivington, Belmont and Edgworth, with associated tales. Paul adds in some stories from the last hundred years including \u2018summer evenings with old railwaymen\u2019 at Entwistle and Gandhi\u2019s visit to Lancashire. And there\u2019s lots more. If you love the Lancashire moors, its history and culture, you\u2019ll probably enjoy this. It includes a foreword by Maxine Peake.<\/p>\n

It’s now available price \u00a315 plus \u00a34 post and packing (but free delivery if in the Bolton\/Grange area). If you prefer to support local shops, see the list of retail outlets in\u00a0 ‘Buying my books’ page or download an order form here:<\/p>\n

Lancs Loominary Order Form 2024<\/a><\/p>\n

Also on Kindle<\/a><\/p>\n

The Works (on special offer)<\/h5>\n

My novel The Works<\/em> was published in March 2020, to coincide perfectly with the country’s lockdown. It’s set in the small Lancashire town of Horwich, mostly in the former railway engineering factory where I (briefly) worked.\u00a0 \"\"Much of the action takes place in the 1970s and 80s but the story is taken through to post-Brexit Britain in 2025. It\u2019s about life in a traditional factory facing closure \u2013 the tensions and fears of being made redundant, as well as everyday life in a working class community. But it’s also about modern railway ‘politics’ and the potential for Chinese involvement.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s written, mainly, in the first person. The narrator is a union activist and communist. Part of the story is about his relationship with \u2018Midge\u2019, an office worker at the factory whose late husband died in an accident in the Works.<\/p>\n

In \u2018real life\u2019 the Works did close and the site is being ‘re-developed’. In the novel, the factory is saved by a workers\u2019 occupation and buy-out, with a scene where the riot police try to break the occupation. The novel \u00a0links the fictitious outcome at Horwich with the actual occupation and buy-out at Upper Clyde Shipbuilders, Glasgow. Some of the dialogue is in Lancashire dialect, reflecting shop-floor culture at the time. There\u2019s a glossary to help readers unfamiliar with \u2018Lanky\u2019.<\/p>\n

Please go to Order Form (above) for details of how to buy. It’s on special offer for just \u00a36.<\/strong><\/p>\n

and……<\/h4>\n

With Walt Whitman in Bolton \u2013 Lancashire\u2019s Links to Walt Whitman<\/strong>. This charts the remarkable story of Bolton\u2019s long-lasting links to America\u2019s great poet. New bi-centennial edition published in May 2019.<\/strong> \"\"Normal price \u00a310.00 plus post and packing, available now for \u00a36.\u00a0 <\/strong>Bolton\u2019s links with the great American poet Walt Whitman make up one of the most fascinating footnotes in literary history. From the 1880s a small group of Boltonians began a correspondence with Whitman and two (John Johnston and J W Wallace) visited the poet in America. Each year on Whitman\u2019s birthday (May 31) the Bolton group threw a party to celebrate his memory, with poems, lectures and passing round a loving cup of spiced claret. Each wore a sprig of lilac in Whitman\u2019s memory. The group were close to the founders of the ILP \u2013 Keir Hardie, Bruce and Katharine Bruce Glasier and Robert Blatchford. The links with Whitman lovers in the USA continue to this day.<\/p>\n

Last Train From Blackstock Junction<\/strong>. A collection of 12 short stories, all with a railway theme (in one way or another) set in the North-west. Written between 1982 and 2022! Published by Platform 5 Publications, at \u00a312.95. use code LAST22 and you’ll get \u00a32 off! www.platform5.com<\/p>\n

\"\"
Could this be Blackstock Junction?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Other Publications<\/strong>
\nSocialism with a Northern Accent<\/em> (2010)
\nRailpolitik: Bringing railways back to the community<\/em> (2012)
\nBoth published by Lawrence and Wishart www.lwbooks.co.uk<\/p>\n

Forthcoming….<\/h6>\n

For June 2023: Lancastrians: Mills, Mines and Minarets<\/em> is a cultural and social history of Lancashire and ‘Lancashire identity’. It will be published by Hurst www.hurst.com and be priced at \u00a325 (hardback).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My books Allen Clarke (‘Teddy Ashton’) – Lancashire’s Romantic Radical A completely updated edition of the 2009 biography with fresh material and a new chapter on his railway writings. A great companion to Moorlands, Memories and Reflections (see below). I’m doing a special offer – order both books and you only pay \u00a320 in total […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-8","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/lancashireloominary.co.uk\/index.html\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/lancashireloominary.co.uk\/index.html\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/lancashireloominary.co.uk\/index.html\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lancashireloominary.co.uk\/index.html\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lancashireloominary.co.uk\/index.html\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8"}],"version-history":[{"count":57,"href":"http:\/\/lancashireloominary.co.uk\/index.html\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1500,"href":"http:\/\/lancashireloominary.co.uk\/index.html\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8\/revisions\/1500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/lancashireloominary.co.uk\/index.html\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}