Lancashire\u2019s Romantic Radical: new edition of Allen Clarke biography is out<\/strong><\/p>\n The new and updated edition of my biography of Allen Clarke (Allen Clarke \u2013 Teddy Ashton: Lancashire\u2019s Romantic Radical<\/em>) is now available with a pre-publication offer. \u00a0There is a lot of new material in it, including an entirely new chapter on Clarke\u2019s railway writings. The official publication is September 1st<\/sup> but I am doing a pre-publication offer for \u00a315, with free local delivery in the Bolton area, or add on \u00a33 for UK postage (this will continue to the end of September).\u00a0 You can I\u2019ve a number of talks planned for the Autumn for different groups, and still open to requests. The main Bolton launch event will be on Saturday September 25th<\/sup> at the Lecture Theatre of Bolton Central Library. It will start at 11.00 and end by about 12.30 with book signing (at the special rate of \u00a315). No need to book, just turn up. There will be a Blackpool event at the town\u2019s main library in October, details to be determined later.<\/p>\n Unlikely Pioneers<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019ve been working on a new edition of my \u2018Whitman\u2019 book \u2013 With Walt Whitman in Bolton \u2013 spirituality, sex and socialism in a Northern Mill town<\/em> \u2013 last published in 2019 though little changed since 2009. I\u2019ve combined it with a lengthy paper on Whitman\u2019s influence on \u2018Northern Socialism\u2019 The latest Salvo<\/strong><\/p>\n Here is a link to the latest\u00a0 Northern ‘Weekly’ Salvo number 295 – \u00a0England and ‘Englishness’ (see below), reviews of books by some old mates, trips to Coniston and Ulverston, a literary walk on the moors and the new exhibition of ‘Railway Workers’ Art’ at the Platform 5 Gallery , Bolton. Plus the new RHS gardens at Worsley with \u00a0comments about the lack of decent public transport access. It’s here: http:\/\/lancashireloominary.co.uk\/index.html\/northern-weekly-salvo-295<\/a><\/p>\n England, which England?<\/strong><\/p>\n The quest for a \u2018progressive English politics\u2019 is something that seems to have captured the imagination of quite a few writers on the English left, mostly columnists for The Guardian<\/em> and Observer<\/em>. I could be accused of making cheap points that most of them are based in London, but I won\u2019t. As Marx said, material reality (inc. where you live) determines your consciousness. There\u2019s another school of thought, which I must confess to having leaned towards myself on some occasions, which is quite anti-English. It\u2019s a view shared by some in the Northern Independence Party which hopes to wish away the reactionary English state and have a Northern socialist republic. It\u2019s a lovely dream, perhaps, but political utopias usually turn into something very different from what their first disciples hoped for. And I don\u2019t think many people really want it. You can be passionately \u2018Yorkshire\u2019 and still identify as English, as well as \u2018Huddersfield\u2019 etc.<\/p>\n It\u2019s always a good idea to start with a concrete analysis of a concrete situation. Scotland is key to this, with the likelihood that it will break away from the UK within the next ten years, possibly sooner. Northern Ireland could become an even bigger hot potato within the same time frame, the North re-uniting with the South and rejoining the EU. That leaves a UK comprising England and Wales, with Wales very much the junior partner. Could it go its own way? People say that it\u2019s too small but that doesn\u2019t necessarily bear scrutiny. Far smaller nations have gone independent and done very well \u2013 Iceland being just one.<\/p>\n So there is the possibility that we end up with a centralised English state by default. That could be very bad for the North and possibly the Midlands too, as more power \u2013 political and economic – concentrates in London and the south-east. Throwing a few sops to the North in the form of a bit more power for the largely unaccountable mayors won\u2019t make that much difference.<\/p>\n What could make for a much more attractive vision of a \u2018new England\u2019 is a political entity that is decentralised with a much smaller central state \u2013 and it doesn\u2019t matter that much whether or not it\u2019s in London (I\u2019d keep it there). Strong regions, based on historic boundaries rather than \u2018technocratic\u2019 ones, should be the foundation \u2013 county regions such as Yorkshire and Lancashire – with empowered local government again based on historic identities where possible and of appropriate size, that is really \u2018local\u2019. That means a return of the old \u2018Lancashire\u2019, starting with Greater Manchester (Burnhamshire) rejoining what\u2019s left.<\/p>\n That set-up could work whether or not Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland went their own ways. It would be a sad thing if they did and I suspect that after a while there might be the basis for a rapprochement based on equality between the nations and regions, rather than the current overwhelming dominance of England, and London in particular. A British confederation.<\/p>\n So a new England is possible, and we get glimpses of it through things like the Euros and our great ambassadors in the England football team. Nobody has to hate England, particularly anyone who is English. There\u2019s lots of things in our past that are positive, in politics, culture, sport and industry. We should cherish these but have the maturity to look at the negatives in an open and honest way too.<\/p>\n So I think it\u2019s OK to love England, but accept that it needs to change \u2013 and discard the reactionary trappings of an old imperial state. Personally, I\u2019m relaxed about the monarchy continuing but again, let\u2019s drop some of the outdated nonsense that goes with it. It all comes back to the people, the demos<\/em>, democracy. Our voting system is an embarrassment, our leaders are a joke.\u00a0 But change is possible. As the gay, upper-class Edward Carpenter (who made Yorkshire his home) once sang, \u2018England Arise!\u2019<\/p>\n Other books from th\u2019same shed: Moorlands, Memories and Reflections<\/strong><\/p>\n 2020 was the centenary of the publication of Allen Clarke\u2019s Moorlands and Memories<\/em>, sub-titled \u2018rambles and rides in the fair places of Steam-Engine Land<\/em>\u2019. It\u2019s a lovely book, very readable and entertaining, even if he sometimes got his historical facts slightly wrong. It was set in the area which is now described as \u2018The West Pennine Moors\u2019 It also included some fascinating accounts of life in Bolton itself in the years between 1870 and the First World War, with accounts of the great engineers\u2019 strike of 1887, the growth of the co-operative movement and the many characters whom Clarke knew as a boy or young man.<\/p>\n My book is a centenary tribute to Clarke\u2019s classic – Moorlands, Memories and Reflections<\/em>. It isn\u2019t a \u2018then and now\u2019 sort of thing though I do make some historical comparisons, and speculate what Clarke would have thought of certain aspects of his beloved Lancashire today. There are 28 chapters, covering locations and subjects which Clarke wrote about in the original book, with a few additions. It includes the Winter Hill rights-of-way battle of 1896 and Darwen\u2019s \u2018freeing of the moors\u2019; \u00a0a few additional snippets about the Bolton \u2018Whitmanites\u2019, handloom-weaving, railway reminiscences, the remarkable story of \u2018The Larks of Dean\u2019 and Lancashire\u2019s honourable tradition of supporting refugees (including the much-loved Pedro of Halliwell Road). The story of Lancashire children\u2019s practical support for the locked-out quarryworkers of Snowdonia in 1900-3 is covered in some detail, including the remarkable \u2018Teddy Ashton Picnic\u2019 of 1901 in Barrowbridge, which attracted 10,000 people. It is well illustrated.<\/p>\n It is available for Loominaries reading this at \u00a320, with \u00a34 post and packing. Go to http:\/\/lancashireloominary.co.uk\/index.html\/order-form<\/a> or use order form below<\/p>\n I can do free delivery locally (within 6 miles of Bolton).<\/p>\n The Works: a tale of love, lust, labour and locomotives<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019ve had a steady flow of orders for The Works<\/em>, my novel set mostly in Horwich Loco Works in the 1970s and 1980s, but bringing the tale up to date and beyond \u2013 a fictional story of a workers\u2019 occupation, Labour politics, a \u2018people\u2019s franchise\u2019 and Chinese investment in UK rail.\u00a0 I\u2019ve If you\u2019ve already read and hopefully enjoyed The Works<\/em> it would be great if you could do a short review of it on my facebook page (Lancashire Loominary). Feedback on how it could have been better is also welcome, especially as I\u2019m starting work on the next novel (see below).<\/p>\n The Works <\/em>is available in a range of outlets \u00a0\u2013 please support them, and see www\u2019lancashireloominary for details of their location, ranging from Bolton and Horwich to Carnforth, Barrowford, Machynlleth and Bo\u2019ness.<\/p>\n If you know of any local shop which might like to take my books please let me know. I do a third discount, sale or return.<\/p>\n With Thomas Hardy in Dorset<\/strong><\/p>\n Thanks to a conference in Bournemouth (the REPTA AGM) we were able to explore Dorset for a few days, making the most of our bus passes. There\u2019s a surprisingly extensive bus network and I was impressed by the quality of the operators. Dorchester-based Damory was particularly good but also Yellow Buses and Morebus too. We naturally took the no. 50 from Bournemouth to Swanage via the the Studland ferry for a trip on the Swanage Railway, behind BR standard 2MT 78018. We caught the Damory-operated bus from Blandford Forum to Dorchester, alighting near to Bockhampton, where Thomas Hardy spent his childhood and youth. It\u2019s owned by the National Trust, as is his later home at Max Gate, a pleasant three mile walk from his original home.<\/p>\n Allen Clarke was a big fan of Hardy and modelled his writing on some aspects of Hardy\u2019s. His relationship with the great novelist\u00a0provides an interesting footnote to the history of English literature. Clarke corresponded with him and met him on at least one occasion and possibly more. Writing in The Bolton<\/em>\u00a0Evening News<\/em> as \u2018Old Boltonian\u2019 in 1935, he recalls him and his wife doing a cycling tour of Dorset and looking up the great writer in his home town Dorchester. Clarke wrote that \u201cDorchester didn\u2019t seem to have any great opinion of him. The landlady of the inn where we made enquiries as to the famous novelist\u2019s residence remarked \u2018Tom Hardy! Yes, he lives up at Max Gate.\u2019\u2026I said we had come all the way from Lancashire to see him. \u2018Well, well,\u2019 said the buxom dame. \u2018It surprises me that people come here wanting to see Tom Hardy, there\u2019s nothing special about him, I used to go to school with him.<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018He has written great books<\/em>,\u2019 said I.<\/p>\n \u2018I don\u2019t know,\u2019 said the lady. \u2018He doesn\u2019t seem to have anything about him. Now, if you\u2019d said it was his wife that wrote them<\/em> \u2013\u2018<\/p>\n We laughed and bade good day to the genial landlady, who evidently wasn\u2019t much interested in literature, nor impressed by authors<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n The Clarkes found \u2018Tom\u2019 to be at home and had a long discussion with him. Clarke commented on Hardy\u2019s negative view of the Dorset dialect, suggesting that William Barnes\u00a0would have been a better poet had he written in standard English. Clarke disagreed. It would have been a fascinating debate to have witnessed!<\/p>\n Clarke, in an interview years later, said that he \u201cexpressed the view that dialect is the very soul of the people, and that Barnes would not have had such a hold on Dorset now, not be such a favourite of all Dorset folk, had he written in ordinary English<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n Allen suggested that he should come up to Lancashire \u2013 \u201cit would do him good mentally and physically.<\/em>\u201d Hardy replied that he had been to Bolton, on business with Tillotson\u2019s, but remembered little about the town, or of Lancashire in general \u2013 to Clarke\u2019s obvious disappointment. Clarke said that he corresponded with Hardy on a few occasions; they shared a common love of cycling and the countryside. (above is from my new biography of Clarke<\/em>).<\/p>\n There is a reference at the NT-managed Max Gate to Hardy\u2019s relationship with Bolton-based Tillotson\u2019s. The publishers of The Bolton Evening News<\/em> established a subsidiary \u2013 Tillotson\u2019s Newspaper Fiction Bureau – which syndicated novels to newspapers around the world. These included some of Clarke\u2019s own novels and short stories, such as The Miser\u2019s Mine<\/em> which appeared in local papers in Ireland, Scotland and New Zealand. They rejected Tess of the D\u2019Urbervilles<\/em> because the content was deemed \u2018unsuitable\u2019, despite having signed a \u00a31000 contract with Hardy. They did however come to a settlement and Tillotson\u2019s went on to publish other work by Hardy.<\/p>\n Still in print: previous publications <\/strong><\/p>\n The Settle-Carlisle Railway<\/em><\/strong> (2019) published by Crowood and available in reputable, and possibly some disreputable, bookshops price \u00a324. I have a few which I can offer with \u00a34 postage. \u00a0It\u2019s a general history of the railway, bringing it up to date. It includes a chapter on the author\u2019s time as a goods guard on the line, when he was based at Blackburn in the 1970s. It includes a guide to the line, from Leeds to Carlisle. Some previously-unused sources helped to give the book a stronger \u2018social\u2019 dimension, including the columns of the LMS staff magazine in the 1920s. ISBN 978-1-78500-637-1<\/p>\n With Walt Whitman in Bolton \u2013 Lancashire\u2019s Links to Walt Whitman<\/em>. This charts the remarkable story of Bolton\u2019s long-lasting links to America\u2019s great poet. Normal price \u00a310.00, selling for \u00a35.00. <\/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.<\/p>\n The group was 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. Later this summer (see above) I\u2019ll be bringing out an expanded version which has more on the wider political context \u2013 Unlikely Pioneers: Walt Whitman, The Bolton Boys and Northern Socialism<\/em>.<\/p>\n Will Yo\u2019 Come O\u2019 Sunday Mornin? The Winter Hill Mass Trespass of 1896. <\/em>The story of Lancashire\u2019s Winter Hill Trespass of 1896. 10,000 people marched over Winter Hill to reclaim a right of way. Price: \u00a35.00 (not many left). The Kinder Scout Mass Trespass of 1932 was by no means Ordering: <\/strong><\/p>\n http:\/\/lancashireloominary.co.uk\/index.html\/order-form<\/a><\/p>\n Other titles still available:<\/strong><\/p>\n Socialism with a Northern Accent<\/em><\/strong> (Lawrence and Wishart)<\/p>\n This was my take on a progressive Northern regionalism, with a foreword by the much-maligned but admirable guy, John Prescott. Time for a new edition \u2013 working on it<\/p>\n Railpolitik: bringing railways back to communities<\/em><\/strong> (Lawrence and Wishart)<\/p>\n This is an overview of railway politics from the early days to semi-monopolies and current arguments for nationalisation, or co-operative ownership?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 109 Harpers Lane BOLTON BL1 6HU<\/p>\n Phone: 07795 008691 email: paul.salveson@myphone.coop<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lancashireloominary.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Allen-Clarke-cover-200x300.jpg\")
download an order form from my website, below, or there\u2019s one at the back of this newsletter: http:\/\/lancashireloominary.co.uk\/index.html\/order-form<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lancashireloominary.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Walt-Whitman-cover-v2-200x300.jpg\")
and re-titled it Unlikely Pioneers: Walt Whitman, the Bolton Boys and Northern Socialism<\/em>. I\u2019m going to publish it as a kindle book to keep costs down \u2013 but the print version which is just on the Bolton group (and nicely illustrated) is still available at the special price of \u00a35 plus p&p.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lancashireloominary.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/The-Works-195x300.jpg\")
had lots of good reactions to it, with some people reading it in one session. The Morning Star<\/em> hated it. If you want a copy I can offer it for \u00a35 plus \u00a32.50 postage to those of you on this mailing list. Please make cheques payable to \u2018Paul Salveson\u2019 and post to my Bolton address above or send the money by bank transfer (a\/c Dr PS Salveson 23448954 sort code 53-61-07 and email me with your address). If you are local I can do free delivery by e-bike (so just a tenner<\/strong>). There is a kindle version available price \u00a34.99 and you can also buy it off Amazon. See www.lancashireloominary.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lancashireloominary.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/will-yo-come-o-sunday-207x300.jpg\")
the first attempt by working class people to reclaim the countryside. Probably the UK\u2019s biggest-ever rights of way struggle took place on the moors above Bolton in 1896, with three successive weekends of huge demonstrations to reclaim a blocked path. Over 12,000 took part in the biggest march. \u00a0A new supply has been found and is available price \u00a35 plus postage (free local delivery).<\/p>\n