BOOKS OF LOCAL INTEREST
NEW INTO STOCK

See also a list of videos of local interest (click here)

* = local author

The Book Case supplies information about all new titles which have a connection with Calderdale to Calderdale Libraries Service. The Book Case welcomes information about any title which is written by any author with a connection with Calderdale either as a resident or as a past resident and any title which has any reference to Calderdale. Please email the details to bookcase@btinternet.com.

July 2008

Cross-Stitch Countryside Collection - Carol Thornton, Claire Crompton, Caroline Palmer and Lesley Teare (£18.99)

Eight detailed cross stitch designs capture moments of timeless tranquillity, including one of our local canal and a West Country harbour from Book Case member of staff and artist Carol Thornton. Each major design has a collection of matching keepsake gifts to make.

May 2008

Two football books this month!

A Century of Stars: Hebden Royd Red Star AFC 1908-2008 - Peter Thomas* (£4.00)
Hebden Royd Red Star AFC, under its various names, is the oldest continuously-existing club in the Halifax League and celebrates its centenary in October this year. This colourful new book is full of memories, interviews, anecdotes and photographs, and now in stock!

Foul Play - Tom Palmer* (£5.99)

Danny is obsessed with two things: football - especially City Football Club - and investigating crimes. So when England and City footballing hero Sam Roberts is reported missing the day after Danny saw him being taken, blindfolded, into the bowels of the City FC stadium late at night, he's determined to get to the bottom of it. But is Danny getting into something he can't handle? From the Todmorden based writer and reader-developer, an exciting new story for young football fans, published by Puffin.

In Search of Thinking: Reflective Encounters in Experiencing the World - Richard Bunzl* (£10.95)

What are our memories and feelings? What are ideas? What is the nature of time? How do our thoughts connect with the world at large? Is freedom of thought an illusion, or a possibility worth striving for? Hebden Bridge-based writer and musician Richard Bunzl addresses some of the oldest and most fundamental philosophical questions. Published by Rudolf Steiner Press and to be launched Sunday 8th June at the Rudolph Steiner centre, Macpelah.

The Scent Trail: A Journey of the Senses - Cecilia Lyttleton* (£7.99)
Follows one woman's journey across the world as she explores the magic and history behind the ingredients of her own bespoke perfume. Now in paperback. Author lives in Hebden Bridge.

The Old and the New: A History of the Two Heptonstall Churches (£1.50)

Illustrated pamphlet from Hebden Bride Local History Society with full information on the two churches and a nice picture of the old one as it was.

Mud, Toil and Tears - Irene F Priestley (£6.00)

Tells the story of Bleakholt Animal Sanctuary 1967-9 from the point of view of one of the kennel maids during two difficult years in the Sanctuary's early history. The Sanctuary is on a hillside overlooking Ramsbottom and the Rossendale Valley and is one of the largest of its kind in the northwest of England. Lots of illustrations, including colour ones, and lively detail! The sanctuary has enthusiastic support in Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd, and all proceeds are going to the Sanctuary.

April 2008

Ned Carver in Danger - Phyllis Bentley* (£5.95)
The second of our reprints of the respected Halifax novelist's exciting historical novels for young people - a 13-year-old boy starts work at a Calder Valley cropping shop in 1812 just as his friend's mill-owning father introduces the cropping frames that will put his skilled companions out of work. Ned's sympathies are with the Luddites who plot violence.

A Century of Stars: Hebden Royd Red Star AFC 1908-2008 - Peter Thomas* (£4.00)
Hebden Royd Red Star AFC, under its various names, is the oldest continuously-existing club in the Halifax League and celebrates its centenary in October this year. Full of memories, interviews, anecdotes and photographs, and hopefully out later this month.

Farewell Britannia: A Family Saga of Roman Britain - Simon Young*
From brilliant young ex-Hebden Bridge historian a multi-generational family, part Roman, part Celtic (invaders intermarrying with natives) to tell the dramatic story of 400 years of Roman rule in Britain. Now in paperback. (£8.99)

Milltown Memories - back issues (£2.50 or £2.80 each)

We're delighted to have in stock copies of the Upper Calder Valley quarterly magazine featuring aspects of local history and old photographs: a list of contents can be found at http://www.milltownmemories.org.uk/. We don't have issue 2. Milltown Memories ran from 2002 to 2006

Facsimile Mill Rules poster of 1851 from Waterfoot Mill, Haslingden, £1.00

21 rules laid down for the Hands, covering lateness, untidiness, damage, Talking, behaviour in the Necessaries, Oaths and insolent language, Smoking and especially personal cleanliness: “The Masters would recommend that all their workpeople Wash themselves every morning, but they shall Wash themselves at least twice every week, and any found not washed will be fined 3d for each offence.”

British Orchids: A Site Guide - Roger Bowmer*
Author lives in Littleborough. A handy reference to the locations of the 51 species of wild orchid native to the British Isles; each one is covered individually, with a brief description of its habitat and natural history, and an explanation of its botanical name, with two colour photographs, and artworks provide details of specific points of interest. A full listing of sites gives national grid references for easy location, and there are complete listings of the relevant Wildlife Trusts responsible for each site.

March 2008

The Backbone of England: Landscape and Life on the Pennine Watershed - Andrew Bibby*, photos John Morrison (£20)
Hebden Bridge-based journalist Andrew Bibby walks the route of the watershed in England that separates the water flowing westwards to the Irish Sea and the Atlantic from the water heading towards the North Sea and explores various aspects of the area's history, ecology, geology and culture, and meets many of the people whose lives are shaped by the landscape. Ex-Hebden Bridge John Morrison supplies atmospheric colour photos. To be launched in Hebden Bridge just before Easter.

Collected Poems for Children - Ted Hughes*

Paperback version. The book is presented by reading age, beginning with poems for younger readers and working up to Hughes's material for young adults. Illustrated by Raymond Briggs. (£9.99)

February 2008

Hebden Bridge: a short history of the area - Peter Thomas* (£5.99)

As Royd Press, we're delighted to be publishing an updated and revised version of a very readable history of the area first written by local author Peter Thomas back in the 1970s!

Poetry in the Making - Ted Hughes*(£9.99)
A reissue of his 1967 publication which accompanied his broadcasts to schools. The purpose throughout is to lead on, via discussion of the poems, to some direct encouragement to the children to think and write for themselves. He makes the whole venture seem enjoyable, and somehow urgent.

The Future Control of Food: A Guide to International Negotiations and Rules on Intellectual Property, Biodiversity and Food Security - ed. Geoff Tansey*; Tasmin Rajotte (£18.99)
The first wide-ranging guide to the key issues of intellectual property and ownership, genetics, biodiversity and food security - "the best single summary of the political choices facing food and agriculture policymakers that has been written in this decade". Hebden Bridge-based writer and consultant Geoff Tansey is working for a fair and sustainable food system.

A Cotton-Fibre Halo: Manchester and the Textile Districts in 1849 - Angus Bethune Reach, ed. Chris Aspin (£7.95)

Companion to our "Fabrics, Filth and Fairy Tents" which covered the West Yorkshire textile districts, Angus Bethune Reach's graphic reports on Manchester, Ashton-under-Lyne, Oldham, Egerton, Macclesfield, Middleton and Saddleworth with many interviews. Published by Royd Press at The Book Case.

One Autumn: work, family life and Rugby League in the 1990s - Geoff Lee* (£9.95)

Last in a series of four novels on the general theme of Northern working-class life in the Rugby League heartlands in the second half of the twentieth century, from a former Halifax draughtsman. 1992 and 1993 were tough years in the south Lancashire town of Ashurst.

Speech with Humans - Clark Coolidge & Glen Baxter (£9.99)

Arc Press of Todmorden have published an unusual book, , in which American poet and jazz drummer Clark Coolidge and Leeds-born surrealist cartoonist Glen Baxter collaborate in a quirky combination of text and pictures.

January 2008

Transactions of the Halifax Antiquarian Society 2007 (Vol. 15, new series) - (ed.) John A. Hargreaves,* £15.00

The new edition includes: The location and operation of demesne cattle farms in Sowerby graveship c. 1300 - Nigel Smith; The room numbering system of the Halifax Piece Hall, 1778-2007 - Peter W Robinson; Benjamin Rushton: handloom weaver, radical agitator and nonconformist preacher - John A Hargreaves; Trade union activity in the Halifax area, 1800-1960 - W L Horsfall; The experience of Oweniste Socialism and anti-Socialism in Halifax, 1829-1845 - Simon J Cross; Demagogues or debaters? A study of Halifax Chartist speeches reported in the Halifax Guardian and the Northern Star between 1838 and 1839 - Sheila Graham; The Twentieth Century remembered: Arnold's Odyssey, 1917-18 - Peter Thomas; Halifax during the Second World War: the struggle for victory 1940-45 - Derek Bridge; De-industrialisation in Calderdale and the changes it made in local employment, 1921-91 - Stuart Noble and Brian Burkett.

Two Marriages by Glyn Hughes* (£7.00)

From the prize-winning local author, a long autobiographical poem in two sections, the first of Hughes’s books to be illustrated by the writer himself who began his career at art school. NOW IN STOCK:

Enkelit CD (£12)

From the sensational locally-based upper-voice group who performed so memorably at Square Chapel last year, their first CD. They sing contemporary vocal music primarily from Finland, strongly influenced by folk traditions and characterisd by beauty and melancholy. See their website at http://www.enkelit.org.uk/. The leader, Richard Pomfret, is Todmorden-based.

December 2007

Twenty More Parish Poems - Geoffrey Whiteley* (£4.00)
From a local author and ex-English teacher, more poems inspired by memories, local scenes and Biblical references.

November 2007

Todmorden Hippodrome : 100 Years of Theatre, 1908-2008 - Freda and Malcolm Heywood*, £19.95 hb, £14.95 pb
Celebrating the first hundred years of this popular Edwardian theatre! The book is packed with narrative, information, pictures, production photos and reproduced advertisements and programme covers telling the theatre’s story from the glory days of music hall to the present day. More than 200 pictures, many of them in colour.

Ted Hughes: Selected Translations, ed. Daniel Weissbort (£12.99)
A broad selection from Hughes' numerous translations, together with hitherto unpublished material (versions of Paul Eluard
and of Yves Bonnefoy), and excerpts from essays and letters.

Looping the Loop DVD and video - Peter Thornton* and Ray Riches*, £12.99

A journey on the Mary Towneley Loop in the South Pennines, a 48-mile circular spur off the Pennine Bridleway. Using ancient packhorse trails and bridleways, it visits hidden villages and hamlets, taking you through spectacular scenery, across wild moorland and into green wooded valleys. 78 mins.

Calder Valley Offcuts

These are based on Leslie Goldthorp*'s historical lectures in the 1970s, transcribed by Mrs Irene Mallinson, and are £2.50 each unless otherwise stated. Since June, the following titles have been published:

4. Overseers of Highways - Roads and Turnpikes

5. John Wesley's visits to the area (£1.50)

6. The Cragg Vale Coiners

7. The Rochdale Canal and the Coming of the Railway

8. Conditions in the Textile Factories in 1833, Part 1

9. "Tyrants and Hypocrites" - the local fight against child labour (Conditions in the Textile Factories Part 2); Interview with a Handloom Weaver; the Typhus Epidemic in Heptonstall Slack 1843-4.

The Yorkshire Church Notes of Sir Stephen Glynne, ed. L.A.S. Butler, £30
Yorkshire Archaeological Society, vo. 159. Sir Stephen Glynne (1807-1874) was one of the greatest church enthusiasts of his time, visiting over 5500 churches in England and Wales, and making careful notes and sketches of their architecture, plans and furnishings. His particular interest lay in the Gothic style, and in High Church principles, as his notes make clear. This volume contains architectural descriptions of 400 Yorkshire churches and abbeys compiled during his many visits. Interesting in their own right, they also provide an extremely accurate and valuable record of the fabric and fittings before their removal in restoration or the total demolition of churches. An introduction places Sir Stephen's life and work in the wider context of developing architectural and ritual scholarship. The text is accompanied by 250 contemporary water-colours and drawings, the majority from record sources and published for the first time. Together they provide a significant contribution to the study of Yorkshire church architecture at a time of rapid change.

The Best of John Hartley: an account of his life and "The Clock Almanack" - John Waddington-Feather, £6.99

Born in Halifax in 1839, John Hartley was well-known for his Yorkshire dialect poetry and prose, published in his "Clock Almanack". This book includes some of the best as well as a biography and a glossary of Yorkshire words.

Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths Around Rochdale - John Cole, £12.99
Takes the reader on a journey into the dark secret side of Rochdale's long history - from crimes of brutal premeditation to crimes born of passion and despair, with ghosts, skulduggery, forgery, betrayal, highway robbery and public executions thrown in for good measure.

October 2007

A Village Childhood - Gertrude M. Attwood, nee Ogden (£12)
A personal recollection of Mytholmroyd and Hebden Bridge in the 1920s and '30s. Gertrude looks back at those early years and describes how they influenced her life. Sumptuously illustrated, with lots of fascinating detail about everyday life.

The Deafening Sound of Silent Tears: the Story of Caring for Life - Juliet Barker*, £8.99
From the renowned local historian and biographer, a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Leeds-based charity Caring for Life, who help vulnerable young adults make a new start.

Eye Rhymes: Sylvia Plath's Art of the Visual - ed. Kathleen Connors; Sally Bayley (£25)

A side of Sylvia Plath that is scarcely known: her serious involvement in the visual arts from a very early age. She moved between art-making and writing constantly, integrating their elements with ease and pleasure. It was only at the age of 20 that she decided to leave fine art behind her as her chosen career, and opt for the written word. Eye Rhymes presents a magnificent range of Plath's art, most of it seen in print for the first time: childhood sketches, illustrated diaries, portraits, rich modernist and expressionist paintings, fashion images, photographs, and more.

Letters of Ted Hughes, ed. Christopher Reid (£30)
At the outset of his career Ted Hughes described letter writing as 'excellent training for conversation with the world', and he was to become a prolific master of this art which combines writing and talking. This selection begins when Hughes was seventeen, and documents the course of a life at once resolutely private but intensely attuned to other lives (including both adults and children): a life pared down to essentials and yet eventful, peripatetic, at times publicly controversial.

Lost Railways of South and West Yorkshire - Gordon Suggitt (£10.99)
The story of the railway age in South and West Yorkshire, beginning in 1755. Includes Bradford and Oxenhope.

September 2007

Gold Pieces - Phyllis Bentley* (£5.95)
Hilltop handloom weaver's son Dick Wade is pleased to find a boy of his own age to play with, but is he a true friend? Whose is the injured dog found on the moors? And who is flooding the area with clipped and forged coins, bringing the London authorities in with their questions and house searches? A gripping story based on the real history of the Cragg Vale Coiners, giving a fascinating insight into life in the Calder Valley and the local weaving industry over 200 years ago.

Antiquarian Yorkshire Books on CD-rom:

"The History and Antiquities of Halifax", "Ancient Halls in and Around Halifax" and  "Halifax Courier's Almanack 1937" - 3 books on one CDrom - Rev. John Watson, Arthur Comfort and Halifax Courier - £15
"Todmorden" 4 books on one CDrom - John Travis - £12
"The Yorkshire Coiners & Old and Pre Historic Halifax" - H. Ling Roth - £12
"The Northowram Nonconformist register", "Oliver Heywood's Diaries" (4 Volumes) and "Northowram, its History and Antiquities" - 6 books on one CDrom - J Horsfall Turner and Mark Pearson - £20
"The History of Brighouse, Rastrick and Hipperholme"  and "Independency at  Brighouse" - 2 books on one CDrom - J Horsfall Turner - £15
"Halifax, Families and Worthies", "History of Halifax" and "Halifax Guardian Almanack, 1908" - 3 books on one CDrom - J Horsfall Turner, John Crabtree and Halifax Guardian - £15

Over the Land - John Killick* (£10)

Hebden Bridge-based John Killick is best known for his work on communication with people with dementia and has broadcast on BBC Radio. This collection contains 23 poems inspired by the Scottish landscape with images from pastel drawings and oil paintings by a young Edinburgh artist, Alison McGill. Exclusively available in Hebden Bridge from The Book Case, and post free.

August 2007

Infamous Yorkshire Women - Issy Shannon* (£12.99)

From the well-known local journalist, a collection of remarkable women with Yorkshire connections - ranging from Queen Cartimandua of the Brigantes to Mary Newall of the Cragg Vale Coiners. Nicely presented and well illustrated.

Fabrics, Filth & Fairy Tents: The Yorkshire Textile Districts in 1849 - Angus Bethune Reach, ed. Chris Aspin (£6.99)

In 1849 Scottish investigative journalist Angus Bethune Reach toured the textile areas of the West Riding to report on the condition of the working class for the Morning Chronicle (which also published Mayhew's famous London reports). Reach visited Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Batley, Halifax, Bradford and Leeds; he praised some employers (Holdsworth's in Halifax, Marshall's in Leeds) but also found filth, squalor, extreme poverty, lethal working conditions and official apathy. His reports and the words of the people he spoke to bring to life how the glory days of the Yorkshire textile industry felt from the underside. Royd Press's first publication.

Power in the Landscape: water-powered mills in the Upper Calder Valley (£5)

Colour-illustrated pamphlet from Hebden Bridge Alternative Technology Centre with the history of watermills in the area. 48pp, colour and b-&-w illustrations, nicely produced.

Woodenface - Gus Grenfell (£5.99)
The author is aka ex-Hebden Bridge resident Gus Smith. Meg is a Maker, pouring life into the wooden dolls she carves. Accused of witchcraft, she flees to Halifax, only to find her father in jail, facing death by the gibbet. Desperate to save him, she must first learn what being a Maker really means. Local history and folklore combine in a compelling debut novel full of magic and suspense. Ages: 9-12 yrs

July 2007

Spirit of Yorkshire - John Morrison (£4.99)
From the well-known ex-local author and photographer, a neat little hardback book of colour photographs from all over Yorkshire. No pictorial book about Yorkshire is complete without a picture of Stubbings School and this one is no exception! Now in stock.

Curiosities of West Yorkshire - Robert Woodhouse (£12.99)
A guide to the remarkable and curious sites to be seen in West Yorkshire, including a few around our way.

Chelp and Chunter: how to talk Tyke - Ian McMillan (£5.99)

From the Brontes and James Herriot to the Arctic Monkeys, Yorkshire has a rich culture reflected in its dialect. Discover the origins of many well-known phrases and learn a few more!

The Scent Trail - Celia Lyttelton* (£15)

“A Journey of the Senses.” A travel memoir and vividly-drawn portrait of today's exotic world of perfume. Entering the heady, exotic world of oils and essences at a bespoke perfumer’s, the author (who lives in Hebden Bridge) was transported from a leafy London square to a place of long-forgotten memories and sensory experiences and felt compelled to trace the origins, history and culture of the many ingredients that made up her unique perfume.

June 2007

Pennine Perspectives: Aspects of the History of Midgley - Midgley History Group, ed. Ian Bailey, David Cant, Alan Petford and Nigel Smith (£18)

Launched at Midgley Pageant on 30th June, and two-and-a-half years in preparation, this splendid well-illustrated book covers many aspects of Midgley’s past, from pre-history, through to medieval times, the Victorian era and the early twentieth century. Topics include religion, railways, Murgatroyds’, quarrying, farming, self-help, housing, pubs, leisure, riots, geology and folklore. The whole of the ancient township of Midgley is covered, including Midgley Moor, Luddenden, Luddenden Foot and Mytholmroyd as well as the village. It has 352 pages, hardback with over 160 illustrations of photos, maps & archive documents.

Helix - Eric Brown* (£7.99)
From local author and Guardian columnist Eric Brown, an SF adventure about a group of human spacers who find themselves in a very strange star system, and the aliens who live there. Eric's book for younger readers, An Alien Ate Me for Breakfast, was published earlier this year.

Pennine Way: Edale to Kirk Yetholm - Keith Carter (£11.99)
Second edition of this Trailblazer publication. Includes itineraries for all walkers, whether walking the route in its entirety over one or two weeks or sampling the highlights on day walks.

The March and the Muster - Frank McManus (£7.99)
From Todmorden Labour Councillor Frank McManus a daybook and commonplace book with thoughts, observations, quotations or poems for each day of the year.

A Laureate's Landscape: walks around Ted Hughes's Mytholmroyd - John Billingsley (£4.50)

Engrossing and informative illustrated booklet that takes us around the area in which the ex-Poet Laureate grew up and which inspired some of his most memorable work. The relevant poems are referred to (but not quoted! - the copyright is closely guarded) in the text. Local historian John Billingsley has led many Ted Hughes walks around Mytholmroyd, and here is a permanent memento - or a good substitute if you are unable to take part.

Three Waymarked Walks from Hebden Bridge (50p)

A colourful folded leaflet with instructions and maps for visiting Hardcastle Crags avoiding the road, Heptonstall and Stoodley Pike.

A History and Guide to the Parish Church of Hebden Bridge, St James the Greater (£2)
Members of the Church and Local History Society produced this little nicely-illustrated booklet with a history of the church, built in the 1830s and guide to some features still to be seen. The 1933 centenary booklet was used as a basis. Profits to the church.

Mind Control: the ultimate revelation - David Shuttleworth (£7.99)
From a Keighley author and publisher, "the book Derren Brown wanted to ban!" Highly praised book with twelve mind control effects as used by stage hypnotists.

NW15: the anthology of new writing No. 15 - the British Council (£9.99)

Including Hebden Bridge-based poet John Siddique! See his website at http://www.johnsiddique.co.uk/

Calder Valley Offcuts

A new series of local historical pamphlets published by Royd Press at The Book Case, based on Mrs Irene Mallinson's transcription of Leslie Goldthorp's lectures in the 1970s. Available so far are:

1. The Normans and Medieval Times in the Calder Valley, £2.50

Three pamphlets on aspects of life in the 17th and 18th centuries as gleaned from the local Township books. The original source material quoted in these notes can be found amongst the township holdings held at West Yorkshire Archive Service, Calderdale.  For further information please contact calderdale@wyjs.org.uk/

2. Law & Order: Constables, Punishments and Prison (£2.50)

3. Overseers of the Poor - Paupers, Doctoring, Apprentices, Bastards and Workhouses; & Churchwardens (£2.50)

In preparation:

4. Overseers of Highways - Roads and Turnpikes

5. John Wesley's visits to the area

6. The Cragg Vale Coiners

The Bronte Connection - Ann Dinsdale (£6.95)

From the Collections Manager at the Bronte Parsonage Museum, a collection of 43 photographs associated with the Brontes' lives and works, with dates and information. Published by Hendon in Nelson.

A Guide to the Historic Haworth & the Brontes - Mark Ward, Ann Dinsdale and Robert Swindells (£5.99)

A new edition of an entertaining and informative guide to Haworth and the surrounding moor, written as a series of four walks with illustrations and lots of historical information. Also from Hendon of Nelson.

Romantic Wycoller: a haunt of the Brontes - E W Folley, photographs Charles Green (£2.99)

At a special price, a facsimile reprint of a book first published in 1949. Covers the history of Wycoller Dene and Hall, the arrival of the Cunliffes, the Bronte connection and local legends, with a surmise that Ferndean Manor of "Jane Eyre" was based on Wycoller. Many b&w illustrations.

May 2007

Folk Tales from Calderdale, Vol. 1 - John Billingsley* (£7.50)

The eagerly-awaited collection of tales from the moorlands of the Upper Calder Valley - the first of a projected series on the folklore of Calderdale by the well-known local historian. The Witches of Eagle Crag, the Cliviger Boggart, the Bride Stones, the Eve Stone, Stoodley Pike, Great Rock, Tom Bell's Cave, the Miller's Grave and Churn Milk Joan are included.

Rune - Michael Conneely* (£8.99)
Another magical and visionary novel from the local spiritual teacher - Cathal decides to seize the magic of the Runes on his 14th birthday and together with Lucy sets out to save the Nine Worlds. A powerful re-telling of Norse spirituality and Ragnarok.

April 2007

L. S. Lowry: A Life - Shelley Rohde*, £25.00
To coincide with the 30th anniversary of Lowry's death, this fascinating biography includes extracts from private letters which have come to light since Lowry's death and facsimile reproductions of major exhibition catalogues.

Ariel: the restored edition - Sylvia Plath, £9.99
The draft of "Ariel" left behind by Sylvia Plath when she died in 1963 is different from the volume of poetry eventually published to worldwide acclaim. This facsimile edition restores the selection and arrangement of the poems as Sylvia Plath left them at the point of her death. In addition to the facsimile pages of Sylvia Plath's manuscript, this edition also includes in facsimile the complete working drafts of the title poem "Ariel" in order to offer a sense of Plath's creative process, as well as notes
the author made for the BBC about some of the manuscript's poems. Pre-amble by Frieda Hughes.

Farewell Britannia: a family saga of Roman Britain - Simon Young, £14.99 at The Book Case
From a former Hebden Bridge man who "wears [his] considerable learning lightly", a historical novel telling the dramatic story of 400 years of Roman rule in Britain via a Roman-Celtic family saga.

Rambles of a Pennine Way-ster - Richard Pulk, £9.99

One man's account of the Pennine Way, which of course includes the local section - he's not very enthusiastic about our gradients.

Drive and Stroll in West Yorkshire - Ron Freethy, £7.99

20 short walks, incorporating eating places, that you can drive to, with b&w photos.

March 2007

Wordsworth: a Life in Letters - ed. Juliet Barker*, £12.99

Reissue as a Penguin Classic of this selection by award-winning local author from the poet's letters and autobiographical fragments, showing him as a rebel, a radical, a devoted family man and a revered patriarch.

I Did A Bad Thing - Linda Green*, £19.99

"Sarah Roberts used to be good. Then she did something bad. Very bad. Now, years later, she's living a good life, working as a local newspaper reporter and living with her saintly boyfriend Jonathan. ... Until Nick walks back into her life. And suddenly, what's good and bad aren't so clear to Sarah any more." The author, a freelance journalist, lives in Walsden with her husband and young son.

February 2007

Poems from a Northern Soul - John Siddique*, £6.95

Through poignant homecomings cinematic street scenes and candid portraits, this poetry collection aims to take the reader to the limits of human experience. 

Heart in My Head - John S Peart-Binns*, £16.99

A Biography of Richard Harries. The first biography of the Bishop of Oxford, written with his full approval, using personal papers and interviews. 'Throughout his life, ministry and episcopate, Harries has explored the reasonableness of Christianity. He has not abandoned orthodox belief to fit the current climate, and presents a mature vision of Christian faith which can meet contemporary criticism.'

Exploring Oxenhope: where to go and what to see - Reg Hindley, £9.99

Nine walks or rides around the former milltown in its surprisingly varied "highland" setting, with much detailed historical information along the way. Maps and b-and-w photos.

Heartsease - Judith Blaydes*, £15.00
From an ex-Halifax librarian, a family saga set in the Calder Valley against the backdrop of the moors, Sowerby Bridge and the Great War.

Hebden Bridge Treasure Hunt on Foot, £2.99
An attractive new version of this quirky walk around town. There's also a chance to win "buried treasure" by solving the baffling puzzle inside the front cover!

January 2007

The Backpacker's Guide to the New Spirituality by Michael Conneely*, £9.99
A magical child has been conceived in the modern west. A new spiritual form has been born out of Hinduism, Buddhism, the Pagan religions of Northern Europe, Shamanism, utopian community and astrology. This reforging of ancient traditions gives us new spiritual tools: ritual, meditation, tantra, body-energy-work, trance and vision; we find new beauty and power in what it means to be a woman or a man. Local astrologer and counsellor Michael Conneely reports on this spiritual revolution, based on the findings of a five-year field study in Glastonbury, now a world-wide centre of pilgrimage.

Believe in the Sign - Mark Hodkinson*, £9.99

From a respected national sports writer based in Hebden Bridge, a collection of pieces taking an in-depth look at football, with interviews (including Paul Gascoigne), the darker side of the game and his love-hate relationship with Rochdale FC. Published by Pomona of Hebden Bridge.

Transactions of the Halifax Antiquarian Society 2006 (Vol. 14, new series) - (ed.) John A. Hargreaves,* £15.00

This year's issue contains: The landscape history of Erringden Park from the 12th to 20th century - J A Heginbottom; A History of Cripplegate - John H Patchett; James Crossley (!800-1883) in Halifax: 'The learned boy', 1800-1817 - Stephen Collins; Chapel Culture: Methodists at King Cross, 1803-2007 - Lewis Burton; Joseph Horsfall (1818-1889): transformation from handloom weaver to cotton manufacturer, 1857-1873 - W L Horsfall; The People's park (1857-2005) - J G Washington; Halifax houses between the wars, 1919-1939 - Merial Evans; Halifax and the Second World War: the prelude to war and defensive precautions, 1937-1940 - Derek Bridges; The Twentieth Century Remembered: a 1920s and 1930s boyhood - Eric Webster; Reviews: "Images of England, Brighouse and District" by C. Helm & "Seeing It Through" by Peter Thomas (see below) - John Hargreaves; Enquiry & research; Reports for 2005; Obituary: Eric Webster.

Ideas Above Our Station - ed. Ian Daley, £8.99
Someone is waiting for a train - or a bus, or an aeroplane. They are alone. For company, they are carrying a book of stories: what would be the perfect read for them to find there? Fifteen writers have risen to the challenge, including two local authors, Penny Aldridge and Daithidh Maceochaidh.

December 2006

Heptonstall: A Village of Memories - Nick Wilding, DVD, £14.99, 1h22m

New from the Excalibur stable, a DVD devoted to Heptonstall: who is the strange and beautiful carving in the far corner of the old St Thomas-a-Becket Church, and what disturbing discovery was made in the loft above it? How did the old dialect affect communication with those from the south, and how did the original Church organ survive the anti-popish onslaught by soldiers of Elizabeth I? "Heptonstall, Village of Memories" embarks onto a fascinating journey into the past and brings to life many tales from long ago, with the usual mix of strange facts, quirky reminiscences and archive stills and video.

Valley Shadows: short stories by Bill Marsden, poems by Peter Coles, £5.00

The latest in the entertaining Shadows series with photos, poems and anecdotes.

Yorkshire Lives and Landscapes by Ian Emberson*, £12.99

The county and its people exploredby the local poet, playwright and artist in a series of gentle anecdotes such as: Life in a small village, Asian dancing in Huddersfield, walking the Pennine Way, the choral singing tradition, even gardening and studying local history.

Todmorden Buses: a Century of Service by Ralph Wilkinson*, £8.95

To mark the centenary of the establishment of Todmorden's municipal bus service, this book covers the history of Todmorden's passenger transport over the last hundred years, with links over the Pennines to Bacup, Burnley, Keighley, Littleborough, Oxenhope and Rochdale, and with particular emphasis on the all-Leyland fleet with its dark green and cream livery. The author is a native of Todmorden.

Benjamin Rushton, Handloom Weaver and Chartist by John Hargreaves*, £5.00
From well-known local historian Professor Hargreaves, the story of a Halifax local hero who struggled for justice for the handloom weavers from the time of the Peterloo Massacre in 1819 until the final years of Chartism in the 1850s.

Burnley Boys - P J Fyles, £9.99
A novel about Peter Frank Heaney and his mates growing up on the back streets of Burnley in the 1970s: the boys stumble through a male-dominated world of boyhood, encountering superstition violence, racism and death, getting by with the only weapon at their disposal - humour.

November 2006

Selected Translations by Ted Hughes*, ed. Daniel Weissbort, £20

A broad selection from his numerous translations, with unpublished material, and excerpts from essays and letters. The present volume selects from his versions from a wide variety of ancient texts - "The Tibetan Book of the Dead", "Aeschylus", "Euripides", "Ovid", "Seneca", "Racine" - and equally from a range of twentieth-century European poets and dramatists.

Discovering Calderdale Part 2 (video & DVD) - Peter Thornton* and Glyn Lee*, £12.99
This addition to the series starts in Todmorden, moves on to Cornholme, Lumbutts and Mankinholes climbs to Stoodley Pike, then continues through Mytholmroyd, Sowerby, Warley, Ripponden and Elland. The commentary is by Glyn Lee and photography - including aerial shots - by Peter Thornton. Due for release on 4 Nov. Part 1 covered Norland, Midgley, Luddenden, Cragg Vale and Walsden.

Todmorden Album 4 - Roger Birch* (£20)

This long-awaited fourth album provides a further fascinating insight into a century of life in Todmorden. The book contains 229 black and white photographs selected from private collections, family albums and picture archives, with detailed and informative captions.

The Tribe - Michael Conneely*(£9.99)

The Magic Land - Michael Conneely* (£8.99)
Two new novels from local spiritual teacher Michael Conneely - The Tribe is the story of Liam's passage to manhood, the development of his spiritual vision, and his people's progress to meet their destiny; in The Magic Land, Martin leaves his loveless home, where his father only cares about exam results and career, and goes to live on a protest site formed to protect a Bronze Age stone circle, where he finds happiness for the first time.

Look for the Silver Lining - Stephen Lockwood*(£15)
Tells of growth from a difficult childhood into adulthood - a book of landscapes, both internal and external, and of how nature can preserve us in the face of the increasing contingencies of modern life.

Sculpture Trail at Hebden Bridge 1995-2005 - Liza Blezard and Paula Chambers (£15)
Colour photos of the best of the (sadly now finished) annual sculpture trail at Hardcastle Crags, with artists' statements.

Bitch Lit - ed. Maya Chowdhry and Mary Sharratt (£8.99)
A smart and subversive celebration of female anti-heroes - who take the law into their own hands and refuse to be victims - with stories by two local authors.

The Last Coiner - Peter Kershaw (£6.00)
The story of the Cragg Vale Coiners in graphic novel version, linked to a potential film.

The Brontes at Haworth by Ann Dinsdale (£20)
Life for the Brontes in 1840s Haworth, and their novels and poetry in the context of their surroundings - with images from the Haworth archives, drawings by Charlotte and Emily, and photos by Simon Warner.

Cassini Historical Maps: Leeds and Bradford (104) & Blackburn & Burnley (103) (£6.49 each)

A new series - Victorian maps printed to coincide with the modern Ordnance Survey map areas. We also stock the Godrey Edition Old Ordnance Survey Maps of Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd 1905, £2.20 each.

Heritage Cartography - Map of Todmorden 1844 & Map of Hebden Bridge 1851 (£8.50 each)

Yorkshire Customs and Traditions, vol. 1 (DVD) (£14.99)

Filmed this year, presents Yorkshire customs from across the county.  West Yorkshire is in particular represented with the Bradford Race Walk, Hepworth Plague Feast, Saddleworth Brass Band Contest and the Dock Pudding Championship in Mytholmroyd.  Organisers and participants provide the voice-over.  Each custom is presented individually (ranging between 5 and 10 mins) on
this 85 mins film.

The Father of the Brontes: his life and work at Dewsbury and Hartshead - W W Yates, ed. Imelda Marsden (£14.99)
Facsimile edition of this biography of Patrick Bronte first published in 1897 - W W Yates was by profession a journalist and editor of the Dewsbury Reporter, but his passion was the novels and lives of the Brontes, and in the early 1890s helped in the campaign to found The Bronte Society and establish the Bronte Museum. Mrs Marsden has made additions to the original W W Yates book from her research into the Bronte family, including details of Patrick Bronte's niece, Rose Ann Heslip, who is buried at Whitechapel Church in Cleckheaton. Proceeds from the book go to Holly Bank School at Mirfield, for severely-disabled young people, which was originally Roehead School attended by Charlotte Bronte.

Full Spectrum: inspired healing for the 21st century - Leigh O'Regan* (£20)

From a Hebden Bridge author, a powerful synthesis of transpersonal psychology, quantum physics, eastern spirituality, philosophy and vibrational medicine, using self-selective non-intrusive tools.

The A-Z of Christmas - Arnold Kellett (£12.99)
Only "local" in the sense that the author is well-known for his Yorkshire Dialect books, and lives in Knaresborough - but the content of this cheerfully red book ranges through time and place.

October 2006

If You Fall: It's a New Beginning - Karen Darke*, £9.99
A few years ago, former Mytholmroyd resident and Calder High School pupil Karen Darke was on a rock-climbing expedition on sea cliffs in Scotland. She fell, and was paralysed. This is Karen's story about coming to terms with her loss of movement from the chest down and regaining the will to live. Out of her disability comes strength to embrace, challenge and transform it into an opportunity to learn and grow. It is also about the borderline between body and spirit. Karen is drawn into the world of faith healing and spirit surgeons in the Brazilian jungle. Combining wheels with wilderness, Karen escapes the city and embarks on an evermore daring series of adventures by hand-cycle, ski and kayak. Karen's story is inspiring and energizing; it will help everybody who reads it to respond positively, to overcome adversity, and to strive for their dreams.

Don't Wear It On Your Head, Don't Stick It down Your Pants - John Siddique*, £4.95
A book of poems for young people with a great cover! A celebration of who we are: the good stuff, our amazing senses, language, love, gossip and cheese.

Halifax Passenger Transport from 1897 to 1963: trams, buses, trolleybuses - Geoffrey Hilditch, £27.50
Geoffrey Hilditch remembers seeing a series of lights climbing into the night sky in 1931 - this was a tram or bus climbing to Southowram against the backdrop of Beacon Hill. In 1954 he was appointed head of the Engineering Department of Halifax Passenger Transport and when he returned as General Manager in 1963, he decided to put together a history before it was too late. 336 pages, 220 illustrations, hardback with printed endpapers and dustjacket.

Hannah Hauxwell's Winter Tales (DVD), £12.99
Not too far afield - this DVD combines "Too Long a Winter" and "A Winter Too Many" when Hannah was living at Low Birk Hatt Farm in North Yorkshire.

September 2006

Anthills and Stars - Kevin Duffy*, £7.99

From new Hebden Bridge publishers Blue Moose, a novel set back in 1968 when the Permissive Society was arriving in a grey northern town 20 miles east of Manchester in a multi-coloured VW camper van. The scene is set for a clash between laid-back hippy offcomer Solomon and his neighbour, a beige-dressing resident matriarch. Long-term Hebden Bridge residents may think this all sounds rather familiar ...

The Bridge Between - Nathan Vanek, £7.99

The author, a well-known Canadian yogi and guru, muses on the lessons learnt from returning to Canada after 25 years in India, with insights into the contrasts between the two countries. Another Blue Moose publication.

Ghosts and Gravestones of Haworth - Philip Lister, £8.99

Join local guide Phil Lister as he takes you on a tour of Haworth's dark and ghostly side: meet the ghost of Room 7 at the Old White Lion, the Grey Lady of Weavers Restaurant, and Ponden Hall's harbinger of doom, Old Greybeard. Tour the famous graveyard, in use for over 700 years ago and believed to house over 40,000 souls! Rediscover the Haworth of the Brontes, the blackened-stone buildings, washed by Pennine rain, the ginnels and alleyways of a forgotten time, overcrowded candlelit cottages, woolcombers, weavers, clogs, poverty and pride.

Sycorax - J B Aspinall, £11.95

In the credulous squalor of Medieval Yorkshire, a peasant girl is accused of being a sorceress and the tale is told many years later by a flawed monk at Byland Abbey (now Ampleforth). A satire on patriarchal prejudice and superstition.

Straight Ahead - Clare Shaw*, £7.95
First collection from a local poet - firmly based in the social and physical landscape of northern England, the poems capture intimacy, loss, fragmentation and delight, and follow the trajectory of a life through childhood, breakdown and love.

August 2006

Circular Walks along the Pennine Way by Kevin Donkin, £12.99

A series of fifty circular walks along and around the route. All of them can be accomplished in a day; all of them finish where they started. Completing the Pennine Way in one go will inevitably mean missing some of the best views, as the weather will certainly descend sooner or later to obscure the landscape. The walks included in this guidebook were adopted by the Countryside Agency for its 40th anniversary celebration of the Pennine Way, with an event entitled 'Walk the Way in a Day' held on 24 April 2005.

July 2006

Agincourt by Juliet Barker*, paperback, £8.99

Now in paperback, this brilliant narrative by a local prize-winning author commemorates and analyses a canonical battle in British history. Agincourt took place on 25th October 1415 and was a turning point not only in the Hundred Years War between England and France, but also in the history of weaponry. Azincourt (as it is now) is in the Pas-de-Calais, and the French were famously defeated by an army led by Henry V. His stunning victory revived England's military prestige and greatly strengthened his territorial claims in France. "Agincourt" was serialised on Radio 4.

Yorkshire Post Calendar 2007 (£5.50)

New format and featuring Yorkshire recipes as well as colour photos of the county.

Moods of Yorkshire - John Morrison (£14.99)
The many faces of Yorkshire from moors and valleys to coast, and from great houses built with slave-trade money to back-to-backs, all captured in John Morrison's stunning photos.

Hebden Bridge Treasure Hunt on Foot (£2.99)
New edition in booklet form of this walk around town visiting places of interest, historical and otherwise.

June 2006

Deliciously Dales - Sally Scantlebury and Rebecca Roberts (£6.99)

Colour-illustrated book of local food trails around the Dales, introducing some of the finest producers and outlets from the region.

Student Guide to Sylvia Plath - Marnie Pomeroy (Greenwich Exchange Student Guide), £9.99
Interested readers can see how Plath's prose relates to her poetry. "The Unabridged Journals", where Sylvia practised her craft, stand without the poems. "The Bell Jar" and the short stories are the result of the practice that went into the "Journals", illustrating stages in Sylvia's career as well as aspects of herself.

Millstone Grit by Glyn Hughes* (£3.95)
We're delighted to have back in stock some copies of the 1985 Pan edition of this local classic.

Textile Voices: A Century of Mill Life - Olive Howarth & Tim Smith (£12.95)

An updated edition of this acclaimed collection of oral history and over 100  photographs of mill life in twentieth century Bradford. Click here for a selection of photographs.

CalderCask Real Ale Guide – CAMRA (£2.99)

May 2006

Rebel Girls: their Fight for the Vote - Jill Liddington* (£14.99)
Rejecting the deadening conventions of their Victorian elders, the rebel girls demanded new freedoms and new rights. They took their suffrage message out to the remotest Yorkshire dales and fishing harbours, to win Edwardian hearts and minds. 16-year- old Huddersfield weaver Dora Thewlis on arrest was catapulted onto the tabloid front-pages as Baby Suffragette. Her life was transformed. Dancer Lilian Lenton waited till her twenty-first birthday - then determined to burn two buildings a week until the
Liberal government granted women the vote. Rebel Girls shows how this daring campaigning shifted from community suffragettes to militant mavericks. And includes Hebden Bridge's very own Lavena Saltonstall of Unity Street!

L S Lowry - Shelley Rohde* (£18)

A new illustrated biography of the artist. The author, who lives in Cragg Vale, met Lowry several times, and collections of his letters were made available to her.

Her Husband - Diane Middlebrook (£7.99)

Ted Hughes married Sylvia Plath in 1956, at the outset of their brilliant careers. Plath's suicide six and a half years later, for which many held Hughes accountable, changed his life, his closest relationships, his standing in the literary world and brought new significance to his poetry. In this biography of their marriage, Diane Middlebrook renders a portrait of Hughes as a man, as a poet and as a husband, haunted - and nourished - his entire life by the aftermath of his first marriage. Middlebrook presents Hughes as a complicated, conflicted figure: sexually magnetic, fiercely ambitious, immensely caring and shrewd in business. She argues that Plath's suicide, though it devastated Hughes and made him vulnerable to the savage attacks of Plath's growing readership, ultimately gave him his true subject - recreating himself for posterity through his marriage to Sylvia Plath and his struggles within his own historical circumstances. New paperback edition.

Moortown Diary - Ted Hughes (£8.99)
Updated version of Ted Hughes's acclaimed Devon farming sequence, 1979 and 1989.

Green Networks of the Dales - Colin Speakman (£10.99)
From the originator of the Dales Way, twenty linear walks of 12-25 miles designed to appeal to the serious walker who wants to leave the car behind - they all tie in with public transport. With

photos and maps.

Homer's Odyssey - Simon Armitage* (£14.99)
"The Odyssey" is a book of changes, and Simon Armitage's retelling of Homer's epic quickens and revitalizes our sense of it as oral poetry: as indeed one of the greatest of tall tales. His version bristles with the economy, wit and guile that we have come to expect from one of the most individual voices of his generation.

Odsal Odysseys: the history of Bradford Rugby League - Phil Hodgson (£19.99)

The glory years and dramatic transformations in fortunes since the original Bradford club was formed in 1863, becoming in turn Bradford, Bradford Northern and Bradford Buls, the reigning Rugby League world champions.

A History of the Lord Nelson (Luddenden) - J. A. Heginbottom (£3.00)
Published in 1991, this little booklet, illustrated by Abigail Edgar, gives the history of the Luddenden pub and its local connections.

Four Fathers - Tom Palmer* (ed.), John Siddique*, Ray French and James Nash (£8.99)
Four sons reveal the bonds that exist between themselves and their very different fathers; then turn the tables and consider their own roles as fathers and father figures. Mixes memoir with fiction. Tom Palmer is Todmorden-based, and the poet John Siddique lives in Hebden Bridge.

Pocket Pub Walks in West Yorkshire - Keith Wadd (£4.99)
From the chairman of the West Riding Ramblers' Association, 15 walks, max 7-8 miles, encompassing Ilkley Moor in the north to Holme in the south, and Lumbutts and Hebden Bridge in the west to Fairburn Ings in the east. Instructions, sketch maps, photos, recommended pubs, convenient size.

L S Lowry Edition MEMORY card game (£9.99)
In a nice clunky box, a Lowry version of Kim's Game, featuring details from seventeen of his works. Put together by local author Shelley Rohde, who is the author of two books on Lowry.

Brass Castles: West Yorkshire New Rich and Their Houses 1800-1914 - George Sheeran (£14.99)
The West Yorkshire families who grew rich through commerce and industry during the Industrial Revolution used their newly acquired wealth to build houses and gardens that were markedly different from those of older landed and commercial families. "Brass Castles" is the first book to explore these nineteenth-century mansions as a group in their own right and examines the urban as well as the rural homes of ninety-two of the wealthiest "New Rich" families.

Magical Cross Stitch - pub. David & Charles (£18.99)

Hebden Bridge textile designer and Book Case member of staff Carol Thornton is one of the contributors to this new book on cross-stitch. The front cover features one of Carol's designs, "Phoenix Rising".

The Brontes' Haworth  - S R Whitehead (£6.95)

The place and the people the Brontes knew. Drawing on previously unpublished material, this book explores the physical and social fabric of Haworth at the time the Brontes lived there. With over eighty early photographs, portraits and diagrams.

April 2006

The Laughter of Foxes: A Study of Ted Hughes - Keith Sagar (£18.50)
Second revised edition of the first study to survey the whole of Hughes's achievement. Includes extracts from Hughes's letters to the author, a detailed chronology of his life and work by Anna Skea, and the first publication of the background story of "Crow".

Dr. James Graham's Celestial Bed - Gaia Holmes* (£7.95)
From a Luddenden-born poet a debut collection which digs beneath the surface of mundane urban life to reveal a remarkable seam of exoticism. Her carnival of characters - bingo callers, burger sellers, critical theorists - are all cast from the least expected places but, rejuvenated by Gaia's verse, find a new voice and a new ability to captivate. 

The Playroom - John Connor (£5.99)

Another thriller about Bradford-based DC Karen Sharpe from a locally-based senior criminal lawyer with the Crown Prosecution Service. In this one, the daughter of a Bradford judge is kidnapped.

Local Routes: touring England by Bus, Boat and Train: the North Country - Jean Morris (£7.95)

Six flexible tours, each about a week long, around the North of England, by bus, boat and train, with public transport and accommodation info as well as activities and history.

March 2006

Milltown Memories No 15 - Spring 2006 (£2.80)
Sadly this is the last issue but the publishers will continue as part of the Pennine Heritage organisation to which the Alice Longstaff Gallery Collection has been gifted. This issue focuses on floods in the Calder Valley - with some splendid photos, Sir Bernard Ingham looking back on his early days in journalism, a Todmorden bus crash in 1921, events of 1896, and an index to issues. The website address is www.milltownmemories.org.uk and e-mails should be sent to info@milltownmemories.org.uk

New Freedom to Roam Guides from Andrew Bibby*, £8.99 each:

Wharfedale and Nidderdale: The Southern Yorkshire Dales

Wensleydale and Swaledale: Northern Yorkshire Dales

Three Peaks and the Howgill Fells by Sheila Bowker, ed. Andrew Bibby

North York Moors by Judy Armstrong, ed. Andrew Bibby

Andrew Bibby, The Book Case and Francis Lincoln will be launching the books at Mooch Wine Bar, Market Street, Hebden Bridge, 6.00-7.00pm on Monday March 6th. All welcome!

Shaking Hands with Michael Rooney - Tom Palmer*, £2.99
“It’s a book aimed at reluctant readers between eight and 11, as well as older children who haven’t learnt to enjoy reading. I called him Michael Rooney as a composite of Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney. I couldn’t get permission to use a real footballer’s name and it sounds better than Wayne Owen. It’s the story of a boy with a hand tremor who overcomes his fear of collecting the Golden Boot prize for scoring the most goals in his league.” From the Todmorden-based Co-Ordinator for the Reading Partners project.

All-Terrain Pushchair Walks: Yorkshire Dales - Rebecca Terry, £7.95
30 tried and tested pushchair walks – including routes by river sides, high-level moorland rambles, and strolls around the many country estates, castles and abbeys. All the walks are graded – from simple low-level strolls to more ambitious moorland stomps. Each comes with a simple at-a-glance key making walk selection easy; there’s a map and route description for each walk and information on refreshments and changing facilities.

Nicholson Guide to Waterways 5: North-West & the Pennines (£12.99)
New edition.

Oxford Companion to the Brontes - Christine Alexander
Comprehensive and detailed information about the lives, works, and reputations of the Brontes, aiming to evoke the milieu in which they lived and worked and revealing the complex interrelation between their lives, writings and times. (£14.99)

Todmorden Travellers - E. M. Savage (£2)
"A snapshot of what life was like for some of the intrepid travellers to the New World" - including Canada, Australia, American and New Zealand. I'd been wondering why when I typed "Todmorden" into Google Earth it took me to Ontario - blame the Helliwells!

Kafka in Bronteland - Tamar Yellin (£9.99)

Thirteen stories from a Haworth area author, giving voice to a rich mix of characters living outside traditional patterns of identity, in a world of complex migrations and tumultuous change. In the title story, a Jew and a Muslim cast adrift in a Yorkshire landscape find momentary sisterhood over a copy of the Koran.

180 Not Out - A pictorial history of cricket in Halifax, Huddersfield and District: Vol.1: Calderdale - Dr Peter Davies & Rob Light (£10)

A product of a two-year project designed to preserve and celebrate the rich cricketing heritage of Calderdale and Kirklees and provides a fascinating insight into the history of local cricket in West Yorkshire. The other two volumes are on North and South Kirklees.

Northern Earth 105 (£1.95)
Of particular local interest this month, this issue has an illustrated article by Dr Eddie Cass on the Pace Egg Play.

Peter Pegnall: Foul Papers (£5.95)
A new collection from the local poet - "a poetry of pain and loss, decay in the secretive lives of fearful souls who must put on a bold face, tell a joke and blank out their hidden terrors". Also back in stock Through the Rock (£7.00) and Broken Eggs (£5.95)

February 2006

All-Terrain Pushchair Walks: West Yorkshire - Rebecca Terry and Rebecca Chippendale, £7.95
Pushchair-friendly routes in the spectacular country side around Keighley, Bradford, Leeds, Halifax, Huddersfield and Wakefield.
There’s wood land, moor land, canals, parks, and walks with a train journey in the middle – visiting Ilkley Moor, Hardcastle Crags,
Hebden Bridge and the River Wharfe.

AD 500: a Journey through the Dark Isles of Britain and Ireland - Simon Young*, £8.99
From a former Hebden Bridge man, and now in paperback, a novel written as a practical survival guide for the use of civilised visitors to the barbaric islands of Britain and Ireland. The Romans have left, and the islands are now fought over by Irish, British Celts, Picts and Saxons. It is a dangerous world, full of tribal war and social pitfalls. Cheviot bandits, bizarre forms of Christianity, boat burials, peculiar haircuts, human sacrifice, poetry competitions, slave markets, the legend of King Arthur - these are the realities of life in the sixth century AD.

The Brontes (Authors in Context) - Patricia Ingham

Shows how the Brontes’ works reflect the preoccupations of the age in which they lived and address the burning issues of the day: class, gender, race, religion, and mental disorders; how film and other media have reinterpreted the novels for the twenty-first century. Includes a chronology of the Brontes, suggestions for further reading, websites, illustrations, and a comprehensive index. (£7.99)

From local publishers Pennine Pens:

A Kink of a Life - Paul Goodchild, £8
Autobiography of a child of the '40s from a dysfunctional family who went from an orphanage to the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll of the '60s, travelled widely and met all sorts of famous people, from Chuck Berry to the Dalai Lama.

January 2006

Orchid - Deborah Wales, £6.99
From a Rochdale author, a "chilling yet disturbingly erotic thriller from the dark side".

December 2005

L. S. Lowry Card Games: Child's Play, £5.99; Quartet, £7.99
From local author Shelley Rohde, who wrote "L. S. Lowry: a Biography", two card games based on details from Lowry's paintings. The "Child's Play" cards are regular card size and the game is a version of Happy Families - you collect animals or mills or whatever. "Quartet" has larger cards and the players collect all four of a series - when put together you see the whole picture.

Rembrandt: An A-Z - (ed.) Shelley Rohde*, £16.99
Celebrating the 400th anniversary of Rembrandt's birth: 140 colour illustrations.

Country of the Broad Acres: a History of Yorkshire - David Hey, £24.00
The history of Yorkshire is more varied than that of any other English county. Lavishly illustrated account from the Stone Age through the Bronze Age, Angles, Vikings, Normans, Reformation, Civil War and onwards, explaining the effects of the developments on each of of the Ridings - and the influence of upper Calder Valley farmsteads on family names (Ackroyd, Murgatroyd, Midgley ...) The author has ancestors from all three Ridings! Initial info on price was incorrect - apologies

Yorkshire's Picture Post, £14.99
Over 250 images taken from the Yorkshire Post's photographic archives depicting Yorkshire in all its seasonal glory.

Pilgrims from Loneliness - Ian Emberson*, £9.99
From the Bronte Society, an interpretation of "Jane Eyre" and "Villette"

From Halifax publisher Mark Metcalf:

The Night Shift - Ian Newton (£4.99)
Six episodes of sit-com from Ian Newton of "Dustbingate". The world of the night shift worker is a strange place indeed and it breeds its own crusty characters who find the darkness and the absence of the bosses an excuse to have some real fun.

Radical and Revolting: The English Working Class (£2.50)
Nine chapters deal with episodes of revolt in English working class life from the Diggers to the 21st century.

From Hebden Bridge publishers Pomona:

Zone of the Interior by Clancy Sigal, £9.99
"First UK publication of the classic and controversial novel which defined, described, and indeed was, a radically profound moment of madness."

A fictional account of his experiences and experiments in drug-taking and consciousness alongside R D Laing in the 1960s. Laing himself was unhappy with the book and it was banned until his death.

Mean with Money by Hunter Davies, £9.99
Mean With Money, inspired by Hunter Davies’ well-loved column in The Sunday Times, is wilfully short on practical advice but offers instead good humour and much-needed empathy as we face the corporate horror of high-handed and indifferent financial institutions.

November 2005

Milltown Memories 14: Winter 2005, £2.80

Sad news - this is to be the penultimate issue - although the publishers have exciting new plans in the pipeline. This issue has a centre-spread of a pre-clearance Bridge Lanes and a panoramic view of Old Town, plus Christmas Past, John Travis of Todmorden, the Heptonstall Players, the snowy winter of 1947, ghosts at Broadbottom and more.

Seeing It Through (Halifax and Calderdale during World War II) - Peter Thomas*, £10.00
A major local event, this book brings together local memories and photographs from the War years, beginning with "That Fateful Broadcast". Look out for the picture of Savile Park under the plough to Dig for Victory! NOW IN STOCK.

Dancing Out of the Dark Side - Glyn Hughes*, £8.95
A welcome return to print with his first book of poetry for over twenty years, to be launched at Artsmill Gallery on 12th November, 7-9pm.

Bronte Ways Video/DVD, Part 2 - Ray Riches & Peter Thornton, £12.99 ea.
A walk on the Bronte Way from Haworth via Top Withins ("Wuthering Heights") and Wycoller Village ("Jane Eyre") to Gawthorpe Hall (home of Charlotte Bronte’s friends the Kay-Shuttleworths).

Halifax Corporation Tramways - Eric Thornton & Stanley King, £17.99

Illustrated history of this traditional double-deck tramway system, from the late 19th-century launch through their spread to the surrounding area (including Hebden Bridge) to their demise in 1939, with a melancholy poem in the Courier. "Halifax is in the shadow of the Pennines so many routes were steep, greatly adding to the interest," say the publishers. With maps, photos and route details.

First Ever Vegetarian/Vegan Guide to Yorkshire - Mary & David Brown, £2.00

Lists shops, cafes, restaurants, clubs and B&Bs all over Yorkshire, including the Calder Valley.

The Summer the Dictators Fell - Glyn Hughes*

Short stories set in Greece in 1974-5 - to be launched at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Bretton Hall, Wakefield, on 17th December.

Pandemonium in the Pennines - Kathryn Summersgill, £5.99
From a Keighley author, a "humorous chronicle of extraordinary events with an unpredictable climax" - including two guinea pigs eating the church's commemoration hassocks.

From Halifax great-grandmother Kathleen McBurney*, an ATS veteran of the Second World War, three books at £6.95 each: Bend the Bough Gently, a collection of reminiscences from the pit disaster that took her father, through her ATS experiences, to the deaths of her husband and mother; and Little Gems and Poems with Little Gems, which recall special moments, special people and special sights.

The Outlaw Robin Hood: His Yorkshire Legend - Barbara Green*, £4.99

A reissue of this booklet f rom the founder member of the Yorkshire Robin Hood Society, claiming Robin Hood back from Nottingham. History of the legend, maps and local references. See www.robinhoodyorkshire.co.uk

Cards from local artist Lynn Breeze*, Star Baby and Snow Baby, based on pictures from her new books, "My New Baby" and "My Day Out", £1.50 each

October 2005

Collected Poems for Children by Ted Hughes*, £16.99
illustrated by Raymond Briggs
Collects, for the first time, four decades of Hughes's children's poems, from Meet My Folks! (1961) to The Mermaid's Purse. illustrated by Raymond Briggs, with two hundred original illustrations, the book is presented by reading age, beginning with poems for younger readers and working up to Hughes's material for young adults.

Yorkshire Greats: the county's fifty finest - Bernard Ingham, £19.99
Sumptuous colour-illustrated hardback on Yorkshire characters ranging from Guy Fawkes to Alan Bennett.

Agincourt by Juliet Barker*, £20

In this landmark study, prize-winning author Juliet Barker draws upon a huge range of sources to give a compelling account of the battle, when on a rainy October day in 1415 against all the odds, 9,000 exhausted English men claimed victory from an army of 20,000. She also looks behind the action on the field to paint a portrait of the age, moving from the ambition of kings to the dynamics of daily life in peace and war.

That's the Forecast: the Best and Worst of Yorkshire Weather - Paul Hudson, £10.99
The region's weather at its most stunning with lots of photographs.

The Prize by John Siddique,* £7.95
First full collection of poetry from Hebden based poet, currently the Poet in Residence for Commonword and BBC Manchester. His subjects range widely and he has worked with young offenders and psychiatric patients. His webpage can be found at
http://www.johnsiddique.co.uk/ and for a recent interview published in the Guardian, go to http://society.guardian.co.uk/publicinquiry/0,14099,1099079,00.html

Untold Stories - Alan Bennett, £20
Alan Bennett's first major collection since 'Writing Home', a compendium of some of his finest and funniest writing from the last nine years, including significant unpublished work. Also in double CD form, Parts 1 & 2, at £12.99 each.

Yorkshire in a Crombie - Craig Bradley*, £6.95
When the author inherited his Uncle Jim’s coat, it smelt of the past, full of flat caps, muck and brass. This book asks what Yorkshire is today.

Craig is Reader in Residence for Calderdale Libraries. Go to http://www.craigbradley.com/crombie.html for more info. (£6.95)

The Letters of the Reverend Patrick Bronte, ed. Dudley Green, £16.00
First ever complete collection of his surviving letters, some never before published. This book helps rehabilitate the Reverent Bronte's reputation and reveals a very human side to this misunderstood man.

A Portrait of Bradford - John Morrison*, £12.99

From the well-known local photographer, a collection of stunning colour images of Bradford to make Bill Bryson eat his words.

My First Tooth - My New Potty - My Day Out - My New Baby - Lynn Breeze*, £3.99 each
Colourful board books about these big experiences!

Together Again - Willy Irvine with Dave Thomas, £17.99
Willy Irvine was a star goal-scorer with Burnley in their glory days, but after he broke a leg against Everton he was never the same, drifting into lower leagues with Preston, Brighton and finally Halifax. He touched bottom with a suicide attempt and now works part-time for Burnley FC. This is the story of his life.

Wonderwall - ed. Anthony Cropper & Ian Daley, £8.99
Including a story, "Rich Tea and Custard Creams" by Todmorden author Penny Aldred, who won first prize in the Northern Echo/Orange short story competition in 2004.

September 2005

Centenary Souvenir Booklet of the Hebden Bridge Literary and Scientific Society 1905-2005, £3.00
The Lit & Sci celebrates its first hundred years with some relevant extracts from Milltown Memories and historic Hebden Bridge photos not published before.

Weird Calderdale - Paul Weatherhead*, £7.99
Strange and incredible events from the Calderdale area, ranging from UFOs in Todmorden to a vampire infesting Robin Hood's grave near Brighouse. New revised edition with two new chapters and substantial updates.

August 2005

Milltown Memories 13: Autumn 2005, £2.80
This issue celebrates 100 years of Hebden Bridge's excellent Literary and Scientific Society, pays tribute to the late and much-missed Lloyd Greenwood, visits Slack and Catholes Stones, objects to Mytholmroyd Station 1871, traces William Holt Greengrocers back to its roots on Market Street 125 years ago, revisits Keep Fit (including bloomers) through the years and also includes the Little Theatre, a murder on Wadsworth Moor, a handdrawn picture of the opening of Todmorden Town Hall and a striking b-&-w photo of Keith Astin descending steps at the bottom of Birchcliffe in 1962.

Owl's Supper by Jacki Reed* (£5.65)
Lovely colour-illustrated story for young children by local teacher and headteacher about a short-sighted mouse out alone in the dangerous woods when Owl is out hunting. First of a series: this one deals with safety, loyalty and friendship.

July 2005

Collected Poems of Ted Hughes* (£16.99)
This massive work now in paperback - 1376 pages. Delayed at printers, but due late August. Now in stock.

Silent Woman: Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes - Janet Malcolm (£8.99)
New edition. Examines the biographies of Sylvia Plath, with particular focus on Anne Stevenson's controversial 'Bitter Fruit', to discover how Plath became the enigma of literary history, and how the legend continues to exert such a hold on our imaginations.

Pendle Calendar 2006 - Alastair Lee (£8.99)
Panoramic photographs of the Pendle area in calendar form.

The What? Where? Guide to South & West Yorkshire (£3.50)
56-page colour booklet to the main towns and their attractions, colour-coded and mentions The Pace Egg Play and Hebden Bridge Festival, as well as the Little Theatre, Picture House, Trades Club and Alternative Technology Centre, etc. in the case of HB. And geographically covers an area spanning Todmorden, Ilkley, Tadcaster, Doncaster and Rotherham.

Hebden Bridge Calendar, 2006 - Geoff Boswell* (£4.50)
Twelve colourful and atmospheric views of the area from well-known local photographer and room to write your notes.

Ramblers' Association Book of Kiddiwalks - 70th Jubilee Edition (£5.99)
Thirty short Family Rambles in and near West Yorkshire, including five around Calderdale. This revised edition contains some of the old favourites but also a selection of new walks. Kiddiwalks are short circular walks from 1.5 to 4 miles with lots of interest for small children.

Recollections of the Brontes - George Sowden (£3)
Personal recollections of the Brontes by theVicar of Hebden Bridge, first published 1894, republished by Ian and Catherine Emberson.

Sinner Saved by Grace - Michael Haslam* (£8.95)
The title of Michael Haslam's new poetry collection comes from the inscription on a lonely and isolated gravestone the the poet came across while walking on the moors above his home in the Calder Valley.

History of Hauntings in Halifax - Linda Francis (folder with CD of photos, £7.50)
For other publications from Haunted Truths, click here.

June 2005

Pennine Way - Tony Hopkins, £16.99
This year sees the 40th Anniversary of the Pennine Way. This is a large format, illustrated celebration of Britain's most famous long distance footpath. The background text provides the reader with information on landscape, flora, fauna, agriculture, rural life along the path and the history of the Pennine Way.

White Stuff - Simon Armitage*
Felix and Hannah are happily married, living somewhere in the Pennines, but there is a sadness in their lives - they've been trying to have a baby for five years with no luck. (£7.99)

The Other Ariel, ed. Lynda K Bundtzen, £9.99
Sylvia Plath's second collection 'Ariel', published posthumously in 1965, received superb reviews and became one of the best-selling books of poetry published in the 20th century. What is less well known is that the poems it contains are not the ones Plath herself selected when she assembled her manuscript. This book compares Sylvia Plath's original typescript to the published version.

Hebden Bridge publisher Pomona (www.pomonauk.co.uk) have two titles by Barry Hines (Kestrel for a Knave) coming out: The Price of Coal (£9.99), first published in 1979 when Britain still had a coal industry, and adapted for TV by Ken Loach, and Looks and Smiles (£9.99), a gritty social commentary about teenagers growing up in the late 1970's and early 1980's in a working class suburb of Sheffield.

May 2005

Milltown Memories 12: Summer 2005, £2.80
The summer issue seasonally includes holiday excursions in times past with photos, royal celebrations, the orphans of Luddendean Dean, old Todmorden, memories of Martin Parr and two more of his splendid local photos, events of 1932, Henpecked Husbands, the fire at St Peter's, Walsden, pigeon fanciers, and the history and conversion of Pecket Well Mill.

Electric Edwardians: the Films of Mitchell & Kenyon, DVD, £19.99
A second and more comprehensive selection of highlights from the 'Mitchell And Kenyon Collection' of films of everyday in Edwardian Britain under five distinct themes. This collection is close to that shown at Hebden Picture House and films include: "Tram Ride into Halifax 1902", Youth and Education: Audley Range School, Blackburn (c1904), Blackburn (1905), Morecombe Church Lads Brigade (1901), Birmingham University degree day procession (1901. Workers: Lumb and Co leaving the Works, Huddersfield (1900), Pendlebury Colliery (1901), Lord Elswick Works, Newcastle on Tyne (1900), Glebe Mills, Hollinwood (1901), Parkgate Iron and Steel Co, Rotherham (1901), North Sea Fisheries, North Shields (1901), Cunard Vessel at Liverpool (1901). High Days and Holidays: Whitsuntide Fair at Preston (1906), Manchester Band of Hope Procession (1901), Blackpool Victoria Pier (1904), Leeds Athletic and Cycling Club carnival (1902), Dewsbury v Manningham (1902), Sedgwicks Bioscope Show Front (1901), Accrington v Church Cricket Match (1902), Halifax Catholic Procession (1905), Burnley v Manchester United (1902), Sheffield United v Bury (1902), Preston Egg Rolling (1901). Plus items not listed above. 30th May.

suelawty - rock - raphia - linen - lead, £12.50
From local textile artist Sue Lawty a book of fantastic colour photographs of her work with textures, published by Bankfield Museum.

Body Shots to the Heart - Phil McGrath* (£5.99)
Autobiographical novel from Halifax ("Trufax") ex-boxer about local boy Tyrone Fallon about to confront the British Featherweight champion but also fighting his own past and the ghost of his father.

Addict - Stephen Smith (£6.99)
Autobiography of a London East Ender who started thieving as a teenager, was sent to an asylum by his parents and got into drugs and crime. He ended up sleeping on the streets of Mixenden and St John's, Halifax, where he remembers the local people as being kind and practical, eventually helping him back to London and a stable life. The book sold well on its first release in the 1990s and it's now going to be filmed, partly in Halifax, by Andy Serkis of Gollum fame.

Haworth: a History - Steven Wood, £7.99
Haworth is mainly known for its association with the Brontes, but this book looks at other aspects of its history, its former farming, textile and quarrying industries, its houses, shops, inns, churches, reservoirs and gasworks, 19th-century popular beliefs, and some less well-known aspects of the Brontes connection.

April 2005

AD 500: a Journey through the Dark Isles of Britain and Ireland - Simon Young*, £13.99 at The Book Case
From a former Hebden Bridge man, a novel written as a practical survival guide for the use of civilised visitors to the barbaric islands of Britain and Ireland. The Romans have left, and the islands are now fought over by Irish, British Celts, Picts and Saxons. It is a dangerous world, full of tribal war and social pitfalls. Cheviot bandits, bizarre forms of Christianity, boat burials, peculiar haircuts, human sacrifice, poetry competitions, slave markets, the legend of King Arthur - these are the realities of life in the sixth century AD.

Railway Moods: the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway - Mike Heath, £12.99
Photographic journey highlighting the diversity of the landscape, the effect of the changing seasons and weather, and the various events associated with the railway. The railway is of course also famous for its association with the original film of The Railway Childrenby E. Nesbit. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the book, Jenny Agutter is visiting Haworth Park on 1st May to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust

March 2005

British Railways Past & Present: Yorkshire, the West Riding, Part 1 (No. 48) - John Hillmer & Paul Shannon (£15.99)
One of a series of books featuring photographs of railway locations taken several decades ago and comparing them with the same scene today. This one covers Halifax, Bradford, Huddersfield, Leeds, plus Skipton, Airedale, Wharfedale, Dewsbury, Harrogate and York.

One Summer: Romance, Redundancy and Rugby League in the 1980s - Geoff Lee* (£8.95)

Third in a series of four novels on the general theme of Northern working-class life in the Rugby League heartlands in the second half of the twentieth century, from a former Halifax draughtsman. This one's set in the fictional town of Ashurst on the old South Lancashire coalfield, just before the 1984 miners' strike. The main character is from Mytholmroyd.

Yorkshire's Great Houses - Sir Thomas Ingilby(£19.99)

Pennine Way North, Central and South maps (£9.95 each)

Each map covers a section suitable for a comfortable week of walking. Includes day walks. Waterproof, with accommodation and service info.

Ted Hughes Reading His Poetry (Double CD) (£12.99)

Hebden Bridge Treasure Hunt on Foot, £2.99
This little pack consists of 25 clues to take you on a 2-hour stroll around town getting acquainted with some of the less-familiar local history as well as old favourites! Answers supplied in a sealed envelope.

The Lost World of Mitchell & Kenyon - ed. Vanessa Toulmin (book), £15.99
The Lost World of Mitchell & Kenyon (DVD), £19.99
Between 1900-1913, filmmakers Sagar Mitchell and James Kenyon, based in Blackburn, roamed the country filming the everyday lives of people at work and play. Discovered some seventy years later, the film, discovered and restored by the BFI, includes footage of Halifax amongst many other northern areas. The book contains essays from leading historians covering film history, popular entertainment, the seaside, transport and the social and economic context of Edwardian Britain, providing a vivid commentary on the collection of films.

Heptonstall Trail - Pennine Heritage & HB Local History Society (£1.95)
Now available again in a new edition, a walk around Heptonstall with information on historical points of interest, with map and photos old and new.

Remnants of a Youth Club - Alice Cachjeka (£7.99)
Not strictly local, as Burnley-based, but two of the authors worked at Mons Mill! Features on the Guardian's Readers' Books of the Year page at http://books.guardian.co.uk/booksoftheyear2004/story/0,15602,1381091,00.html, which calls it "a true story of how five friendships formed and developed. It starts in the early 1950's, graphically depicting life in a poor East Lancashire town and how they coped in leaner times. It follows the girls' friendship through their teenage years and beyond." It's got its own website at http://homepage.ntlworld.com/guardiansofavalon/remnants.htm The "author"'s surname is an amalgam of the first letters of the women's Christian names.

February 2005

From Hebden Bridge author Andrew Bibby, three Freedom to Roam Guides at £7.99 each:
South Pennines and Bronte Moors
Forest of Bowland with Pendle Hill and West Pennine Moors, and
The Pennine Divide: Walking the Moors Between Greater Manchester and Yorkshire.

Produced in association with the Ramblers' Association, they offer an introduction to the area: its landscape, history and natural history; 12 free-range rambles, graded for difficulty; a full-page 4-colour OS map for each walk; plus points of interest, practical info and a guide to public rights of access. Launch on 4th March - more info when available.

Milltown Memories 11: Spring 2005, £2.80
The spring edition features Knur and Spell, which looks a bit violent, Alice Longstaff, Todmorden 109 years ago, the Moderna Drama Society, Nazebottom Baptist Church, Martin Parr's wonderful local photos in the 1970s, holidays in Hardcastle Crags in the 1940s, and lots more.

Calder Valley Pace Egg Play video, £10

Documentary plus recordings of two versions of the Calder Valley Pace Egg Play in 2004, researched and produced by a group of young people at Calder High School. Includes interviews with one of the leading experts and some of the performers.

Leeds & Liverpool Canal Part 1 video, £12.99
"A heavy duty canal, not for the faint-hearted." This video covers the Eastern section from Leeds to the summit tunnel at Foulridge.

Easy Read West Yorkshire Street Atlas, £12.99
Extra-large scale, covering streets, courts, alleys, houses and estates as well as the main roads, and with enlarged maps of Bradford, Halifax, Leeds and Wakefield city centres.

Licensed to Sell - Andrew Davison*, Geoff Brandwood and Michael Slaughter, £14.99
From English Heritage, a book celebrating traditional pubs throughout Yorkshire, including The Three Pigeons and the Big 6 in Halifax. One of the authors is from Sowerby Bridge, and the foreword is by Bill Bryson.

Yorkshire Villages - Bernard Ingham (£8.99)
Now in paperback, a photographic portrait.

January 2005

From Todmorden author and illustrator Dan Crisp, four new board books with die-cut holes for babies to peep through: Where's That Cat?, Where's That Duck?, Where's That Fish? and Where's That Monkey?, £4.99 each.

December 2004

A Race through Time (video/DVD) - Nick Wilding,* DVD £12.99, video £9.99
From the "Tale of Two Towns" team, Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd's first road movie - a high-speed fast-film car journey from Cragg Vale to Heptonstall Road shot in 1947 by Kenneth Crabtree with members of the Literary & Scientific Society, placed alongside a modern version shot in autumn 2003. The film also includes archive photographs and commentary and memories from Lloyd Greenwood, Doris Hurst, Donald Crossley and Clara Manning who died last year at the age of 103. Due 9th December.

Cornerstones of Calderdale - Glyn Lee, £4.00
Potted histories of all the major settlements of the Calder Valley, from Halifax to Walsden, with photographs.

Out of the Shadows in the Calder Valley - Bill Marsden & Peter Coles, £5.00
Humorous and thoughtful stories and poems from the well-established partnership, with illustrations.

The South Pennine Ring (video/DVD), DVD £19.99, video £12.99
The Ring, which also includes The Ashton Canal, Sir John Ramsden's Canal and the Calder & Hebble Navigation, takes us across the Pennines from Central Manchester to Huddersfield, follows the Calder Valley to Sowerby Bridge, and brings us back across the Pennines to Manchester. 57 minutes.

Talli's Secret - Julie Noble, £6.99
Cassie Edwards survived the car accident which killed her sister and crippled their father. She's having a bad time at school, too, because she's dyspraxic and dyslexic - but then she visits Haworth Parsonage where she meets the strange Talli ... The book is based on Juliet Barker's biography of the Bronte sisers and is raising money for the Dyslexia Institute and the Dyspraxia Foundation. "All the Brontes had bad handwriting and spelling and no punctuation until their late teens!" says the author's 12-year-old son, and you can find out more at www.tallissecret.com

November 2004

Alice's Album - the Story of a Hebden Bridge Photographer's Studio - Issy Shannon* and Frank Woolrych,*£10.95
The illustrated story of Alice Longstaff and her studio, and of Crossley Westerman who founded the studio in the early 1890s.

Milltown Memories 10: the Upper Calder Valley Captured on Camera, £2.80
Winter issue with a 1960 photo of Midgley schoolchildren enjoying the snow. Contents include 200 years of the Rochdale Canal, an article from Donald Crossley on Ted Hughes, with photos, extracts from a book of local historical snippets published in 1896, memories of the Post Office, butchers and Japanese chicken-sexers, a 1946 plan to modernise Todmorden, snow scenes, the Uttleys, a most unusual Royal Couple from 1925, and more!

Portrait of Leeds - John Morrison* £12.95
Affectionate and revealing photographic survey of of the local author and photographer's home city.

Ariel (restored edition) - Sylvia Plath, £14.99
The draft of Ariel left behind when Sylvia Plath is different from the volume of poetry eventually published to worldwide acclaim. The restored facsimile edition shows the selection and arrangement of the poems as Plath left them at her death, and also includes the complete working drafts of the title poem and notes the author made for the BBC about some of the manuscript's poems. Sylvia's daughter Frieda Hughes explains the difference between this version and that edited by her father Ted Hughes in a Foreword.

Bronte Ways Video/DVD, Part 1 - Ray Riches* & Peter Thornton*, £12.99 ea.
A walk on the Bronte Way from Oakwell Hall ("Shirley country") to Haworth, with live interviews and spectacular scenery. 52 mins. Part 2 will explore Haworth and "Wuthering Heights" country more fully, then proceed to Gawthorpe Hall via Wycoller Village ("Jane Eyre")

Discovering Calderdale, Part 1 - video/DVD - Glyn Lee* & P J Thornton*, £12.99 each
A journey through some of the most interesting towns and villages of Calderdale, including Norland, Midgley, Luddenden, Cragg Vale and Walsden

Thrumhall Greats - Robert Gate (£12.99)
Halifax Heroes 1945-1998: Halifax have enjoyed and suffered wider extremes of success and failure than most clubs. This book gives at least a page plus b&w photo of 100 notable Thrum Hallers from the post-WWII period. The author is a native of Halifax and a Thrum Hall faithful for 42 years.

Weird Calderdale - Paul Weatherhead* (£7.99)
Strange and incredible events from the Calderdale area, ranging from UFOs in Todmorden to a vampire infesting Robin Hood's grave near Brighouse.

October 2004

Pennine Pioneer: The Story of the Rochdale Canal - Keith Gibson, £16.95

Follows the life of the Rochdale Canal, from its success to its abandonment, and tells of the more recent battle for its preservation.

Killer Catchers - Andy Owens* and Chris Ellis

Tells how some of Britain's wickedest murderers were finally tracked down, using recent advances in forensic techniques, especially in the fields of psychological, psychic and DNA profiling.

September 2004

South Pennines Explorer Map OL21, £6.99
New edition including up-to-date information on Access Land.

Brief Candle - Kate Pennington, £6.99
From Ilkley author Jenny Oldfield, a novel for teenage readers about the Bronte sisters as seen through the eyes of Tabitha Ackroyd; young Emily meets a servant lad who becomes her inspiration for Heathcliff.

Scary Shorts for Hallowe'en - Kathryn Brennan,* £6.99
From a Halifax author, a collection of true contemporary ghost stories from across Britain in support of Breast Cancer Campaign.

August 2004

Milltown Memories 9: the Upper Calder Valley Captured on Camera, £2.80
2nd birthday issue includes the two churches of Heptonstall, Thornber & Finney chicks and eggs, the navvies' encampment Dawson City, Caldene Bridge, the 1954 Mytholmroyd flood and a preview of "Alice's Album" (see above).

Gone Walkabout: 24 Walks in the Upper Calder Valley - Anna Carlisle, £6.00
From local publishers Pennine Pens, a collection of 24 walks which have appeared in the Hebden Bridge Times and Todmorden News. The walks are designed for the moderately and supremely fit, and are graded for distance and difficulty.

Baptisms at the Chapels of Heptonstall and Cross Stone in the Parish of Halifax, £12.50 per vol.
Heptonstall 1594-1812, Cross Stone 1678-1837. Four vols. A-F, G-J, K-Stancliffe, Stand-Y (Marriages and Burials also available)

Creepy Crawly Calypso - Tony Langham, £9.99
Jump and jive with this band of insects to the creepy crawly calypso beat! From spiders to fireflies, butterflies to centipedes, the illustrations match the Caribbean spirit of the rhyming text, which introduces children to ordinal numbers. A CD of calypso music is included with the book.

Blackpool Highflyer - Andrew Martin, £10.99
Whodunnit set in Edwardian Halifax and on the railways of the time. Mentions the Courier!

Bronte Country, Lives & Landscapes - Peggy Hewitt, £12.99
Updated illustrated version of a book first published in 1985, full of stories and reminiscences from people who have lived and worked