Amberley Publishing

Bedfordshire may be amongst England’s smallest counties but its 700,000 residents and increasing numbers of visitors have a wealth of places to explore within its boundaries. Alongside the urban areas of Luton and Bedford, the county offers plenty of green spaces, including the Chiltern Hills. The county has connections with John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim’s Progress, Catherine of Aragon and the Whitbread family, dating back some 250 years when the brewing pioneer was MP for Bedford. In this book local authors John and Jenny Jackson reveal the vital role a Bedfordshire barn played during World War, exactly why Luton Town Football Club are appropriately nicknamed ‘The Hatters’, the churchyard that inspired J. M. Barrie’s character, Wendy, in Peter Pan, and much more.50 Gems of Bedfordshire explores the many places and their history that make this part of the country so special, including natural features, towns and villages, buildings and places of historical interest. Alongside justly famous attractions, others will be relatively unknown but all have an interesting story to tell.

Southdown Motor Services, the acclaimed South Coast operator with their instantly recognisable green-and-cream livery, were loyal Leyland customers for many years. They took delivery of their first Bristol RE buses in early 1968, further deliveries in 1969 and 1971 and inherited thirteen following the take-over of Brighton Hove and District, bringing the fleet total to eighty-five.The first batch of Bristol REs were forty-five-seaters with Marshall bodywork delivered between April and July in 1968. The second batch, seating forty-nine, also had Marshall bodies and were delivered from April 1969 onward. These buses were fitted with Gardner engines at the rear and Southdown specified manual gear boxes in both batches. Unpopular with some drivers and on some routes, they were nevertheless part of the history of the company. Nine Marshall-bodied examples were added to the fleet in 1971. These were semi-automatic, with Leyland supplying the engine, and were powerful and easier to drive than their earlier counterparts. Three more arrived that year featuring more conventional Eastern Coach Works bodies. Those acquired from Brighton Hove and District had Gardner engines, semi-automatic gearboxes and twin-door Eastern Coach Works bodies.Simon Stanford details Southdown’s Bristol REs with previously unpublished images and detailed captions. Three buses survive, regularly attending shows and rallies in the South East, and are also pictured here.

In the Tudor court, love blossomed when Henry Percy met Anne Boleyn. However, their romance was abruptly torn apart by Cardinal Wolsey, who chastised Percy, an earl’s son, for choosing to marry the daughter of a mere knight. Despite a spirited defence, Percy was ordered to no longer see her. Percy was forced into marrying Mary Talbot, daughter of the fourth Earl of Shrewsbury. The loveless match proved acrimonious and bitter, culminating in Mary accusing her husband of trying to poison her. After a quarrel in which Percy, now sixth Earl of Northumberland, mentioned his betrothal to Anne Boleyn, Mary wrote to her father to warn King Henry VIII that her husband and Anne had been precontracted, hoping to stop the king marrying her. But there was more to Henry Percy than being Anne’s first love. Though often ill, he executed all the rough and arduous duties of Scottish border warfare, proving to be a strong and effective Warden of the North. His was a full life, though not a particularly happy one. In June 1537, aged thirty-five and old before his time, he died poor and ostensibly alone. He was buried on the same day he died, the crown denying him even the usual aristocratic funeral. In the first full-length biography of this fascinating man, Jan-Marie Knights tells a story of love, duty and loss.

The London Borough of Newham was created in 1965 by the merger of the County Borough Councils of East Ham and West Ham. At first, industry was concentrated on the banks of the river Lea (or Lee). The coming of the railways coupled with the rise of new technologies in the Victorian era, and legislation prohibiting many of the smellier and noisier industries from operating within London led to the rapid growth of industry and population within Newham from the 1840s onwards. The area grew rich from industry, with famous names such as Tate & Lyle and Trebor Sweets, railway engineering at Stratford and the docks. Marshland south of Plaistow and East Ham was drained to create the docks and the industrial areas of Canning Town and Silvertown, the latter named after a local entrepreneur. Much of this industry fell into decline from the late twentieth century. When the docks closed in 1981 and relocated to Tilbury, the London Docklands Development Corporation was set up to regenerate the Docklands area with London City Airport and a new University of East London campus taking their place, and retail became the major employer in the area.Newham at Work explores the working life of this borough in London and its people and the industries that have characterised it through the years. The book will appeal to all those with an interest in the history of Newham.

As one of the first Jewish sporting superstars, Daniel Mendoza, boxing champion of England from 1792 to 1795, challenged perceptions and stereotypes - he demanded respect. He is said to have been the first Jew to talk privately at length to the King. He made history by taking part in the first sporting event with an entrance fee. He pioneered ‘side-stepping’ and was the greatest ‘scientific boxer’ of the age. Mendoza is unarguably among the most important boxers in the history of the sport. Begetter of the Golden Age of British pugilism, patronised by dandies, royals and roaring boys, he was the creator of a sporting revolution at a time of political revolution, turning what had been a contest of brute strength with the indiscipline of a street brawl into what some called a science, some an art. As a publicist, meanwhile, he was an expert manipulator of public opinion. He used the anti-Semitism of his times to his own benefit, and in so doing raised the social status of his fellow Jews. His final achievement was to have written what may be the first sports autobiography. He was, in all these respects, quite exceptional, a superstar; or, as one contemporary put it, ‘The Complete Artist’. Astonishingly, this is the first full biography of one of Britain’s greatest sporting heroes.

The churches of Leicestershire and Rutland represent the history of this area of the East Midlands. Largely rural, their wealth in the Middle Ages came largely through farming and the wool trade, as well as the largest settlement in the area, Leicester. Later industrialisation also shaped Leicestershire, as Leicester and Loughborough also became known for manufacturing and coal mining although adjoining Rutland, much smaller, developed less. This book travels through a selection of the most interesting churches in these counties, from churches with Norman and sometimes Saxon and Roman fragments, through to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries were burgeoning populations in the towns needed new places to worship in many denominations. Examples include Leicester Cathedral acquisition of a long lost English king, the rescue of Normanton church from Rutland Water, and many more. This fascinating picture of an important part of the history of Leicestershire and Rutland over the centuries will be of interest to all those who live in or are visiting these attractive counties in England.

Zeppelins were the biggest aircraft ever built and Germany led the way in their use as a weapon of war. In 1915 the German Kaiser authorised air attacks against Britain and Essex found itself in the firing line. Not only were its towns targets in their own right but it also lay on one of the main air routes to London and Zeppelins who failed to reach the capital often jettisoned their bombs on its population as they returned to base. The raids were greeted with a mixture of fear and fascination. Despite official warnings and the risk of death or injury, as bombing began crowds thronged the streets to witness the unfolding drama. High above them Zeppelin crews battled lack of oxygen and intense cold. Flying without parachutes, if they were shot down they faced a terrible decision as their airship plunged to earth in flames – should they jump or burn? Many jumped. This book tells the incredible story of the World War I Zeppelin raids on Essex, illustrated with contemporary photographs and other images from the time.

At the end of the 1980s a fleet of fifty Class 90 electric locomotives was to commence service for British Rail. The rail privatisation in the following decade saw the fleet divided between a number of private operators, including Virgin Trains and Rail Express Systems. Their duties were soon to extend to both passenger and freight work across most of the country’s electrified network.While some examples have been sidelined for a number of years, the majority of the fleet is still going strong as it approaches its fortieth anniversary in traffic. During that time, these locomotives have sported a variety of liveries, reflecting their diverse ownership and usage. The class spent many years at work on passenger duties along the length of the West Coast Main Line as well as Great Eastern flagship services between London and Norwich. These stalwarts even made appearances on both Anglo-Scottish sleeper services and were frequently hired in to perform East Coast Main Line passenger duties between King’s Cross and Yorkshire. Often operating in pairs, the class was used by both Freightliner and DB Cargo for their longer distance container workings, again where the power supply allowed. John Jackson highlights the diversity of the class with photographs from all electrified corners of the UK railway network across their four decades at work, proving they still have their worth on the network today.

For much of its history Bradford was a small town in West Yorkshire and a local centre for the wool trade. Industrialisation in the nineteenth century transformed it. Textile mills, coal mining and iron manufacturing developed rapidly in the area and the town became known as the wool capital of the world. By the end of the century Bradford had become a county borough and city, and the rising population included many immigrants from Ireland and Germany. Large numbers of churches of all denominations were built in Victorian Bradford for these people, particularly Nonconformist chapels and churches, which particularly appealed to the urban population, and the building continued into the twentieth century, although some of the older churches became repurposed. Churches of Bradford reveals the variety of historic church buildings in the city. All the churches in this book have special architectural, historical and/or social interest. This fascinating picture of an important part of the history of Bradford over the centuries will be of interest to all those who live in or are visiting this city.

The Corps franc Pommies (CFP) was founded on 17 November 1942 by its namesake André Pommies. It operated in southwestern France, becoming one of the largest and most important Resistance units in the south. After initial work in sabotage of rail and road networks, factories and power plants, on 15 April 1944 it sabotaged the Hispano-Suiza factory in Soues in the Hautes-Pyrénées, forestalling Allied bombing of the factory and the inevitable collateral damage.This was no small covert cell: the CFP mobilized some 12,000 combatants to support the D-Day landings. Its harassment of the Gestapo, the fascist Milice, and other Occupation forces turned the area around Toulouse into a no-man’s land for the Nazis. The CFP linked up with the newly formed French 1st Army during the advance into central France and fought in the brutal campaign to liberate Alsace. It participated in the Rhine crossings, the march on Stuttgart, and the French occupation of Germany, becoming the first French regiment to occupy Berlin.

The scenery of North Wales is well known for its breathtaking views and historic landmarks, with towns and villages having their own unique history and modern-day function. But one thing that links them all, quite literally in many instances, is the bus, the ever-vital lifeline for communities enabling people to travel to the shops or to medical appointments, to school or college, or to work. The bus can provide journeys that rail cannot, and does so here with a backdrop of castles, lakes, forests, market towns and the stunning coastline.Travelling from east to west, Simon Ackers visits Wrexham, Flintshire, Denbighshire, Conwy and Gwynedd, with scenic sights framing the variety of bus types and operators as they go about their daily work, with each picture providing an insight into the location and the vehicle.

In this volume Andy Gibbs returns to the Highlands, Lowlands and borders of Scotland with many more images of trains in the region. The journey starts in southern and south-west Scotland, travels through the central belt before continuing into the Highlands and finishing at Wick and Thurso. The 1970s and 1980s are periods of rail history often overlooked with British Rail seemingly in terminal decline and heavy industry falling by the wayside. Locomotives featured include classes 06, 08, 24, 26, 27, 37, 40, 47 and electric locomotives, as well as multiple units from the branch and commuter lines. Trains are pictured in spectacular scenery, sites of industrial decay and urban cityscapes.Andy Gibbs offers the rail enthusiast a vibrant selection of previously unpublished photographs documenting the Scottish rail scene in the 1970s and 1980s.

Bradford in the century between 1850 and 1950 witnessed extraordinary growth and changes. Its wealth was based on the textile industry and the city became known as the ‘wool capital of the world’. It was a city of migrants, many from Ireland, and despite the efforts of philanthropic industrialists such as Titus Salt wealth and poverty often lived close to each other. The city was a breeding ground for crime and Bradford Borough Police Force was formed in the 1840s, dealing with the ‘high crimes’ of murder and large scale robberies and frauds, to ‘low level’ crimes such as petty theft, vagrancy and loitering. Delving into original sources, court reports and newspaper archives, the authors also look at the effects of illegal gambling on crimes before the 1960 Betting & Gaming Act and the particular involvement of young people in crimes and their punishments.This collection of true life crime stories from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries gives a vivid insight into life in Bradford in the past. This book will fascinate anyone with an interest in the history of crime as well as those who want to know more about the history of Bradford.

Jane and Cassandra Austen were the closest of sisters from early childhood. Cassandra was the most important person in Jane’s life; Jane looked up to and adored her older sister, who was devoted to her in return. As well as sharing the same education, interests, friends and Christian faith, the inseparable sisters supported each other through various emotional crises and family troubles. Most importantly, Cassandra, who was privy to Jane’s imaginary world, supported and encouraged her in her writing. The Austen Girls explores the lives of the Austen sisters and traces their relationship throughout Jane’s life and literary career, until Jane’s premature death at the age of forty-one. It also follows Cassandra’s life after the loss of her sister.

Ever since its first launch in 1989, the Land Rover Discovery has stood for robust durability and practicality both off and on-road. When the Discovery 3 was launched in 2004, it represented a step-change from the earlier models, with much higher levels of equipment and a higher degree of luxury as well. The Discovery 4 continued the same theme, with additional improvements and refinements. In this book, Rover expert james Taylor examines the background and development of the L319 platform, common to both models, and the different types within each range. The book also covers the G4 Challenge vehicles and special editions, including the emergency vehicles and armoured derivatives. It also covers the US models, known as the LR3 and LR4.Including a wide range of colour photographs, this is an essential expert guide to two Discovery models that are widely regarded as some of the best SUVs in the world.

Portsmouth is primarily known for its long-term association with the Royal Navy, the naval dockyard at one time the world’s largest employer of a civilian workforce. Yet there is much more to Portsmouth than being home to Britain’s Senior Service. In this book, Portsmouth’s Roman and Saxon origins on Portsea Island are traced leading to its rapid growth from the 12th century onwards as a merchant township specialising in overseas trade. The book describes how its naval and military connections have significantly influenced the way the future city was to develop and also examines how Portsmouth and its people adapted to its long-term conversion into a military-industrial stronghold designed for the defence of the nation, and which suffered severe damage in the Second World War. Alongside, this the growth of modern metropolitan Portsmouth is described, building the services and other industries that make today’s diverse city.Illustrated throughout, this accessible historical portrait of the transformation that Portsmouth has undergone through the ages will be of great interest to residents, visitors and all those with links to the city.