Great Northern Books Ltd

Ed Glinert has written the first ever epic,detailed, exciting, accurate history of theworld's first modern city - the industrialstrength city - from the Romans to 21stcentury renaissance, from cotton machines to cultural richness, from Gothic to Gotham. A volume that takes the reader back two thousand years, to the first stirrings of "Maenwicken", and ends now, in the 2020s. This is a spectacular story, a remarkable history that takes the reader from the Romans and ancient religious mystics to the machine makers of the industrial revolution, to the Victorian cotton merchants, the creators of the Gothic city and revered figures such as Emmeline Pankhurst, L. S. Lowry, Alan Turing, George Best, Tony Wilson and hundreds more pioneers who have created one of the world's greatest cities. This is a history of the world's first industrial metropolis to rival the great city biographies, such as Peter Ackroyd's London and Simon Sebag Montefiore on Jerusalem, crafted by Manchester's best researched and most entertaining writer. This is the book to captivate the public and secure Manchester's place among the world's best known cities.

From the announcement of the Modernisation Plan to the end of steam services, just 13 years elapsed. A transitional period existed where steam engines operated alongside new diesel and electric forms of motive power. West Midlands Railways From Steam to Modern Traction uses around 200 excellent colour and black-and-white images to look at the changing scene in the 1950s and 1960s. The area's lines were formerly operated by the London, Midland & Scottish Railway and the Great Western Railway. Many of these companies' locomotives could be seen, as well as British Railways' Standard Classes. A number of new diesel classes and DMUs appeared and worked alongside these during the late 1950s and early 1960s. The West Midlands consists of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and the ceremonial West Midlands county. The primary cities are Birmingham, Coventry, Hereford, Lichfield, Stoke-on-Trent, Wolverhampton and Worcester. Large towns located in the area are Burton-on-Trent, Dudley, Kidderminster, Leamington Spa, Nuneaton, Rugby, Shrewsbury, Stafford, Stourbridge, Tamworth, Uttoxeter, etc. The pictures have been captured from the lineside, engine sheds, stations, marshalling yards and industrial locations. The West Midlands was a vibrant and exciting place for railway enthusiasts to record locomotives at work. This collection is presented to celebrate those days.

A transitional period existed following the announcement of British Railways’ Modernisation Plan in 1955 as steam engines operated alongside new diesel and electric forms of motive power. The East Midlands was particularly affected as diesel locomotives came to work the area’s expresses and freight trains. Diesel Multiple Units sought to halt declining branch line usage, though many eventually closed. Yet, some improvements in infrastructure were also seen. East Midlands Railways From Steam to Modern Traction uses around 200 excellent colour and black-and-white images to look at the changing scene in the 1950s and 1960s. The area’s lines were formerly operated by the London, Midland & Scottish Railway and the London & North Eastern Railway. Many of these companies’ locomotives could be seen, as well as British Railways’ Standard Classes. A number of new diesel classes and DMUs appeared and worked alongside these during the late 1950s and early 1960s. The locomotives are at locations across the East Midlands, which covers Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland. Principal cities include Derby, Leicester, Lincoln and Nottingham, whilst there are several large towns, such as Chesterfield, Grantham, Kettering, Loughborough, Mansfield, Northampton, Wellingborough, etc. The pictures have been captured from the lineside, engine sheds, stations, marshalling yards and industrial locations. From the announcement of the Modernisation Plan to the end of steam services, just 13 years elapsed. Fortuitously, many enthusiast photographers were on hand to capture this important period of railway history

It's no exaggeration to say Laurie Mansfield has been one of the main architects of modern showbusiness. He has been talent manager and agent to some of the biggest names in UK entertainment - Ronnie Corbett, Cilla Black, Michael Crawford, Shirley Bassey, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jim Davidson, Cannon & Ball, Cleo Laine, Peters & Lee, Basil Brush, Tommy Steele, Mike Yarwood - the list goes on and on. He has also been responsible for some hugely successful West End musicals, most notably Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, Dreamboats & Petticoats, and Jolson. His astonishing career spans six decades during a time when entertainment has gone through more changes than at any other time in showbusiness history. He mentored other young talent managers who worked for him, allowing his company, International Artists, to keep up with an ever-changing industry, by representing the next generation of comedians, like Paul Merton, Alan Davies, Julian Clary, Shane Ritchie and Brian Conley. Laurie, as Life President of the Royal Variety Charity, has regularly played host to senior members of the Royal Family at the annual Royal Variety Performance, including Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince William and King Charles. As you can imagine he has a wealth of great stories about his glittering career in showbusiness, and the sometimes tricky stars he has had to deal with. He has had to be a showbiz chameleon, rubbing shoulders with the highbrow musical elite and Royalty one minute, and painting the town red with Jim Davidson the next. And along the way smoothing the ruffled feathers of countless temperamental artists, not to mention Rod Hull's Emu!He started his career as a junior office boy for Cadbury in Bournville, Birmingham, and ended up as one of the chief architects of entertainment in the UK for sixty years. The pinnacle of his success, he says, was the day his personal brainchild Buddy (the musical) opened on Broadway. Hence the title of this book. It tells the incredible story of an ordinary unambitious boy from the Midlands, with no showbusiness background whatsoever, conquering the world of entertainment on a global scale. This is Laurie Mansfield's story, and the inside stories of the many stars he has looked after.

Chris Tarrant, best known for presenting Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, writes about one of his greatest passions – bears. He regales us with tales of his expeditions to see bears in their stunning, natural habitats, from the Arctic Circle, to Canada, Alaska, Scandinavia and Russia. He relates what it is like to track through these remote wildernesses, the people involved, the patience needed, and most importantly those rare sightings that make it all worthwhile – many of which were caught on camera and included within this book. Chris has collated fascinating bear facts that give the reader astonishing information about these noble creatures, along with some handy tips should you ever happen to come across one in the wild. He also tells the sometimes gory history of human interactions with bears, of people who risked and lost their lives due to arrogance, naivety and downright stupidity; but he also shows us the devastating impact on bear populations through hunting, the destruction of habitat and the effects of climate change. The book is illustrated throughout with amazing, high-quality photography of bears in the wild from Chris’s expeditions.

Between wild walks, Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte spent most of their lives indoors, their imaginations firing behind firmly-closed doors. Join two expert writers on a very personal journey around Britain and Ireland, enjoying privileged access to private houses that shaped and inspired the Bronte sisters and their writing. Echoing Cathy's ghost in Wuthering Heights, Ann and Sharon ask to be let in - and invite you on an eye-opening odyssey that combines the surprising Bronte history of key houses with their sometimes glorious, sometimes heartbreaking, always fascinating afterlives. Join Ann and Sharon as they explore historic buildings where the extraordinary Bronte story unfolded. Discover the untold secrets of the world-famous Bronte Parsonage, Bradford's literary shrine where they wrote their novels, and the nearby birthplace of their early childhoods. Learn of the ghosts and legends of the real Wuthering Heights, the legacy of Ulster and Cornwall in the sisters' DNA, the restoration of the real Lowood School in Jane Eyre - and follow a Bronte pub crawl around the inns and taverns of Victorian England frequented by wayward brother Branwell. The book includes a foreword by author and broadcaster Rebecca Fraser and an exclusive interview with award-winning writer and director Sally Wainwright, revealing how and why she built a replica of the 1840s Haworth Parsonage on the moors for her acclaimed BBC biopic To Walk Invisible. This is a beautifully-illustrated voyage of discovery through the precious, often-overlooked places of our literary past - and why they matter today.

The Southern Railway was the smallest of the ‘Big Four’ companies created by the Railways Act 1921. Yet, this was not a hindrance, rather a benefit which helped the SR become one of the more innovative of the group. The Glorious Years of the Southern Railway looks at the company over the period 1923-1945 using nearly 230 high quality black-and-white photographs. These are collected into several sections: locomotives; electric traction; Isle of Wight Railway; carriages; Southampton Docks; stations; war effort. The SR was the only one of the ‘Big Four’ to be solely operational in England, but the company’s territory stretched from east to west in the south. The photographs have been taken in this area at many locations, including stations, the lineside, sheds and workshops. Several companies formed the SR: London, Brighton & South Coast Railway; London & South Western Railway; South Eastern & Chatham Railway; Isle of Wight Railway. A small section of the book recognises their history, whilst the rolling stock continued to be a feature of the SR in the years after formation. The motive power of the SR developed an identity under Maunsell with the ‘Lord Nelson’ Class 4-6-0s, ‘Schools’ Class 4-4-0s, U Class 2-6-0s and Q Class 0-6-0. Though constrained by the war, Bulleid revolutionised the SR’s locomotives with the introduction of the ‘Merchant Navy’ Class Pacifics, ‘West Country’ and ’Battle of Britain’ Pacifics and Q1Class 0-6-0. The SR continued to develop the constituents’ electrification schemes and by the 1930s could boast of operating the largest suburban network in the world. The company also instigated one of the first main line electrification schemes to Brighton which opened in January 1933. This work also saw the SR modernise with colour-light signalling which became the longest stretch used in Britain. Operational for just 25 years, the SR managed to achieve much in that period thanks to the company’s officers and employees. The Glorious Years of the Southern Railway celebrates this contribution to railway history.

Our latest instalment in the ‘Yorkshire Vet’ diaries sees Julian Norton return to ‘Herriot Country’, and Thirsk in particular, as he sets up a new practice in his home town. Follow Julian as he treats a cornucopia of animals in surgery and on location, often with a film crew in tow for the long-running TV series The Yorkshire Vet. Puppy parties and vomiting dogs, complicated surgery, difficult lambing, a ferret vasectomy, Mini the guinea, an ill-tempered swan, bullocks, lifting a heifer, CBA, Boris the rabbit, Skippy the cat, Sponge Bob the vizsla, Narcissus the oystercatcher, Vinnie the vulture, a hamster in space, Thor the walrus, five poorly mice, mating alpacas, sheep aplenty, and many more avian, bovine, canine and feline tales are told. Along the way, Julian encourages children to read and gives advice to the new ‘James Herriot’, Nick Ralph, for Channel 5’s All Creatures Great and Small. He cycles in Switzerland, climbs, visits Slovakia and Henley Regatta, but mostly he is delighted to be back working in the town of Alf Wight, better known as James Herriot. All written in Julian’s usual charming manner. Beautifully produced and illustrated.