Mary Rossall / Cumbria Reading Detectives

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All posts by Mary Rossall

I love reading so working for the library service is a perfect job for me. I really enjoy belonging to Grange Library reading group as we have become good friends over the years and it is a very sociable way to spend an evening discussing books and reading with other like-minded people. I love travelling and have had a lot of adventures over the years - perhaps I'll write a travel book of my own one day!

Grange-over-Sands: The Story of a Gentle Township Find!

31 October 2009 Well, I thought it would be nice to finish this amazing project with a final book which tells the story of this 'gentle township' where I live. The author, W. E. Swale, published his book in 1969 and in it... Read more or Comment (2 comments)

Cumbrian Privies Find!

28 October 2009 This fascinating book written by John Dawson and published in 1997 records the history of Cumbrian privies from the soldiers' latrines at the Roman forts on Hadrian's Wall, the 'garderobes' in the great castles and religious houses of the Middle... Read more or Comment (1 comments)

Riding the Stang by Dawn Robertson Find!

25 October 2009 "Riding the Stang" is the first novel by writer Dawn Robertson and was published by Hayloft Publishing in 2000. I have already posted a find by this author - "Secrets and Legends of Old Westmorland" - and she is obviously... Read more or Comment (6 comments)

About Scout Scar Find!

17 October 2009 Last year we had a very enjoyable evening listening to Jan Wiltshire, the author of "About Scout Scar", giving a talk in the library about her book which had just been published. She explained how her habit of writing a... Read more or Comment

William Wilberforce - A Summer Diary 1779 Find!

14 October 2009 My detective work has now led me to the discovery of a diary written by the great anti-slavery politician, William Wilberforce. In 1779, in his final year as an undergraduate at Cambridge, he set out to meet Thomas Cookson, Wordsworth's... Read more or Comment

Smoke over Shap by Margaret Potter Find!

12 October 2009 This book finds me making a link with the BBC, another partner in the Reading Detectives project. "Smoke over Shap" was created for BBC children's programmes and was first broadcast in six parts as a 4th Dimension serial on Radio... Read more or Comment (1 comments)

Songs of a Cragsman by George Basterfield Find!

11 October 2009 After a very busy week at work I've been having a lovely time today being a Reading Detective! I discovered this book while having a hunt along the Local Studies shelves in Ulverston library a couple of weeks ago and have been... Read more or Comment

The Grasmere Dialect Plays Find!

11 October 2009 In an earlier find I talked about Canon Rawnsley and his charming book "Lake Country Sketches". One of my favourite chapters from this book is entitled "At the Grasmere Play". In it Rawnsley tells of a visit he makes to... Read more or Comment

The Grizedale Experience: Sculpture, Art & Theatre in a Lakeland Forest Find!

11 October 2009 Grizedale is a magical forest tucked away in the fells of Furness in the southern Lake District. When Bill Grant arrived at Grizedale as Head Forester in 1963 he recognised that it was time to start managing the forest as... Read more or Comment

An Atlas of The English Lakes Find!

9 October 2009 "An Atlas of The English Lakes" is written by John Wilson Parker and was published in 2002 by Cicerone Press. I am delighted to say that the author, John Parker, is a resident of Grange and a regular visitor to... Read more or Comment

The High Places by A. Harry Griffin Find!

6 October 2009 Harry Griffin grew up in Barrow-in-Furness and his interest in outdoor activities really began the day he took himself on a bicycle ride to Coniston. That day this teenage boy climbed Coniston Old Man, wandered down the slopes to Goat's... Read more or Comment

Kendal by Roger Bingham Find!

4 October 2009 The full title of this book is "Kendal A Social History" and as the author explains his aim was 'to record widely the diverse life story covering a thousand years and more of an important northern town within the matrix... Read more or Comment (1 comments)

Secrets and Legends of Old Westmorland Find!

4 October 2009 This book tells many stories; stories which were never written down but survived for over a thousand years passed from one generation to the next by word of mouth. Each story is illustrated with wonderful and very atmospheric black and... Read more or Comment

Reminiscences of Wordsworth Among the Peasantry of Westmorland by Canon Hardwicke Drummond Rawnsley Find!

3 October 2009 Canon Rawnsley was born in 1851, one of a family of 10 children. As a young man he went to Balioll College, Oxford where he met John Ruskin who was to remain a lifelong friend. In 1877 he became vicar... Read more or Comment

Little Gods by Jacob Polley Find!

3 October 2009 Last Thursday some of the Grange Reading Detectives, plus members from the other three reading groups based in Grange Library, were treated to a very special evening with Jacob Polley. Jacob was born in Cumbria and still lives in Carlisle... Read more or Comment

A Lakeland Summer Find!

3 October 2009 "A Lakeland Summer" was written by Elizabeth Battrick and is the story of a family holiday which took place in the Lake District early one summer in the 1930's. It tells of a young girl's introduction to the high fells,... Read more or Comment

And Nobody Woke Up Dead Find!

1 October 2009 Author Jan Levi has written a fascinating account of Mabel Barker - a quite remarkable woman whose life deserves to be better known. She was born in Silloth in 1885 and grew up to become one of the leading female... Read more or Comment

An accessible paradise Find!

30 September 2009 In the early days as a Reading Detective (it seems so long ago!) I wrote a blog about a visit to the Bluebell Bookshop in Penrith. I can never visit a bookshop and leave without a purchase and that day I... Read more or Comment

In There Somewhere Find!

27 September 2009 I've been thinking about dry stone walls! Many years ago I worked for twelve months as a ranger for the National Park. In that time I helped to construct a bridge over the beck which runs next to Rydal Mount, the... Read more or Comment

"Ah'd Gaa Back Tomorra!" Find!

24 September 2009 When I read "The Cumberland Coast" by Neil Curry (see earlier find) he mentioned in the chapter about Whitehaven how the screen lasses worked sorting and grading the coal at the local pits. This caught my attention and after some... Read more or Comment

Furness and the Industrial Revolution Find!

20 September 2009 I am writing this blog on behalf of fellow Reading Detective, Liz. "Furness and the Industrial Revolution" was written by J. D. Marshall and was first published in 1958 with a revised edition in 1981. It is easy to think... Read more or Comment

The Shadow of Black Combe Find!

19 September 2009 Black Combe is the fell that sits in splendid isolation at the mouth of the Duddon estuary and towers over the town of Millom where Norman Nicholson lived all his life. It played a large part in the poet's... Read more or Comment

Ivver Sen Find!

17 September 2009 Ivver Sen is the Cumbrian dialect for ever since and is the title of a book published in 2008 and written by Keith Richardson who lives in Keswick. It has recently won the Lakeland Book of the Year competition and... Read more or Comment

Deborah in Langdale Find!

11 September 2009 This fictional story of two sisters, Deborah and Enid Machell, was written by E. M. Ward and published in 1933. The story begins in Folkstone where the two unmarried sisters are living with their aged uncle. Life is hard and when... Read more or Comment (1 comments)

Yan, Tan, Tethera Find!

7 September 2009 I was thinking today about the Herdwick sheep which are so much a part of the Cumbrian landscape. They are a small hardy breed which 'heft' to the fellside on which they were bred. There is a whole Cumbrian language... Read more or Comment

Capturing the Mountains Find!

6 September 2009 I am writing this entry on behalf of Reading Detective June. "Capturing the Mountains: The Lake District Through the Lens of the Abraham Brothers" was published in 2008 and includes an introduction by Sue Steinberg, Ashley Abraham's granddaughter, who also... Read more or Comment (2 comments)

Lakeland Limericks Find!

3 September 2009 Well this must be one of the slimmest hidden gems I've found so far - just thirty-seven pages but sometimes the biggest surprises come in small packages. "Lakeland Limericks", written in 1941, by C.Armstrong Gibbs and illustrated by William H.... Read more or Comment

Surrounding loveliness Find!

3 September 2009 "I started on the scaling in Tup Close, and found that the time taken for twenty-five piles was one hour, including a break for a few puffs at a pipe. The sun had come out. Harter Fell stood clear and... Read more or Comment

Geese, cattle wallopers and secret Irish paths Find!

1 September 2009 This is the title of a book by Irvine Hunt which was published in 2008. Having just read Norman Nicholson's autobiography I was interested to discover that Irvine Hunt was good friends with Norman and, in fact, they held joint... Read more or Comment (1 comments)

Wednesday Early Closing Find!

30 August 2009 This is the title of Norman Nicholson's autobiography published in 1975. Norman Nicholson was born in Millom in 1914 and lived all his life in the same house in St George's Terrace. He is obviously best known for his wonderful... Read more or Comment

Carrock Fell Find!

23 August 2009 After enjoying the exploits of the 'Two Idle Apprentices' as they climbed Carrock Fell I have just discovered this poem which I thought they would have enjoyed reading. It is in a collection of poems called "Give or Take" by... Read more or Comment

Feet in the Clouds Find!

20 August 2009 This is the title of a book which was published in 2004 and which won Richard Askwith, the author, the Best New Writer prize at the British Sports Publishing Awards. It is a tale of fell-running and obsession. For those of... Read more or Comment

Hercules and the Farmer's Wife Find!

19 August 2009 This curious title belongs to a book published in 2009 by Chris Wadsworth. Chris is the owner of Castlegate Gallery in Cockermouth and the book is the story of how she moved to Cumbria, bought Castlegate House and turned it... Read more or Comment

The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices Find!

17 August 2009 In Neil Curry's book 'The Cumberland Coast' he mentions a visit to Cumbria by Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins. This intrigued me so I located a copy of the book which they wrote - thank you Carlisle Library - and... Read more or Comment (2 comments)

I've been so busy reading I haven't had time to blog! Find!

17 August 2009 The library has been so busy this last couple of weeks with summer activities for the children and library staff on holiday that I haven't had time to record my finds. Anyway here goes! I have been on a bit... Read more or Comment

Coffee and books at the Bluebell Bookshop

1 August 2009 What a lovely hour I spent at the Bluebell Bookshop in Penrith on Thursday morning. With an hour to fill before a meeting at Penrith Library I chatted with Derek, the owner, about the Reading Detectives project and discovered some... Read more or Comment (1 comments)

It was a wet and windy night....

30 July 2009 It was a wet and windy night in Grange-over-Sands but the Reading Detectives didn't have time to worry about the weather. They were too busy discussing their latest finds and deciding what to read next! The meeting began with a... Read more or Comment

Mary learns to blog!

27 July 2009 There has to be a first time for everything and this is my first ever blog! I surf the web every day but blogging and twitter have passed me by so far so thank you Reading Detectives for getting me to... Read more or Comment (3 comments)

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