Derbyshire Reading Detectives

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Reading Detectives film

6 January 2010 from Ruth Harrison | Watch the Derbyshire Reading Detectives' film of their finale event.... Read more or Comment

Derbyshire Reading Detectives finale

31 October 2009 from Will Newman | We're meeting today at 2pm at Buxton Library to celebrate our finds along with Stephen Booth who helped us launch the project back in July. Thanks to everyone who's been involved - the Reading Agency, authors, local studies experts, consultants... Read more or Comment (3 comments)

The lost villages of Derwent and Ashopton Find!

28 October 2009 from Ruth Gordon | It's strange how some places just cry out to be written about and the villages that were drowned under the Ladybower Reservoir have inspired at least 3 stories that I know about. There was Mary Cockett's Drowning Valley told for... Read more or Comment (2 comments)

Fludd by Hilary Mantell Find!

28 October 2009 from Ruth Gordon | I'm delighted Stephen reminded me about Hilary Mantell. Fludd was the first of her novels I ever read and I couldn't stop talking about it. It has a very strong feel of that border area where Lancashire Cheshire and Derbyshire... Read more or Comment (1 comments)

A Beautiful Place for a Murder Find!

26 October 2009 from Will Newman | Can't believe I didn't think of this before, especially as we have been focusing on crime, legends and the supernatural in the Dark Peak, and Berlie is coming to our finale event on Saturday 31st. Just remembered that Berlie... Read more or Comment

Jeannie of White Peak Farm Find!

12 October 2009 from Ruth Gordon | I've just heard that Berlie Doherty's lovely story of a girl growing up on a Peak District farm has been republished this year in paperback by Catnip Publishing. It is a vivid and sensitive description of a family who are tied... Read more or Comment

Unrest of their Time Find!

12 October 2009 from Ruth Gordon | This is a really dark and unsettling story, written by Nellie Kirkham who was much better known as an authority on Derbyshire Lead mining. It tells of the lives of people who lived in the twentieth century and of parallel lives... Read more or Comment

Derbyshire wins the Booker Prize! Find!

8 October 2009 from Stephen Booth | I don't think we've had a mention yet for distinguished Derbyshire author Hilary Mantel, whose novel Wolf Hall has just won the 2009 Man Booker Prize. Mantel was born in Glossop and grew up in Hadfield. I'm not sure how how much... Read more or Comment (1 comments)

John Buxton Hilton: Rescue from the Rose Find!

1 October 2009 from Ruth Gordon | George reminded me of John Buxton Hilton's splendid thrillers set in the Peak District in the early 20th century. This is the first I read, featuring his characterful investigator, Inspector Brunt and a wonderfully portrayed Buxton inn, The Little Rose and its inhabitants, including... Read more or Comment

The Mermaid poem by Henry Kirke Find!

1 October 2009 from Ruth Gordon | Here is the poem about the Mermaid of the Mermaid Pool on Kinder (though it could be one of the other Mermaid pools in the Peak as there are no less than 3!) The others are at the Roaches, known as... Read more or Comment

Poems of Peak and Dale Find!

1 October 2009 from Ruth Gordon | Helen from the Cumbria Reading Detectives has reminded us of a a Peak District poet! Alan Robinson published Poems of Peak and Dale (Athena Press) in 2002 and lives in Matlock. His poems are inspired by the landscape, the towns... Read more or Comment

Arnemetia Find!

17 September 2009 from Blythe Aimson | Arnemetia is an anthology of community poetry. It is written in Derbyshire and had a suitably gothique cover and name (Arnemetia being the goddess Buxton was named after by the Romans, Aqua Arnemetia, meaning grove of the sacred spring) and when... Read more or Comment

Poole's Cavern, Buxton Find!

17 September 2009 from Will Newman | Poole's Cavern in Buxton is a 2 million year old natural cavern that has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The name derives from an outlaw, Poole, who reputedly used the cave as a lair and a base... Read more or Comment (1 comments)

In Place of Execution.... Find!

17 September 2009 from Angela Wilkinson | This is an amazing multi-layered psychological thriller from writer Val McDermid. Set in the winter of 1963, 13 year old Alison Carter vanishes from her home in the isolated Derbyshire hamlet of Scarsdale. The effect of her disappearance reverberates down... Read more or Comment

Scared to live Find!

17 September 2009 from Charlotte Hodgson | I really enjoyed meeting Stephen Booth but found this book difficult to get into. My mum tried to read this as well and also found it a little slow. I hope the next one I read will be better. ... Read more or Comment (1 comments)

The Jane Eyre Connection Find!

17 September 2009 from Angela Wilkinson | The setting of Charlottle Bronte's novel Jane Eyre was apparently inspired by her visit to Hathersage in 1845. Her description of Thornfield Hall certainly appears to match that of the 15th Century manor house of North Lees and Morton could... Read more or Comment

Haunted Derbyshire and the Peak District Find!

17 September 2009 from Blythe Aimson | This book was really interesting, and very deeply detailed. There was lots of variation in the stories and layed out in a very user friendly way. The accounts of local ghost legends are well written, which adds to the already... Read more or Comment

Narnia in the Peak District? Find!

17 September 2009 from Will Newman | I have been looking through Bygone Derbyshire and discovered that legendary author C S Lewis has a link with Derbyshire and the Peak. As Lewis wrote later "My happiest hours are spent with three or four old friends in old... Read more or Comment

The Wonders of the Peake... Find!

17 September 2009 from Angela Wilkinson | Charles Cotton was an English writer and big friend of Izaak Walton.He not only helped to write the second part of the Compleat Angler but he also composed the long topographical poem "The Wonders of the Peake" which is amazingly... Read more or Comment

Night Angels: a scary episode on the Snake Pass Find!

17 September 2009 from Ruth Gordon | I've just remembered about this scary thriller by Sheffield based author Danuta Reah. It begins as a young woman's car breaks down on a dark, wet night as she heads back to Sheffield over the Snake. Next morning her car... Read more or Comment (4 comments)

Blue John Find!

11 September 2009 from Angela Wilkinson | Wow - have just rediscovered this wonderful picture book by local author Berlie Doherty - a great writer whose many books are inspired by the beautiful Peak District landscape in which she lives . It is beautifully illustrated by Tim Clarey... Read more or Comment

Buxton under the crust..... Find!

11 September 2009 from Angela Wilkinson | Have just been reading 2 collections of short stories of the supernatural by Buxton writer Terry Lamsley - "Conference with the dead" and "Under the Crust". Terry reckons in the blurb of "Under the Crust" that Buxton deserves more ghosts... Read more or Comment

Mysterious Mermaid in Derbyshire Find!

21 August 2009 from Will Newman | Interesting to see the way this site is working. Angela posted an entry about a long forgotten ballad on The Mermaid's Pool near Hayfield and this has triggered a response from Derbyshire poet, Jeremy Duffield, who was inspired to write about... Read more or Comment

Reading Detectives in the News

21 August 2009 from Will Newman | We may not have made it onto Radio Derby yet but at least the detectives are in the local newspaper, the Buxton Advertiser, pictured with Stephen Booth. ... Read more or Comment

Ghost walks Find!

20 August 2009 from Blythe Aimson | I have just read a book on ghost wallks around derbyshire, there was a range of walks in the area and a few good nuggets of infomation, but overall was very disappointing. The few ghost stories that were in it... Read more or Comment

The poet and the pool..... Find!

18 August 2009 from Angela Wilkinson | David Bell's book "Derbyshire Ghosts and legends" refers to the legend of the Mermaid's Pool near Hayfield..."The mermaid's Pool near Kinder Reservoir is a lonely and desolate place. No fish live in it, no animals will drink from it, and... Read more or Comment (3 comments)

More murder in the Peak District Find!

14 August 2009 from Will Newman | Just finished reading The Edge by Chris Simms. Chris normally writes gritty crime stories based in Manchester but in this book the action moves out into the Peak District. Edale, Buxton, Glossop are all mentioned but the fictional town of... Read more or Comment (2 comments)

Inspired by the Peak Find!

5 August 2009 from Ruth Gordon | Have you had a look at www.peaklandheritage.org.uk ? In the Inspired by the Peak section there are some interesting leads including some old and unusual poetry and ballads. There's legends and folklore and stuff like that in the Digging Deeper section too. Ruth ... Read more or Comment (1 comments)

Bygone Derbyshire clues Find!

4 August 2009 from Will Newman | I've just been looking at some possible links to authors in Derbyshire and around Buxton and the High Peak. "Bygone Derbyshire" is run by the Derby Evening Telegraph and has information about forgotten crime writer John Buxton Hilton, links with... Read more or Comment

Finished! Find!

3 August 2009 from Frances Hall | I have just finished my first "Reading Dectectives" book, Stephen Booth's Black Dog. It was brilliant - slightly surreal and yet captivating reading descriptions of a country I grew up and lived my whole life in. However, the charachters have... Read more or Comment (1 comments)

Buxton Ghost Walk

31 July 2009 from Will Newman | Well, four of us took a risk and joined the Ghost Walk in Buxton last night. It was probably more quirky than scary but we did hear about phantom dogs, riding the devil, poltergeists in pubs and the ghost of... Read more or Comment

Days at the Museum

30 July 2009 from Catherine Mills | Buxton Museum to be precise. I have found out that there are some interesting objects hidden away at the museum which might inspire or be of interest to our detectives. Continuing with our theme of the "Dark Peak" The museum... Read more or Comment

Stephen Booth

29 July 2009 from Will Newman | A lot of us met Stephen Booth at our first Reading Detective meeting. Here is Stephen at the Lowdham Book Festival talking about his book The Kill Call. From AmazonWhat drew you to use the village of Eyam as a... Read more or Comment

27 July 2009 from Angela Wilkinson | It was great to finally meet Stephen Booth at our first meeting - I am a great fan and thought his talk was brilliant and pitched just right to get our detectives on the trail of local ghost stories, murder mysteries and... Read more or Comment

Ghostwalkers in Buxton

27 July 2009 from Priscilla | Great to hear about the first meeting in Buxton and looking forward to seeingwhere their ghostly trail takes them....... Read more or Comment

First meeting

24 July 2009 from Will Newman | Buxton Reading Detectives had their first meeting last night from 6.30 - 8.30 pm at Buxton Library. 10 young people, drawn from Buxton Book Pushers and HeadSpace regulars, attended the meeting. The start was slightly delayed because we had the... Read more or Comment

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