Things found by the Lancashire Reading Detectives team
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Finds
Leonora Carrington (1917-present)
October 7, 2009 1:04 PM from Stephen Miller | Perhaps Lancashire's most exciting find yet! Leonora Carrington (photographed on the right with E.L.T. Mesens, Max Ernst, and Paul Élouard, 1937) was born in Westwood House in Clayton Green (just a few miles from Chorley Library); later the family moved... Read more
Her Benny
October 5, 2009 6:35 PM from Stephen Miller | A tale of Victorian street children with strong Christian overtones, perhaps not surprising as the author, Silas Hocking, was a Methodist minster (in Burnley for a while). The book is short but throughly entertaining and suitable for older people as well as... Read more
A short story by Charles Dickens
September 28, 2009 2:55 PM from Stephen Miller | A short story by Charles Dickens, George Silverman's Explanation is fairly difficult to obtain as a hard copy but is available to read from various online sources. It is based around Hoghton Tower which Dicken's visited whilst in Lancashire. Reading... Read more
Bolton Radical- Allen Clarke
September 17, 2009 4:28 PM from Stephen Miller | I've just finished reading an early 20th century novel by Allen Clarke called 'John o' Gods Sending', which is a set in Bolton during the Civil War. The story plays out around the ancient pub 'The Man and Scythe'; the overall... Read more
More Mark Ward!
September 14, 2009 5:23 PM from Peter | This time a collaboration between Mark Ward and artist Rebecca Chesney, Ward providing the words and Chesney providing the images. The book is called 'Five Rivers' and refers to the rivers which flow into Morecambe bay. Ward's poems reflect his... Read more
Mrs G Linneaus Banks
September 9, 2009 1:17 PM from Stephen Miller | On behalf of Reading Detective, Barbara: Mrs G Linneaus Banks (1821-1897) was born at 10 Oldham Street, Manchester. In 1860 she decided she couldn't rely on her husband to support her and their children so she began to write at... Read more
Mard Ward
September 7, 2009 6:19 PM from Peter | Mark Ward is a Blackburn-born poet whose work I have only just discovered. His latest collection of poetry is called 'Thunder Alley' and is inspired by his home town. Ward has done an eclectic mix of jobs all around the... Read more
Dickens in Preston
September 3, 2009 4:41 PM from Stephen Miller | Charles Dickens (1812-1870) Obviously not Lancashire born but it was a visit to Lancashire which inspired him to write 'Hard Times'. Set in the fictitious 'Coketown' (based heavily on Preston) it tells the story of the plight of the Victorian... Read more
Buster McGraw
September 3, 2009 4:40 PM from Stephen Miller | Buster McGraw- Jacob's Trouble (1992) - Partly set in the small Lancashire village of Wheelton, Jacob's Trouble is a strange work of fiction. Set in the not too distant future, Britain is at war with Europe leading to nuclear fall... Read more
Francis Thompson (1859-1907)
September 1, 2009 9:15 PM from Sophie | Well, I said there would be more to follow, and here it is... Francis Thompson was born in Preston to devout middle-class Catholic parents. This religious upbringing was to remain a continuing influence throughout his life and work. As... Read more
Ammon Wrigley
August 17, 2009 5:49 PM from Stephen Miller | Ammon Wrigley (1861-1946) - He wrote poetry, prose, and antiquarian works and was highly regarded in his own day, though the fame he achieved in his life time he always shunned, preferring a quite moorland life. His works reflect a... Read more
Finds
- Leonora Carrington (1917-present)
- Her Benny
- A short story by Charles Dickens
- Bolton Radical- Allen Clarke
- More Mark Ward!
- Mrs G Linneaus Banks
- Mard Ward
- Dickens in Preston
- Buster McGraw
- Francis Thompson (1859-1907)
- Ammon Wrigley
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