Stephen Miller / Lancashire Reading Detectives

Things found by the Lancashire Reading Detectives team

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I am a history graduate and worked in museums before starting at Chorley Library, so I read a lot of history! I'm really looking forward to uncovering some of Lancashire's forgotten writers.

Leonora Carrington (1917-present) Find!

7 October 2009 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 or Comment (7 comments)

Her Benny Find!

5 October 2009 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 or Comment (1 comments)

A short story by Charles Dickens Find!

28 September 2009 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 or Comment (1 comments)

Allen Clarke on the BBC website

23 September 2009 Just a link to the BBC website where an article about Clarke has been uploaded (you'll also find a lovely photo of the Lancashire Reading detectives team!) http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/lancashire/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8268000/8268575.stm... Read more or Comment

Bolton Radical- Allen Clarke Find!

17 September 2009 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 or Comment (9 comments)

Mrs G Linneaus Banks Find!

9 September 2009 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 or Comment

Dickens in Preston Find!

3 September 2009 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 or Comment (1 comments)

Buster McGraw Find!

3 September 2009 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 or Comment

Ammon Wrigley Find!

17 August 2009 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 or Comment (5 comments)

BBC Radio Lancashire

7 August 2009 I was interviewed on Monday morning on BBC Radio Lancashire for around 30 mins, so I had a great chance to really introduce the project. I have already had a great response with listeners emailing me suggestions and ringing up whilst... Read more or Comment

Lancashire are ready to start the hunt!

27 July 2009 Hello fellow Reading Detectives! After a preliminary meeting a couple of weeks ago we are ready for our first full session at Chorley Library this Friday. With Lancashire's links to writers such as Shakespeare and Tolkien, it will be very interesting to find some lesser... Read more or Comment (1 comments)

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