From priceless eighteenth-century dining tables hidden away in decaying farm sheds to tattooed travellers with a penchant for Wedgewood china, professional auctioneer Philip Serrell has seen it all. In An Auctioneer's Lot he brings to life a world in which the most valuable antiques frequently turn up in the most unlikely places - and accompanied by the most unlikely people. For over twenty years he has uncovered a huge range of priceless (and occasionally worthless) antiques, and...

When Philip Serrell - now well known for his television appearances - gave up teaching to become a professional auctioneer, he thought he was embarking on a sensible and safe career . . . a quiet life in the country with no surprises. In THE AUCTIONEER'S LOT we found out how wrong he was. SOLD TO THE MAN WITH THE TIN LEG Philip describes more of his extraordinary experiences as a country auctioneer, aided and abetted by some of the most colourful characters Worcestershire has to offer. Fro...

Max and Vicky Hardcastle, newcomers to the beautiful Yorkshire village of Ramsthwaite, are finallly settled into their tumble-down old farm. But their new rural life doesn't always go to plan, for whether Max is plotting to get the better of rival antiques dealers or battling Elspeth the obstinate goat or restoring the burnished nether-regions of a Greek statue, every day seems to bring new excitement and intrigue.Meanwhile fellow villager Canary Mary finds romance, Long John gets ...

'Many times I heard people say that you'll have no friends if you're a policeman. How wrong they were. If you were right with them, they were right with you.'PC Martyn Johnson is back on the beat with more hilarious and heart-warming stories from the golden age of policing.With his nose for trouble and a knack for mischief, there's no such thing as a quiet shift for the friendly Yorkshire bobby - from drunken dogs and runaway horse...

A vivid and charming portrait of life in the Yorkshire DalesThe enchanting sequel to A Countryman's Lot, which told the story of Max Hardcastle's move to the Yorkshire Dales and the richness of life as an antiques dealer, The Luck of a Countryman contains an array of eccentric characters and curious situations which are guaranteed to delight and amuse. Old favourites reappear in new -- and sometimes alarming -- situations. And a myriad of new personalities join in ...

Max and Vicky Hardcastle have a daydream . . .One day, they'll sell their cramped city-centre antiques shop and the overflowing upstairs flat and relocate to the beautiful Yorkshire Dales. If they could only find the perfect place to house both family and business, then that fantasy might become a reality. . .When a smallholding in a remote Dales village comes on the market, it seems like the answer to their prayers. Bullpen Farm might need...

As the new school year begins, Jack Sheffield prepares for an even more eventful year than usual. A new teacher is appointed, and before long tongues start to wag.Meanwhile, five-year old Madona Fazackerly makes her mark in an unexpected way, life changes dramatically for Ruby the caretaker and, in the village Coffee Shop, Dorothy Humpleby plans a dirty weekend.It's 1983 - the era of the new CD player, Microsoft Word, the McDonalds McNugget, cabbage patch dolls, the threat ...

A true-life Heartbeat for the twenty-first century. Yorkshireman Mike Pannett has just taken up a new posting as a local bobby in rural North Yorkshire. It's quite a change from the Met, where he dealt with riots on the capital's streets and drug gangs in Battersea, and found out what it was like to stare down the wrong end of a sawn-off shotgun.Now, instead of hunting down knife-wielding muggers, he's chasing runaway bullocks, holding up the Last Night of the Proms traffic to esco...

'A wonderful slice-of-life autobiography' Daily Express'I've turned boys into men and policemen into coppers,' said the Sergeant. 'Policemen have got brains, but coppers, they've got brains and common sense.'No two days were ever the same for bobby-on-the-beat Martyn Johnson. Come rain or come shine, he patrolled his patch with a sharp eye for troublemakers and a kind word for those in need of a friend. Whether he was purs...

ALL TEACHERS GREAT AND SMALL tells the true story of Andy's first year at Cragthwaite Primary School - how he bravely negotiated the vagaries of the local dialect, made disastrous bids to provide a family home, naively and hilariously tried out new-fangled ideas in a school stuck in a 1950s time warp, and ultimately discovered a little part of England he was proud to call home.Warm, touching and very funny, All Teachers Great and Small transports you to a time that may be gone but has neve...

"Authentically capture[s] the realities of the sixties and seventies policing in Britain . . . a fascinating and endearing book, full of character and nostalgia." —FiretrenchAs with his previous two volumes, the bestselling What's Tha Up To? and What's Tha Up To Nah?, Martyn Johnson has written this book from the heart, not so much nostalgia as a genuine feeling for the people, animals, places and history of Sheffield.From naked young ladies...

Change is in the air for Jack Sheffield and the Ragley village school.It's 1987, and after a decade as head teacher at Ragley-on-the-Forest School, Jack Sheffield is looking to the future. He and his wife are expecting a new baby, the school is preparing for the introduction of the new National Curriculum, and the coming year promises a whole host of other surprises. Whether it's combing the church for an escaped pet mouse or dealing with the obnoxious new school g...