The Lake District was, until the 19th century, a remote, neglected and inaccessible part of England. Before the arrival of good road and rail networks and tourism it had been home to successive generations of very tough people: prehistoric peasant farmers, small Roman garrisons, Norse and Saxon settlers, monastic tenants and, after the Dissolution of the monasteries, the doughty farming families of yeomen or 'statesmen' and communities of miners and quarry workers. Each group has left its ...

The quintessential Englishwoman Clarissa Dickson Wright, one of the Two Fat Ladies and author of Spilling the Beans, takes us on a personal journey through the country of her birth.From Cornwall to Cumbria, Norfolk to Northumbria she brings her extraordinary knowledge, huge passion, forthright opinions and inimitable wit to the distinctive history and regional character of every corner of England.In her cornucopia of local knowledge she reveals, for exampl...

The Little Book of Dorset is a funny, fast-paced, fact-packed compendium of the places, people, legends and true stories about the county's past and present.

Exploring North Yorkshire's History - is a journey through the wonderfully varied landscape of North Yorkshire, and examines its rich history through contemporary colour photographs and words. North Yorkshire is England's largest county and being almost 100 miles wide and 65 miles long offers some of the country's most stunning scenery, from the breathtaking east coastline to the fabulous National Parks. Many of the areas we will explore throughout our journey have been designated Areas of...

Intrepid presenter Nicholas Crane investigates eight epic journeys, following in the footsteps of our greatest indigenous explorers.Nick presents eight of the most interesting traveller-chroniclers to have explored and reported on the state of the nation. From Gerald of Wales who embarked on a seven week journey around the wild perimeter of Wales in March 1188, to HV Morton, the journalist and travel writer who crossed the length and breadth of England by car in th...

Yorkshire is 'a continent unto itself', a region where mountain, plain, coast, downs, fen and heath lie close. By weaving history, family stories, travelogue and ecology, Richard Morris reveals how Yorkshire took shape as a landscape and in literature, legend and popular regard. The result is a fascinating and wide-ranging meditation on Yorkshire and Yorkshireness, told through the prism of the region's most extraordinary people and places.

*The Little Book of London *is a funny, fast-paced, fact-packed compendium full of the sort of frivolous, fantastic or simply strange information which no-one will want to be without. London's looniest laws, its most eccentric inhabitants, the realities of being royal and literally hundreds of wacky facts about the world's greatest city combine to make it required reading for visitors and locals alike.

'a book you simply must read if you're a fan of movies, James Bond or Roger Moore' - Movies in Focus'Owen writes with wit, affection and poignancy . . . Highly recommended' - From Sweden with Love'a breezy, enjoyable read that takes few sittings to get through . . . The affection and energy with which Raising an Eyebrow has been written is intoxicating' - Entertainment Focus...

The Forest of Dean is one of the largest areas of mixed woodlands in the UK with broadleaves and conifers of several species, flora and fauna, streams and ponds all masquerading the industrial remains of the Forest’s heavy industry - iron mines, furnaces, scowles and disused mines. Today it's an area for leisure, bordered by the River Wye to the west and Severn to the east.This book gives an insight into the industrial history and heritage of the area through to the present day wit...

Suffolk Strange But True describes many unusual, odd and extraordinary people, places and events from this fascinating county. Featured within these pages are tales of 'the fasting woman of Shottisham', who was alleged not to have eaten for five months; the Suffolk man who invented the word 'communism'; local heroines; pioneering entrepreneurs; spectacular ruins and castles; lost towns and villages; extraordinary pets and animals; and unusual art treasures found i...

In the 1960s Geoffrey Grigson travelled around England writing the story of the secret landscape that is all around us, if only we take the time to look and see. The result is a book that will take you on an imaginative journey, revealing hidden stories, unexpected places and strange phenomena.From green men, ice-scratches, cross-legged knights and weathercocks to rainbows, clouds and stars; from place-names and poets to mazes, dene-holes and sham ruins, via avenues, dewponds and v...

A look at how our ancestors shaped the South Yorkshire human landscape over the centuries from the author of The Grass Roots of English History.South Yorkshire has some of the most varied countryside in England, ranging from the Pennine moors and the wooded hills and valleys in the west to the estate villages on the magnesian limestone escarpment and the lowlands in the east. Each of these different landscapes has been shaped by human activities over the ce...