LOCAL HISTORY BOOKS

LANDY PUBLISHING

Bob Dobson

Publisher and Book Dealer

Acorns. 3 Staining Rise, Staining, Blackpool FY30BU

Tel. & Fax. 01253 895678

e-mail: bobdobson@amserve.com

LIFE ON THE LANCASTER CANAL

Preston lass Janet Rigby married into a family long associated with working on the Lancaster Canal ("the Lanky"). It is probable that her husband's ancestors were there when the Preston to Kendal canal opened in 1797. They were still around in 1947 when commercial traffic came to an end. Janet and David now have their "second home - Benjamin No. 48," moored near Forton. She is active on the committee of the Lancaster Canal Trust.

In the course of her research, Janet has concentrated on the folk who lived and worked on the canal, interviewed many people, listened to numerous tape recordings, read archived reports and newspapers and come across many photographs. She soon discovered that families such as the Ashcrofts, the Baines', the Robinsons and the Hamptons were inter-related through marriage. "Kick one and they all limp" was never more appropriate.

Many aspects of canal life are touched upon - education, housing, horse-keeping, life on board, cargoes, work practices, and drownings. Not only is the (57 miles) length of the canal covered so is its (209 years and continuing) life, from packet boat to pleasure boat days.

There have been books on the history of this canal, and of the walks by its banks, but none previously on the daily working life of England's most northernmost canal folk. This is social history, not to mention transport and geography.

"Life on the Lancaster Canal" is a high quality 112 page paperback book costing £8. Copies are available from the publisher free of postage (UK only) if a cheque accompanies the order. "My integrity is your guarantee" is my trading motto Bob Dobson bandy Publishing

PLAY UP HIGHER WALTON!

Football in a Lancashire Village from 1882 to 2005

The title comes from the cry of supporters standing on the pitch's sidelines in football's early days. It is appropriate, because Higher Walton FC was formed in the formative years of the" beautiful game" when enthusiasm for "t 'Villagers" ran high in this small township, which lies between Preston and Blackburn. Young chaps working in the local cotton mill formed a football club which played according to the new "association" rules.

The 1880's were indeed "glory years" for Higher Walton FC. Despite the restrictions of having to earn a living in the mill, they played some of the top professional teams of the day - Blackburn Rovers, Blackburn Olympic, Everton, Liverpool and Accrington, to name but a few. They even visited Third Lanark of Glasgow in the FA Cup and went on 'foreign" tours to Northern Ireland.

Though this is primarily a local history book, the author describes not only the development of the village but also the birth of football in Lancashire. He charts how professionalism came into the game, forcing "the Waltonians" to leave the Lancashire League, after being its first champions. Through the years came name changes - Higher Walton Albion and United, and spells in other local Leagues - to play teams such as Fleetwood Rangers, Oswaldtwistle Rovers, Southport Central, Leyland Red Rose, Walton-le-Dale, Leyland Motors, Pleasington and Feniscowles.

Sterling service by a handful of local stalwarts is recorded, though the football club was forced to disband after the 2004-5 season. However, if the past is anything to go by, another club bearing the village name will soon appear and the chronicle of football in this Lancashire village will be continued.

Peter Holme is a retired teacher who has lived in the village for over twenty years. He has long been associated with junior football in the area and now works as Research Officer at the National Football Museum in Preston. Who better to tell the tale?

This high quality 80 -page paperback is extensively illustrated and it sells at £6. Copies can be obtained from the publisher free of postage (UK only - overseas customers add £3 per order) if a cheque accompanies the order.

"Mv integrity is your guarantee " is my trading motto Bob Dobson - Landy Publishing

Lancashire's Medieval Monasteries

By BRIAN MARSHALL there has been no hook published which tells of the 13 Lancashire monastic establishments. I seek to correct that, and this letter asks you to subscribe to the publication of the book, which is not without commercial risk vet one which is worthy of publication. Brian Marshall, author of "Cockersand Abbey ", which I published in 2001, has since been awarded a degree of M . Phil by lancaster University following the submission of his thesis on Lancashire monasticism. He lecturcs on British and foreign monasteries and is a recognised authority on medieval life He has wn tren "Lao Lancashire 's Medieval Monasteries" which I propose to publish at Faster (April) 2006. It will be a high quality, 112- page A5 size paperback book, covering thc subject as a whole before telling the story of each individual insitutions There is very little information to be obtained about most of the thirteen (which doesn't include two failed abbeys and three friaries). Thirteen? Yes - Furness Whalley and Cockersand Abbeys, Priories at Lancaster Cartmel, Lytham Penwortham, Burseough, Conishead Hornby, Cockerham, Upholland and Kersal - Plus Wytedale and Tulketh Abbeys ,which "failed" and the friaries at Warrington,Preston and Lancaster. The book will be illustrated and have a glossary, bibliography and index and will cost £10. Those who subscribe by 30th January 2006 can have their names listed in the book. Postage is free except to overseas subscribers, who should add £3 to their payment to cover the extra air mail postage. Subscribers' names and part of their address will be shown e.g. Lord Lucan, Knott End: Philip and Elizabeth Windsor, Oswaldtwistle. Receipts will be sent by retttrn of post to acknowledge payment. "La udy Publishing"is my trading name. "Mv integrity is your gnaran tee" is my trading motto. Above, Cartmel Priory and, Top, the remains of Burscough Priory. Right, Furness Abbey. Front, the of Cockersands Abbey and Lancaster Priory. ruins Bob Dobson.

NORTHWARD By "Atticus" [A Hewitson]

Northward was written by Anthony Hewitson, a Preston journalist, and was published in 1900. It has been reprinted several times, most recently by me in 1993, the book has been out of print for most of the last 10 years.

Northward is concerned with "historic, topographic and scenic gleanings etc between Preston and Lancaster ". It is illustrated with almost a hundred drawings Most of the townships east and west of the A6, the Lancaster Canal and the Wyre between Preston and Lancaster are mentioned. No local history book has a higher reputation than Northward. It records village life and traveling on roads before the advent of motor cars half a century before the M6 appeared on any map, and now a full century ago.

I anticipate publishing 1000 copies of the book, a facsimile of the 1900 edition with the folding map, as a 160-page high quality paperback at £18. Postage will be free if payment accompanies the order (UK only - overseas should add £3 to the order total not per copy - for postage and should pay in sterling). Cheques should be payable to Landy Publishing. I cannot accept credit card payments.

A PRESTON MIXTURE Compiled by Bob Dobson

There are all sorts of things in a mixture. This book has all sorts in it - all of them being something to do with Preston. I have compiled essays, (with a few poems and not a few pictures) from local writers on a variety of subjects - trains; Bond cars; ballooning; the Preston Pilot; public health; popular entertainment; Farrington Park; the Scientific Society; St Walburge's Church; the railway station in wartime; the Society for the Diffusion of Knowledge; the Castle Hotel in Market Square, and on a variety of people such as Anthony Hewitson who wrote as "Atticus"; the centenarian Mrs. Kirby; The Ducketts, a father and son who were master sculptors; Mr. Harris who gave the town its library, a museum and orphanage and Patti Mayor, an artist and suffragette.

There's a poem about Tom Finney, a knight to remember. The photographs are captioned to interest and inform. It's a history book with a difference. The various sections are interspersed with pictorial letter headings from tradesmen of yesteryear, many of them bearing the Lamb

A Preston Mixture is a high-quality 160 - page paperback book which sells @ £6 Postage is free if payment is sent with the order. (UK only - overseas customers should add £3 to the order and pay in sterling). I cannot accept card payments. Cheques should be made out to Landy Publishing.

My trading motto is "My integrity is your guarantee".

I order _______ copy/copies of Northward @ £18 and send my cheque for £......, made out to Landy Publishing, herewith.

Name:

Address:

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Here is a list of books published by Bob Dobson to November 2003. Postage is free except to overseas customers, who are asked to add £3 to their bill to go towards postage costs.

These prices apply only to copies, which are supplied direct to the customer. Some of the books are not available through bookshops. But will be pleased to sign and date any book written or edited by Bob and marked with an asterisk on this list. It can also be inscribed as a gift for someone and if that is the case please mark so and write the details on a separate letter.

Bob prefers to deal direct with customers rather than bookshops for small orders. Please do not order these books from bookshops if they are not in stock there.

Blackburn in Focus by Alan Duckworth & Jim Halsall. Photos taken by Blackburn photographers John William and Alfred Shaw a century ago. Some have been ‘zoomed in on to give a look at a street scene, and some have been newly taken by Jim taking a shot from the same spot.

48pp pbk £6

Blackburn Tram Rides by Jim Halsall. Photographs with captions take you back in time. Six tram routes.

60pp pbk £6

*A Blackburn Miscellany edited by Bob Dobson. A history book with a difference. Short pieces on many aspects.

A5 168pp ills £10

Preston in Focus by Stephen Sartin. Fifty photos taken in the old borough in 1911 by a Blackburn father-and-son team called Shaw. Stephen Sartin has written captions which captivate.

48pp pbk £6

A History of Pilling by F A Sobee. A reprint of the schoolmaster’s masterly work to which has been added some old photos and a new introduction. In laminated boards.

168pp £18

Bygone Bentham by Joseph Can. 26 essays on the native village written for the Lancaster Guardian between 1871 and 1893. Peter Marshall has added photos and old adverts.

168pp pbk £15

A Century of Bentham

compiled by David Johnson. 100 photos of the village(s) from the 1970s to the 1970s.

A5 64pp pbk £6

*Accrington Observed by Brian Brindle and Bob Dobson. 111 old photos with captions and ‘flavour’

. A4 64pp pbk £6

*Accrington‘s Changing Face by Frank Watson & Bob Dobson. 64 pages of photos and captions along the lines of Accrington Observed

A4 64pp pbk £6

Accrington‘s Public Transport 1886-1986 by Robert Rush. Both local history and transport. Many photos.

60pp pbk £6

Bolland Forest & the Hodder Valley by Greenwood & Bolton. Reprint of 1955 history book with new names index and photos. Limited to 1000 copies

160 pp pbk £15

Cockersand Abbey by Brian Marshall. This abbey was knocked down by Henry VIII in 1539. It started as a hospital run by a hermit.

A5 pbk 64pp ills £5

Hackensall with Preesall: A Thousand Years of a Lancashire Parish by Brian Marshall. Published in two parts, up to and from 1479.

A5 pbks 80/136pps ills each £6

Sketches of Grange and Neighbourhood. First published in 1850, now reprinted. To the original have been added a new introduction and some contemporary engravings.

A5 pbk 128pp £l0

Northward by Anthony Hewitson. First published in 1900, this covers the history of the area between Preston and Lancaster. Monumental. Limited to 1000 copies

157pp & map pbk £18

*A Preston Mixture edited by Bob Dobson. Pieces on history, events, characters. well illustrated.

A5 pbk 160 PP £6

Oswaldtwistle Observed: Gawping at Gobinland by Mike Booth & Albert Wilkinson. Photographs with captions. The first Ossy book for over 10 years.

60pp pbk £6

Contract: LANDY PUBLISHING

Bob Dobson, "Acorns", 3 Staining Rise, Staining, Blackpool FY3 0BU Tel. & Fax.01253 895678 Publisher and Book Dealer

I'm sure he can help with any enquires about book and others for both local and overseas customers.

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