A selection of Local Books
by local authors, or about our area
From the Editor of the HebWeb, Chris Ratcliffe
No Direction Home: the 1960s.
For over 30 years, Chris Ratcliffe, as a partner in Pennine Pens, has been publishing books by other writers. Now, here's one of his own.
Read how, in 1965, he left his secure job, at 19 managed a rock group, ran a club, got busted in Bognor, hitchhiked in Europe, met students for the first time, against the odds got to university, the Summer of Love in the Mediterranean, created Ginger, a pioneering alternative student newspaper, fought in the Battle of Grosvenor Square, helped create the Free University of Essex (May 1968), helped build barricades on the riotous streets of Paris (May 1968), and appeared at the Court of Appeal in front of three Lord Justices to try and stop the University banning him from the campus.
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Gentleman Jack bestseller!
Nature's Domain: Anne Lister and the Landscape of Desire
Nature's Domain by award winning Hebden Bridge historian, Jill Liddington. Anne Lister is best known to us as the lesbian diarist owner of Shibden Hall in the early 19th century. Nature's Domain tracks her intense courtship of Ann Walker, vividly and candidly recorded in Anne's daily journals - and partly written in her own secret code. Series One of Gentleman Jack was largely based on this book.
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Bestseller from 20-25 years ago
View from the Bridge John Morrison
View from the Bridge by John Morrison
The best selling local book which started as a weekly column on the Hebden Bridge Web.
When this little old milltown went into serious
decline, it soon filled up again with an intriguingly diverse cast of
'off-cumdens'. Artists, writers, new-age therapists, lovers, loners and
loser. Excellent comic writing and observation. "Local publishers Pennine Pens beat all records with a runaway local hit
."
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From the popular HebWeb online column
Murphy's Lore
George Murphy's weekly record of a dramatic year in the life of the UK. 52 episodes, viewed from Hebden Bridge in the Calder Valley, a distinctive, beautiful and climate challenged part of the Pennine hills.
George's writings are filled with offbeat, wry observations on national politics, his family life and, above all, the quirky community of Hebden Bridge and its neighbouring towns.
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As seen through the eyes of the Spencer family in the late nineteenth century
A Place Apart: Hebden Bridge
by Christopher Collier
Chris Collier is the great grandson of Joseph Spencer, a successful tailor and outfitter, who originally built, and was the first occupant of, 25-26 Market Street. His double-fronted shop is now occupied by Element.
It was a time of rapid growth and the story takes in cotton and fustian, building a business, the railway and links to Manchester, and the daily life of town, education and chapel.
£12.50 - p&p, £2.50
The highly influential book on Sylvia Plath from Elaine Connell
Sylvia Plath: Killing the Angel in the House by Elaine Connell
Much has been written about the tragic life of Sylvia Plath; rather less about her work. Elaine Connell's book has been composed as an introduction to the work of this controversial poet, a book which can be read and understood by the general reader.
Elaine Connell explores some of the controversies which have surrounded Plath's work. Are feminists right in claiming her as one of their own? Or should her poetry been seen as a product of fifties femininity?
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Presenting the Past: Anne Lister of Halifax 1791-1840
Anne Lister - scholar - heiress - lesbian - traveller - owned and ran the Shibden Hall estate in Halifax. Her four-million word diaries give a vivid picture of the daily life of an independent woman in the early nineteenth century.
In Presenting the Past, Jill Liddington tells the dramatic story of how the diaries and letters have survived since Anne Lister's death in 1840. She recounts how the code, in which Anne recorded her lesbian affairs in her journals, was eventually deciphered.
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"Local publishers Pennine Pens beat all records with a runaway local hit" - The Book Case
A Bridge Too Far by John Morrison
Here, between soft covers, is everything you need to know about life, love and laughter in a small Pennine town . . . and quite a lot you don't, frankly.
Willow Woman: a warm and beautiful adornment to the social milieu.
Wounded Man: just one more loser in the lottery of love.
Grievous Bodily Arms - where the men think foreplay consists of taking their hats off.
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Hebden Bridge: A Sense of Belonging
by Paul Barker
Hebden Bridge is an enigma. During the twentieth century, this small town' s industrial roots slowly dried up. But then, from the 1970s onwards, it was colonized by waves of artists, bohemians, New Age enthusiasts, media types and an increasingly affluent, left-leaning population. What makes Hebden Bridge the remarkable place it has become?
Former Editor of New Society, Social historian Paul Barker grew up here and has a keen sense of belonging. So he is perfectly placed to chronicle and analyse both the changes and the continuities that make Hebden Bridge special.
Milltown Memories
Milltown Memories was a glossy magazine devoted entirely to the Upper Calder Valley.
The 15 issues appeared from 2002 until 2006.
Each issue included photos from the Alice Longstaff Gallery Collection.
Edited by Frank Woolrych and Issy Shannon
All Our Own Work by Andrew Bibby
All Our Own Work, from local writer, Andrew Bibby - how Nutclough Mill was home to one of the first Workers' Coops.
The fustian workers' co-operative started in 1870 and ran for 50 years, each year profitable.
Hippy Valley by George Murphy
Hippy Valley is an eBook published by Pennine Pens - monologues and songs performed by storyteller George Murphy who often uses the news and discussion on the Hebweb for inspiration for his comic tales. Read more.
£2.95 Available for immediate download
Amazon Kindle version
Apple iBooks version.