News

'True founding father of outdoor writing', WR Mitchell, is voted cultural icon for the Yorkshire Dales

Journalist and author WR (Bill) Mitchell has been voted the Yorkshire Dales National Park's greatest living cultural icon.

He received 60 per cent of the votes in the public poll, which was launched by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA) to select the region's favourite cultural figure, one living and one deceased. Alf Wight, who penned the 'James Herriot' stories and who died at the age of 79 in 1995, was selected as the public's favourite in the category of an icon who is no longer living.

Each of the UK's 14 National Parks ran the competition as part of 60th anniversary celebrations for the passing of the Countryside Act, which led to their creation. To be eligible, each nominated figure had to be connected to the National Park in some way, either having been born there, lived within its boundary, or having been influenced by the landscape, people or cultural heritage.

Octogenarian, Bill, is the author of nearly 200 books. His journalistic career began at the Craven Herald & Pioneer newspaper in Skipton, and he was then invited by Harry J Scott, founder of the Dalesman magazine, to join him in that enterprise, where he remained, editing the Dalesman and Cumbria magazines, for about three decades. In retirement he has written a string of books mainly about aspects of everyday life in the Dales and Lake District. Since 2008 his new books have been published by Great Northern Books, including Hannah a best selling autobiography of Hannah Hauxwell; Thunder in the Mountains, which recounts the human tragedies behind the building of the Ribblehead Viaduct; and his latest book, an autobiography of his friend, the great fell walker and writer AW Wainwright, which will be published at the beginning of October 2009.

Bill is an MBE and the President of the Yorkshire Dales Society. In 2007, the Outdoor Writers' and Photographers' Guild presented him with its highest accolade, the Golden Eagle Award, noting that he was 'one of the true founding fathers of outdoor writing'.

"My greatest pleasure is not just in winning a poll but in being associated through it with folk I admire who have strong Dales connections," he said.

He came out ahead in a strong list that included artist David Hockney and comedian and folk singer Mike Harding.

Bill will now join iconic figures from the other national parks at www.nationalparks.co.uk to help celebrate their diamond jubilee.

New 60th anniversary edition of JB Priestley's Delight is now available. Shortly after the end of the second world war, at a time when rationing and austerity prevailed, JB Priestley produced a collection of 114 mini essays on the simple pleasures in life. His 'delights' are as fresh and as relevant today as they were all those years ago: waking to smell coffee, bacon and eggs; gin and tonic with crisps; theatre curtains going up; not going out; malicious chairmanship; and buying books. It is a testament to Priestley's writing that Waterstones has made Delight a central part of its 2009 charity campaign for Dyslexia Action and the London Library.

" A rediscovered masterpiece by one of England's greatest writers captures the simple, innocent pleaures that make life worth living." Daily Mail

Managing Regional Tourism

"A useful addition to the practitioner’s bookshelf as well as to those of academics and students, precisely because it deals with the impact of changes on the way regional tourism functions."
Destination Matters (The Institute of Tourism Management)
August 09 issue 8
[Download Brochure PDF 6MB]

English Journey

English Journey was featured on BBC Radio 4's Open Book programme on Sunday 19th July click here to listen online.

'Priestley's jaunt around a land largely long-gone may be a period piece. But it carries resonance enough to make it required reading for all who care as much about the flaws as the glories of our part-green and pleasant, for some, land.' 5 Stars
Daily Telegraph - Sat 11th July 2009
Link to Review

'The book's context and influence will be explored in a new 75th anniversary edition published this summer with contributions from, among others, Roy Hattersley, Margaret Drabble, Alan Plater, Beryl Bainbrige and Tom Priestley, the authors' son, to whom English Journey is dedicated...It all strikes a very modern chord.'
Times Weekend Supplement - Sat 2nd May 2009

‘Even in today’s saturated travel market, English Journey remains the definitive travel book, expressed with a beauty of which Bill Bryson, who loathed the resort, can only dream.’
Blackpool Gazette Tues 7th July 2009
Link to Review

Thunder in the Mountains

Author WR Mitchell will be signing copies of Thunder in the Mountains at the mass walk across the Ribblehead Viaduct on Sunday 26th July. Some 3000 walkers are expected to complete walk on Sunday which will be opened at 11am by Emmerdale actor Tom Lister.

'Thunder in the Mountains is a well-illustrated book that is largely anecdotal, matching factual accuracy with racy story-telling. The reader is introduced to a succession of fascinating people...Many more fascinating tales are told in the new book concerning the most talked about railway viaduct in the land.'
Yorkshire Post Magazine Sat 11th July 2009

'Arguably one of the most beautiful and dramatic railway sights, Ribblehead Viaduct has also been described as one of the great man-made wonders of Britain. Coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the reprieve of the Settle-Carlisle line, this book is not only the story of a great feat of engineering, but also of the lives of the men behind this structure which took five years to build.'
Steam World - July
Link to Review

Sweet Summers: The Classic Cricket Writing of JM Kilburn scoops Wisden Book of the Year.

Sweet Summers brings together a collection of the best writings of Kilburn, who was born in Sheffield in 1909 and died in Harrogate in 1993. It was compiled and edited by Duncan Hamilton and published by Great Northern Books in July 2008. This is Hamilton's third book award - his first for a cricket book - having previously won the William Hill Sport Book of the Year in 2007 and Best Football Book at the British Sports Book Awards in 2008 for his memoir of Brian Clough, Provided You Don't Kiss Me.

In Sweet Summers, Hamilton describes Kilburn as "one of cricket's major romantic poets: the Coleridge to Neville Cardus' Wordsworth". It was Hamilton's admiration for Kilburn's writing, and his desire to bring his words to a wider audience, that led to the book. Hamilton's idea quickly won approval from some of the greatest names in cricket who enthusiastically contributed to the book with personal reminiscences of (Jim) Kilburn. Among them, Geoffrey Boycott, who provided the book's foreword in which he notes, in typical Boycott style: "Nowadays, I believe there are too many writers attached to cricket who know bugger all about it - Jim was different."

Sweet Summers also includes contributions from Dickie Bird, Richie Benaud, Richard Hutton, John Woodcock, Matthew Engel, Christopher Martin-Jenkins, Geoffrey Moorhouse, David Frith, Derek Hodgson, Brian Close, Ray Illingworth, Stephen Chalke, Harry Gration, Chris Waters, Bob Appleyard and Don Wilson. All of whom express admiration for the supreme clarity and lyricism of Kilburn's writing style.

In Sweet Summers, Kilburn's cultivated and authoritative essays capture the spirit and beauty of cricket and the legends gracing it, among them Don Bradman, Fred Trueman, Jack Hobbs, Keith Miller, Garry Sobers, Hedley Verity and Wally Hammond. His pure, vivid prose traps in ink and paper an era that will never return. He writes of the days when 8,000 people watched Yorkshire's County Championship matches; when he travelled by ship on an Ashes tour with his friend Len Hutton; and of a bygone but beautiful period when one-day matches, coloured clothing and rampant commercialism in cricket simply didnąt exist.

In the 2009 edition of Wisden, Patrick Collins, writes, "Those of us who were shamefully unfamiliar with [Kilburn's] work are indebted to Duncan Hamilton for compiling and editing Sweet Summers, The Classic Cricket Writing of JM Kilburn. He wrote with technical awareness, shrewd insight and firm principles. He possessed the eye of a reporter and the soul of a poet. And his love for cricket shines through every elegant sentence. A game richly blessed with fine writers has rarely known his equal." In confirming Sweet Summers as the Wisden Book of the Year, Collins adds, "[Kilburn's] words carry a haunting resonance and his work deserves to be read for as long as cricket is played."

Duncan Hamilton said, "I thought that JM Kilburn had been sadly and unjustly neglected since his retirement. His cricket writing, in my view, was so good it demanded to be revitalised and brought to a new audience, and so Sweet Summers was born. I am delighted that the publishers, Great Northern Books, backed the idea and also that so many esteemed cricketers, writers and commentators gave their time willingly to contribute their thoughts and memories of the great writer. This accolade from Wisden is the icing on the cake. I'd love to think that Sweet Summers would encourage people to go out and discover Kilburn's earlier books."

Coming soon to Great Northern Books big names and great stories...

Enzo Calzaghe, father and trainer to 46 times undefeated world champion boxer, Joe Calzaghe, reveals what it takes to train a world champion and succeed against all odds in the captivating story of his life. A fascinating insight that will appeal to all sports fans. Enzo Calzaghe: The Don - 1st September 2009.

In Thunder in the Mountains WR Mitchell reveals the incredible human story behind the construction of the iconic Ribblehead Viaduct over 120 years ago. For five years hundreds of workers and their families lived in huge shanty towns at the foot of the railway viaduct, plagued by lawlessness, outbreaks of smallpox and the new-fangled explosive "dynamite". Publication date 13th July 2009.

2009 sees Britain host the historic Ashes Test series and to commemorate this, Fire and Ashes will be released on June 12th 2009. With introduction by Geoffrey Boycott, Fire and Ashes will be a celebration of the 18 living Yorkshire cricketers who have all taken part in the Ashes Test. Players such as Michael Vaughn, Darren Gough and Matthew Hoggard recall their favourite Ashes Test, bringing back to life past glories and cricketing triumphs.

In the Grand Book of Yorkshire Humour, one of the country's longest serving MPs and former YTV Calendar presenter from its earliest days, Austin Mitchell, casts a humorous eye over all things Yorkshire. Guaranteed fully organic, humour - no additives or preservatives - this book is packed full of Yorkshire jokes and sayings sure to brighten up even the dullest of days. A great gift idea. Publication date: May 2009.

...Watch this space!

Hail Kilburn, Coleridge of cricket

"Hail Kilburn, Coleridge of cricket. Duncan Hamilton's anthology of famed cricket reporter Jim Kilburn is the pick of an excellent seasonal crop of sports nostalgia books . . . Sweet Summers, edited with care and valued esteem by compatriot Duncan Hamilton, is the opportune and timely treasury of [Kilburn's] work and appealingly undated."
Frank Keating, The Guardian
read the full article

Barns of the Yorkshire Dales

Andy Singleton, co-author of 'Barns of the Yorkshire Dales' was featured in the Sunday Times, 8th February, 2009. [Read full article]

"[the book] outlines the methods and materials used to build barns and how they can be converted into 21st century homes .... an inspiration to any self-builder"
The Telegraph Property - Saturday 10th January - Book of the Week

"The photos alone, however, will have anyone who loves this beautiful part of the world swooning." Stephen Lewis at the Press (York)

"Andy Singleton and David Joy have made it their business to stop and study barns galore, and have told the story of their history and survival in a fascinating new book, Barns of the Yorkshire Dales. The two authors complement each other nicely." Telegraph and Argus 13/12/08

"This is a book which does these glorious structures proud ... a truely fascinating work that breaks completely new ground."
(Huddersfield Examiner, 21/11/08) [Read the full article]

Praise for Bright and Breezy

"This glossy hardback packed with glorious colour photographs ... capture this wonderful county in every kind of light and every kind of weather.... It's definately one to keep on the coffee table" Hull Daily Mail 8/12

"Leading personalities in the world of YTV ... tell about filming in rain or shine, gale or flood."
(Huddersfield Examiner, 14/11/08)

"a sumptuous book" "stunning images"
The Press (York)
[Click here for full article]

Deano opens new Hull city shop
On Monday 27 October, Dean Windass opened the new Hull City FC shop at Princes Quay shopping centre in Hull. Read more at the Hull City website:

Hull City

or you can see the launch on video at: Video

Priestley's wars

A Public Lecture at the Imperial War Museum, London with Tom Priestley, Neil Hanson, Timothy West and Kenneth Cranham Sunday 23 November, 3.00pm. To book click here.

Revealed at last: JB Priestley's letters from the trenches. Little has been known about this period of his life, but the rediscovery of his letters sheds new light on Priestley's war years. In 'Priestley's Wars' the surviving correspondence is included alongside his later musings on war, in particular the manuscripts of his weekly Postscript radio broadcasts during the Second World War.
Yorkshire Post

Priestley war letters published - BBC News