Intimations....

I hope you don't mind a 'boast post' .... I was really thrilled to get home on Christmas Eve and find this book delivered through the letterbox. Some time ago I was contacted by an editor at Cambridge University Press for permission to use one of my photos as a book cover - and here it is! Apparently the author spotted the picture on the internet, traced it to my blog and wanted to use it. The power of Google, eh? I'd like to say I'll read the book but I doubt I have the staying power really. However, I hope it does well for the author and publisher, in what is presumably quite a specialist field. I never take photos with any other thought than the joy of the moment and sometimes the suitability for this blog - but it is always a delight when other people like my pictures, and a double joy when they are useful to someone.

This is my second book cover. I begin to wonder if there is a possible avenue after retirement....? I'd never really given book covers much thought until recently, and then someone came to my camera club and gave a talk, during which they mentioned that they quite frequently sell their work to publishers.

Dog with log - and witches

This ambitious little dog made me smile....

as did the witches sign, below. Wycoller is in a part of Lancashire called Pendle, which has an association with the infamous Pendle witch trials of 1612. Twelve local people (mostly members of two different families) were charged with ten murders by witchcraft, and ten of the accused were found guilty and hanged. The Clerk to the Court, Thomas Potts, published an account of the trial: 'The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster'. It's an intriguing, if tragic, story and the trials have since been the source of inspiration for many writers, poets, dramatists and artists.  There is a well-known novel, written by Robert Neill in 1951, called 'Mist over Pendle', which is still in print. 
The signpost marks a section of one of several Witch Trails that criss-cross the area, enabling people to explore the fascinating 400 year old history.

Revolution

30 March 2013 is an historic date.... It marks: the death of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (2002); the assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan (1981); an IRA bomb attack on the House of Commons (1979); the invasion of Austria by Russia (1945); the day the US bought Alaska (1867) and.....
the publication of this book: 'Britain's Industrial Revolution - the makings of a manufacturing people 1700-1870'. It's written by Barrie Trinder, writer, lecturer and consultant on industrial archaeology and social history. Cover photograph by jennyfreckles, amateur photographer and blogger!

Bearing in mind the recent musings on copyright, I have to quickly say that in this case the publisher (Carnegie Publishing) did everything perfectly properly and the photograph is used with my full consent. I'm actually really thrilled to see what a great job they have done with it, after they spotted a mono version on my blog (well, more likely on Google images in the first place).

This is not just a boast post (though it is that!) but I do think the book looks rather interesting for someone who, like me, is interested in Britain's social history. It explores the industrial revolution, one of the paradigm shifts in human history, which happened first in Britain. It changed forever the way in which goods were made: from small cottage industries, huge new factories and mills developed, using new inventions in machinery, new sources of power and new ways of transporting goods - our roads, railways and canals. New ways of working and living were needed: a concentrated workforce in rapidly growing towns and cities. It led to huge economic benefits, but it brought pollution, disfiguration of a green and pleasant country and increasing inequality between rich and poor. The industrial revolution created this country and the society we recognise today. What interests me too is that, though Britain and many other 'developed' countries are now in a post-industrial age (the death throes recorded by such as the photographer Ian Beesley, whose work I mentioned earlier this month), in other areas of the world (like China, India) the industrial revolution is still gaining pace. I'm not sure that the lessons we could have learned have been heeded....

A Penny for Going

I don't remember if I mentioned it at the time but a few weeks ago I went to a meeting of the Saltaire History Club, at which two new books related to Saltaire were introduced.  I (of course) bought them both and have started reading this one: 'A Penny for Going' by Roger Clarke.  It recounts Saltaire's history through its shops and shopkeepers, and reflects on how changes in society since the mid 1800s have been mirrored in the changes to the number and type of shops in and around the village.  There used to be many more shops than there are now and at one time Saltaire could supply pretty much everything a family needed from within the village.  Not so now, when we go further afield to supermarkets, the city centres and retail parks for life's basic necessities - and the village's shops are by and large supplying the needs of visitors and tourists for snacks, gifts and luxury products.

The author, Roger Clarke, is a well-respected local historian, tour guide and writer who makes a huge contribution to Saltaire through his knowledge of its past and his enthusiasm for its present.  All proceeds from the sale of the book are being donated to Saltaire United Reformed Church.

Hunkering down..

 

Just as parents-to-be need to do a lot of preparing and 'nesting' in the months leading up to the birth, so (it seems) do grannies-to-be ... or is it only me?  I find myself looking with new interest at babies in general and noticing shops that sell baby things and adverts for 'nearly-new' sales that I've never taken any interest in before. I know it's no good indulging my yearning for little baby clothes - my daughter tends to be rather particular about things and I doubt my taste would concur with hers.  But I did have a good idea (I think) to start a collection of books, to keep at my house, that might provide some amusement for my precious grandchild in years to come: books I loved as a child, books my daughter loved and selected modern children's classics.  However reliant we all are on computers and electronic gadgets, I still think there's a place for books in the life of a child.  And even if (horror) my own grandchild(ren) turn out to be book-averse, as some are, it will serve to amuse me!  (I don't know why I don't have any left over from the early days but I don't.  Obviously too ruthless in my decluttering in times past.)

I even found a lovely place to start a wish-list: http://www.librarything.com - where you can search for titles, start your own lists and link in to reviews and sellers too.  A lot of fun.  Needless to say, all suggestions for additions to my list will be gratefully received and enjoyed.

This photo has very little to do with all that!  But I decided to post it simply because I like it.  It fits well with the Weekend Reflections theme and if you like reflections in all guises, then do have a look at the other entries this week - here.  This attractive spot is a few miles along the Leeds-Liverpool Canal in Riddlesden.   It would be a gorgeous place to hunker down for the afternoon with a drink and a book - though perhaps not the best place to settle with a toddler in tow!