Book reviews

AN ALTERNATIVE HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND: WHAT REALLY HAPPENED, by Bob Murray. Available from Rob Tindall, Frankham High House, Fourstones, Hexham NE47 5DL. £5 (plus p&p 50p, proceeds go to Warden with Newbrough Parochial Church Council). Softback.

HUMOROUS writers seem to be thin on the ground these days, so this 62-page book — which offers a very amusing different slant on happenings in the county’s history — is a rare delight. Imagined contemporary newspaper reports ...


ARMSTRONG’S RIVER EMPIRE: TYNE SHIPYARDS THAT SUPPLIED THE WORLD, by Dick Keys and Ken Smith. Published by Tyne Bridge Publishing, Newcastle Libraries, PO Box 88, Newcastle NE99 1DX (tel: 0191-277 4174; email: anna.flowers@newcastle.gov.uk). £10. Sof

CELEBRATING Lord Armstrong of Cragside’s bicentenary year, this book tells the extraordinary story of two great shipyards at Elswick and Low Walker where vast numbers of battleships, cruisers, revolutionary icebreakers and ...


A BOOT UP THE NORTHUMBERLAND COAST, by Anthony Toole. Published by Halsgrove, Wellington, Somerset (tel: 01823 653777). £4.99. Hardback.

CONTAINING what are described as “10 leisure walks of discovery”, this pocket-sized book written by a regular contributor to The Northumbrian offers walks ideal for families between the mouth of the Tyne and ...


A PENNINE JOURNEY: FROM SETTLE TO HADRIAN’S WALL IN WAINWRIGHT’S FOOTSTEPS, edited by David Pitt. Published by Frances Lincoln Ltd (www.franceslincoln.com). £13.99. Hardback.

AS previewed in The Northumbrian (Issue 114, ‘Walking the Wall in Wainwright’s Footsteps’) this is a pictorial guide to a walk undertaken by Alfred Wainwright in September 1938. Compiled by members of the Wainwright Society, it ...


ADVENTUROUS PUB WALKS IN NORTHUMBERLAND, by Stuart Miller. Published by Countryside Books, Newbury, Berkshire (tel: 01635 43816). £8.99. Softback.

THIS is a varied collection of 20 circular walks, ranging in length from 10 to 13 _ miles, either ending at a pub or passing one en route. Widely spread across Northumberland, the walks cover parts of the coast, Hadrian’s Wall, ...


SPIRIT OF NORTHUMBERLAND, by Jason Friend. Published by Halsgrove, Wellington, Somerset (tel: 01823 653777). £4.99. Hardback.

A POCKET-sized book, this is filled with high-quality photographs of Northumberland’s scenic hills, moors, woods and river valleys, alongside many of the county’s most popular visitor destinations including castles, coastal ...


ST CUTHBERT’S CHURCH BEDLINGTON AND THE TYNESIDE SCOTTISH 2nd BATTALION, by Michael Eldridge. Available from the author at St Cuthbert’s Church, Church Lane, Bedlington NE22 5EL (tel: 01670 531838). £2 (plus p&p 50p). Booklet.

BEDLINGTON’S parish church, St Cuthbert’s, dates back to the 10th century. It is recorded that in December 1069 the Bishop of Durham and his group rested here with the body of St Cuthbert before travelling on to Durham. In 1921 ...


GHOST TAVERNS, by Darren W. Ritson and Michael J. Hallowell. Published by Amberley Publishing, Chalford, Stroud, Glos (tel: 01285 760030). £20. Hardback.

THIS illustrated gazetteer of haunted pubs in the North East of England, written by two paranormal researchers, visits more than 70 pubs spread around the region of which six are found in Northumberland. The county’s spooky pubs ...


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