Book reviews

MAMMALS, AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF THE NORTH EAST, edited by Ian Bond, Northumbria Mammal Group. Published by Natural History Society of Northumbria, Great North Museum: Hancock, Newcastle NE2 4PT. £10 (+£3.50 p&p). Softback.

IN this first extensive account since 1864 of all the species found in the North East, 29 naturalists describe the current and historical status of the 63 species found in the region, drawing on the work of local naturalists, ...


LIMEKILNS AND LOBSTERPOTS: A WALK AROUND OLD BEADNELL, by Katrina Porteous. Published by Windmillsteads Books. Available from local bookshops and Barter Books, Alnwick. £7.99 (+ £3 p&p). Softback.

HAVING spent much of the last 25 years researching the history of the village she lives in, the author guides her readers on a walk which is also a journey back over more than a thousand years of Beadnell’s history. Telling the ...


FRANK RENNER’S BAIRNS, by Hilton Dawson. Published by Powdene Publicity, Unit 17, Quay Level, St Peter’s Wharf, Newcastle NE6 1TZ (tel: 0191-265 0040). £7.99 (+ £0.91 p&p). Softback.

DELVING into your family history is an increasingly popular area of research, and Hilton Dawson shows just how much can be discovered about past generations through diligent research and perseverance. The life of Frank Renner, the ...


THE GALLOWS TREE: CRIME AND PUNISHMENT IN THE 18TH CENTURY — NORTHUMBERLAND AND BERWICK-UPON-TWEED, by Barry Redfern. Published by Tyne Bridge Publishing, PO Box 88, Newcastle NE99 1DX. £7.99 (+£1.50 p&p). Softback.

THE author, a retired policeman, turns his detective’s eye on astonishing real-life stories of murder, robbery, high treason and counterfeiting and investigates the hangings, brandings, whippings and other punishments meted out to ...


ST OSWALD’S WAY AND ST CUTHBERT’S WAY, by Rudolf Abraham. Published by Cicerone Press, Milnthorpe, Cumbria (www.cicerone.co.uk). £12.95. Softback.

THIS guide provides all the information walkers could need to enjoy the scenery, wildlife and historic interest to be seen along two long-distance trails through Northumberland and the Borders. It contains eight detailed stages of ...


ALMOST FORGOTTEN: THE SEARCH FOR AVIATION ACCIDENTS IN NORTHUMBERLAND, by Chris R. Davies. Published by Amberley, Stroud, Glos (www.amberley-books.com). £16.99. Softback.

THE author, a keen historian and hill walker, combined these interests with his passion for aviation to seek out the secrets at more than 140 crash sites and he discusses the location, history and stories surrounding 30 of these. The ...


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