Starting in 1700 in the North of England there was great changes in our way of life. The Wealth of the Country at this time was coal. This precious commodity from the Strata below us was the source of growth & prosperity that we were depending on to pay our way in the World. Rich men from the South of England with rich landowners within the region took advantage of the tremendous demand for coal and its by-products to make vast profits. They exploited their land as well as hard working miners...

Great Mining Disasters

"Kelloe, Bowburn & West Cornforth’, are all very individual, independent unique villages. All have been supported by their own Collieries that employed a high percentage of the personnel from the communities. All of the villages had Workingmen’s Clubs, Community Centres and a host of shops and licensed premises where they spent leisure hours away from the grime and hard work of the pits. The book contains many people including many war heroes, Stories of times long ago all enough to create pl...

The S & D Railway was officially opened September 1825, the rest of the North of England if not the whole Country watched with interest. The Peases played a major role in Es-tablishing this exciting rail venture and infact it was the first passenger travelling railway in the world. George Stephenson was chief engineer and I have charted this brilliant time in history having a look at all of the people involved along the way. Through trials and tribula-tions to the final successful conclusion....

The Great British Mechanics is a series of twelve short stories of people who because of their brilliance as Engineers and Mechanics revolutionised and changed life in England and the world forever.

Having completed two series of Northern Folk, I realised the great contribution of Scottish people to the present well-being of the people that live not only the British Isles, but also the world in general. Scottish scientists, inventors and writers pioneered positive change for the better; even in the present day at least four ministers lead our nation in the inner cabinet in Parliament, all are Scottish.In my opinion I feel that one of the greatest discoveries ever made was that of Penicil...

FORWARDIn only three weeks after completing my Last book Coxhoe & Kelloe revisited, I had received enough material to complete a further book in this series. It would be shameful if future gen-eration never saw these wonderful photographs from their families now in the past; so I decided to produce a further book on the area. Coxhoe & Kelloe revisited 2 as always I have tried to capture family life as it went on.Terry Hadfield contacted me with an amazing set of photo-graphs mainly from schoo...

The North of England is steeped in History and achievements of Engineers, Authors, Scientists who all made major Improvements to our Indus-trial Heritage; creating wealth and prosperity of, not only the North of England; but also Great Britain and the rest of the world. After the publication of Northern Folk in 2000, and noting the interest in the book I realized that the north of England was still brimming with notable characters that contributed so much to the present well being of England ...

I have enjoyed every minute while compiling the characters in 'Irish Legends', their particular achievements are far ranging and each very different, chosen by me mainly for what they have achieved for Ireland all in different ways. Ireland is a relatively young country partition happening in 1921, in many ways this was the start of the trouble as the 'Irish Free State' strived to unite people. Roger Casement, early in his career ,worked for the British Foreign Office where he completed valua...

By 2012 there had been many changes in the area and many new faces were seen mainly because of the new housing now available. Sadly there had been many deaths in the area among them Stan Jackson, Tot Clark, Denis Chisholm, Ian Chisholm, Jakey Bryan, Alan Seaton, George Quinn just to mention a few. But life has got to go on and it does; Coxhoe is now a little bustling village where it would seem everyone wants to live, all of the businesses it would seem are doing well and the front street is ...

Coxhoe & Kelloe Revisited combines this new material with one of Bernards earlier books: Kelloe, Bowburn & Cornforth to provide a more comprehensive history and account of the area about heritage.It also includes a short history of Durham Big Meeting and the formation of the Committee that produced the new Coxhoe Drift Banner. This book also features more material from Kelloe, an amazing little village with characters that are wide spread. All hard working people, they seem to have a language...

My inspiration to write this book came after serving my National Service with the 13/18 Royal Hussars in Malaya during the Malayan Emergency. The Regiment's proudest day was the date of the Battle of Balaclava. On that day all other ranks are allowed to stay in bed and they are served their meals and afterwards drinks by officers. The Regiment was immensely proud of this anniversary and proud of the honour of the Charge of the Light Brigade. Fitzroy Somerset was the youngest son of the Duke o...