Over time towns and cities evolve and adapt to new technologies and trends. Much of the Monmouthshire town of Abergavenny has changed over the years and in Lost Abergavenny we revisit old streets that no longer stand; schools that are now silent; railway tracks that no longer rattle with trains; the military heritage of its castle, barracks and army camp; shops and businesses that once defined the town; sporting clubs and teams who have played their last; and institutions, events and chara...

What can you write about Abergavenny that hasn’t already been written? Quite a lot, as local author Tim Butters poignantly proves in A–Z of Abergavenny. The shadows surrounding local legends are investigated and new light is cast on familiar subjects in a book that barely pauses for breath as it thunders from A to Z in a no-holds-barred roller coaster ride. This fascinating new book brings the past to life and contrasts it with the present as readers embark on a twenty-six-step voyage of d...

Secret Abergavenny offers a unique insight into the sleepy Welsh market town, proving that there’s a lot more to the ‘Gateway to Wales’ than meets the eye. Did you know that Adolph Hitler’s deputy Rudolph Hess was kept in the town under lock and key during the Second World War, or that Abergavenny was declared its own nation in 1404 by Ieuan ab Owain Glyndwr in an arrangement that lasted approximately two weeks. John Lennon once landed there by helicopter to play a gig with the rest of The...

For centuries visitors to Monmouthshire have been seduced by its picturesque landscape and breathtaking beauty. Poets, princes, priests, peasants, painters, politicians, and even pirates have all sung the praises of this unique little corner of Wales. It is a county with an elusive nature and a turbulent past, but one whose sublime splendour is evident in its surrounding hills, scattered castles, sleepy churches, rolling rivers, rising mists and ancient woodlands. William Wordsworth once f...

Monmouthshire may have a reputation as a quaint, idyllic, rural county but scratch the surface and you’ll find a past riddled with scandal, strife and murder most foul. In Monmouthshire Murders and Misdemeanours Tim Butters digs up and throws new light on criminal cases long since buried, but still capable of making our modern minds recoil in horror. Among these tales of terror and woe you’ll find the wretched account of a child who callously murdered other children with the calculated eas...

Over the years local journalist and author Tim Butters has interviewed many Abergavenny veterans from the Second World War, ranging from a soldier who helped liberate the notorious Nazi concentration camp Bergen-Belsen, a man who was captured during the Allied retreat from Tobruk and ended up spending the war in the cruel confines of Stalag VIII-B, an officer who was at Dunkirk and later served with Field Marshall Montgomery at El Alamein, a Japanese POW whose hellish experiences scarred h...

The streets of London flourish like possibly no other city on earth, with stories from its rich history, stories of death - fire - disease, of riots, and grisly murders, but also of tales of hope, happiness, determination and success. Behind every story and every street however, are the people who lived, worked, played, and even murdered there. Did you know for instance that when Great Scotland Yard was being built in 1890, that the dismembered body of a woman was discovered by workmen, du...

A fascinating tour of London's strangest and most intriguing locations. Ranging from architectural evidence of past incidents and stories of life beneath the city, to anecdotes of magic, mystery and murder, this is a perfect companion for the curious Londoner.It includes:A Museum of Magical Curiosities; The City's Lost Tunnels and Citadels; The Ghost of a "She-Wolf; The Bawdy House Riots; The Story of 'Jack the Stripper'; The Atmospheric Railway; The Thames Ringway Bicycle ...

The essential humour gift book of the year returns in the anticipated fourth volume of this bestselling series Ð guaranteed to provoke laughter and amazement.The first volume of unpublished letters to the Daily Telegraph, Am I Alone in ThinkingÉ?, not only became a Christmas bestseller but also established the paperÕs letter-writers as a uniquely waggish, eccentric and maverick institution. They can be relied upon,particularly in the letters slightly too pungent or off-the wall to ...

Criminal incidents, accidents, whippings, beatings, jail escapes and hangings were all part of Dublin's 'brilliant parade' in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, including actors, clergymen, scientists, politicians and rogues and rascals of every hue. Hopkins describes the poverty, soup kitchens, food riots, street beggars and workhouses that were all a feature of Dublin life. He also introduces us to the weird, wonderful, and often downright strange customs and pastimes of Dubliners st...

Twenty years ago, in a series of mysterious, incandescent writings, David Seabrook told of the places he knew best: the declining resort towns of the Kent coast. The pieces were no advert for the local tourist board. Here, the ghosts of murderers and mad artists crawl the streets. Septuagenarian rent boys recall the good old days and Carry On stars go to seed. Clandestine fascist networks emerge. And all the time, there is Seabrook himself - desperate perhaps, and in danger.

This ebook edition contains the full text version as per the book. Doesn't include original photographic and illustrated material. This oral history of London's East End spans the period after the First World War to the upsurge of prosperity at the beginning of the 60s - a time which saw fresh waves of immigrants in the area, the Fascist marches of the 30s and its spirited recovery after virtual obliteration during the Blitz. Piers Dudgeon has listened to dozens of people who remember this...