Andrew Beardmore Libros

Derbyshire, the most central county in England, is full of glorious countryside, historic buildings and thriving cities, towns and villages. However lurking not far beneath its surface is a host of oddities and peculiarities that turn the apparently staid and conventional into something much more intriguing.

Nottinghamshire, Robin Hood's county, is full of pleasant countryside, historic buildings and thriving cities, towns and villages. But lurking not far beneath its surface is a host of oddities and peculiarities that turn the apparently staid and conventional into something much more intriguing. Nevertheless, although most definitely unusual and quirky, this book still has plenty to offer in terms of conventional reference - albeit delivered in an original and humorous format.

Cheshire is a county of great geographical contrast from the Pennines to the Plains, while its history is glorious, from hugely important Roman Chester in the west to the crucible of the Industrial Revolution in the east. However, lurking not far beneath the surface is a host of oddities and peculiarities that turn the apparently staid and conventional into something much more intriguing. Therefore even the Conventional Cheshire section in this book is interspersed with idiosyncratic "Quirk Alerts" such as anecdotes about which Cheshire knight fought the Spanish Armada, aged 89, and which Cheshire Royalist was beaten to death with his own wooden leg in 1649. Alternatively, read about the object in Macclesfield that is just plain wrong, or be amazed by the exploits of the fiddling, stilt-walking 18th century Cheshire dramatist known as Maggotty Johnson! Naturally, though, it is the Quirky Cheshire section where things turn very strange, and where a seemingly random almanac of 78 Cheshire places have their quirkiest facts laid like which villages are home to the Wizard's Milestone, a library in a telephone kiosk, and a hall built around an oak-tree. Then there's the village that used to be known as Bullock Smithy, the village that had nine vicars in nine years, and the Cheshire lake that is rumoured to be home to a mermaid every Easter!

If you think you know Shropshire, read this fascinating and profusely illustrated book and think again.