Books

Mum's The Word

Kate Lawson (Sue Welfare)

Available to by instore at £6.99

or have it posted for £9.49 including UK postage & packaging

Have it signed by the author at no extra charge. 

Kate Lawson is our very own local writer. To have a copy signed please send the name of the person you would like it signed to with your PayPal payment and confirm the details in a separate e-mail to us (click here)

Around Downham Market

Mike Bullen  Paperback Book, 96 Pages, 168 x 124 mm

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Looking Back at Lynn: A Scrapbook of the 50s & 60s

by Bob Booth

100 A4 size pages

Available to buy instore £11.99

or have it posted for £14.99 including UK postage & packaging

Tescopoly: How One Shop Came Out on Top and Why it Matters

by Andrew Simms

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Synopsis

You can shop anywhere you like - as long as it's Tesco. The inexorable rise of supermarkets is big news, but have we really taken on board what this means for our daily lives, and those of our children? In this searing analysis, Andrew Simms, director of the acclaimed think-and-do-tank the New Economics Foundation and the person responsible for introducing 'Clone Towns' into our vernacular, tackles a subject none of us can afford to ignore. The book shows how the supermarkets - and Tesco in particular - have brought: Banality - homogenized high streets full of clone stores; Ghost towns - superstores have drained the life from our town centres and communities; a Supermarket State - this new commercial nanny state that knows more about you than you think; profits from poverty - shelves full of global plunder, produced for a pittance; and global food domination - as the superstores expand overseas. But there's change afoot, with evidence of the tide turning and consumer campaigns gaining ground. Simms ends with suggestions for change and corporate reformation to safeguard our communities and environment - all over the world. This book has been written and published independently from the Tescopoly Alliance and is not endorsed by them.

Worried by the power of the Supermarkets ? Click here to go to the Tescopoly website

Don't Laugh Till He's Out Of Sight

by Henry Brewis

Available to buy instore £5.95

One of the earliest books by Henry Brewis, this perennial favourite is a confection of stories, poems and cartoons from the early 1980s. In Henry’s own words, it was ‘a source of reassurance to any established peasant feeling low, and hopefully amusing to anyone who sees farming as an interesting (if at times ridiculous) way to almost make a living.’

A Hack Goes West: On Horseback Along The Oregon Trail

by Dylan Winter

Available to buy instore £7.95

As travelling companions on his 2,000-mile journey along the Oregon trail, Dylan Winter chooses Rocky, a retired rodeo horse, and Roland, a mixed up Appaloosa with a fear of bridges, bin liners and heights. Before long, however, Dylan realises that horses are not ideal companions for long distance travel; after a few days in the saddle he is talking to himself, then to the horses, and, by the time he reaches Nebraska, the horses are talking back. Human company becomes essential, so he joins forces with a wagon train.

Juggernaut Drivers

by Leslie Purdon

Available to buy instore £6.95

It's the 1970's. Trucker Dennis Richardson (Rich) revels in the laughter and camaraderie of his life on the road. He sets up a transport company, North Kent, with two pals. Benny is the one with the short fuse; Rich tries to calm him down - when he's not winding him up. The irrepressible Chuckles has his own way of dealing with tachographs and then there’s the indispensable Jean, the rock on which they all depend. The determined team go through humorous, and sometimes extreme, exploits as they strive to stay afloat. They run legal when they can and cut corners when necessary. Gambling on the new Scandinavian trucks that are changing the industry, they are cheated out of their earnings. Will they still come up smiling? This is a lively and funny account of a fictional transport company. In it author Les Purdon confronts the ups and downs of owner-operators during the difficult years of the 1970s and 80s.

Early To Rise: A Suffolk Morning

by Hugh Barrett

Available to buy instore £6.95

This is an authentic first-hand account of life as a sixteen-year-old farm pupil in the early 1930s. In Suffolk, as elsewhere, the tractor had not yet displaced the horse, farms were full of labourers and the working day was long and hard.
Hugh Barrett 'lived in', received five shillings a week and learned to plough, build a stack, hoe beet and grind the pig food. His accounts of rabbits, rats and plagues of fleas are, like all the book, factually accurate and told with humour.
Early to Rise has been in print almost continuously since 1967. It has now been joined by a sequel, A Good Living, in which Hugh describes his mixed fortunes managing a wide range of farms during wartime.

Chaffinch's

by H W Freeman

Available to buy instore £6.99

Coming from a family dispossessed from the land by the 19th century Enclosure Acts, Joss Elvin craves to be an independent farmer. This novel follows his mixed fortunes on 'Chaffinch's', the small Suffolk farm that he finds derelict and reclaims.
The story runs from 1884 to 1938, reflecting the momentous changes in the agriculture of the time. It is also a personal story, an account of marrying and raising a family on nineteen acres.
H W Freeman's own passionate desire for direct and continuous contact with the land illuminates every page of this novel, first published in 1941 when it was a Book Society recommendation.

The Magic Peasant

by Henry Brewis

Available to buy instore £5.95

‘Essentially a rural book, an everyday story, in pictures and verse of peasant folk – and in particular a fellow called Sep.’ So Brewis introduced this collection, an affectionately humorous tribute to hill farmers everywhere.

'Funnywayt'mekalivin'

by Henry Brewis

Available to buy instore £5.95

funnywayt’mek’alivin’ was the first Henry Brewis’s titles to be published by Farming Press, in 1983, since when it has reprinted on numerous occasions.
It contains 130 cartoons on timeless subjects familiar to Brewis devotees: sheep with a death-wish, the long-suffering farmer’s wife, the experts and officials who plagued farmers twenty years ago as they still do today.
The central character is hill farmer Sep of whom Brewis writes: ‘Anyone who has survived a lambing, pleaded with the bank manager, nearly murdered a persistent worm-drench rep, been kicked in the Y-fronts by a suckler calf, watched the heavens open on to a field of hay ready to bale, viewed the hunt gallop over his winter wheat, and choked on a tax demand – will recognize Sep.’

Clarts and Calamities: The Diary Of The Peasant Farmer

by Henry Brewis

Available to buy instore £5.95

diary form: ‘This is a year in the life of a bloke who’ll never drive a Porsche, seldom wear a tie, and doesn’t commute to work, because he’s there already. He’s been there since the first ewe lambed, the first cow was milked and the first field harvested … and he still hasn’t made any money (or so he says).’

Farmer's Boy

by Michael Hawker

Available to buy instore £7.95

These recollections of farming and rural life near Barnstaple, north Devon, cover the 1940s and 50s when agriculture, though it was changing, was still on a human scale. From the time the author as a twelve-year-old first stooked corn in the harvest field he was devoted to farming. He absorbed what was going on and is able to recall it in detail. His later life as a university lecturer in agricultural engineering and farm mechanization has helped him put his memories into a wider context. The book includes chapters on corn harvesting, the potato harvest, horse power, early tractor power, the seasonal activities, the milk round and farmsteads. The text focuses on north Devon and the accompanying photographs are true to the region and period.

Joseph And His Brethren

by H W Freeman

Available to buy instore £7.95

Joseph and his Brethren is an English novel, following the story of a Suffolk farming family through two generations. When Benjamin Geaiter purchases the run down Crakenhill Farm his presence is soon felt in the neighbouring villages. Although he is branded a murderer and a wife beater by local gossips, no one can deny his ability to farm the land. As the novel follows the various fortunes and misfortunes of Benjamin and his sons through the late 19th Century, it becomes clear that they each possess a passion for direct contact with the land they farm. This passion dominates all aspects of their existence and inextricably ties them to Crakenhill. It is only when their lives are altered by the arrival of a young housekeeper that their future becomes uncertain.
It was this novel which established H W Freeman’s reputation as a writer in Britain and America. It became a main selection of the American Book of the Month club in 1929.

Farmers Favourites

by Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution

Available to buy instore £5.95

A mouthwatering compilation of 135 old, new and variations of favourite recipes from the farming community of Britain. All the recipes have been carefully tested, and then arranged into mealtime sections. Savoury dishes range from baked stuffed tomatoes to spicy Bengal chicken, and puddings from apple flan to rich Parson’s Folly. Baking is particularly well represented in a wide selection of cakes, teabreads and biscuits, and recipes for preserves and chutneys will use up any windfalls from the orchard and kitchen garden. A special Christmas section offers a choice of pudding and cake recipes and finishes off the turkey leftovers. Each recipe has come from a beneficiary of the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution, the charity that provides help and support for retired, disabled and disadvantaged farmers and their families. All royalties from Farmers’ Favourites will go to the RABI. This attractive book is delightfully illustrated with line drawings by Mary Beck.

Ransomes, Sims & Jeffries (hardback)

by Brian Bell

Available to buy instore £19.95

Ploughs and tillage machinery, steam engines, grass-cutting equipment, trolleybuses, threshers, tractors, combines, electric trucks and more – the range of products made by Ransomes of Ipswich is perhaps the widest of any similar British manufacturer. From a small workshop in 1789, the company grew to employ 3,000 people and export all over the world. Brian Bell shows in some detail the development of Ransomes’ products, illustrates key models and gives clear information about their features and uses. His interviews with ex-Ransomes employees have produced fascinating insights into how the company operated at work and play. Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies and its predecessor and associated companies have many claims to fame. They became the largest plough and agricultural equipment manufacturer in Britain at a time when farming was the country’s major industry; they developed the world’s first self-propelled machine for agriculture and they created the lawn-mower industry. Their trolleybuses provided Cape Town’s public transport; their crawler tractors cultivated French vineyards and their subsoilers and disc harrows were used wherever sugar, tea and coffee were major cash crops. From Ransomes & Co to Textron Turf Care and Specialty Products, this absorbing account offers a wealth of information about one of Britain’s most wide-ranging and innovative agricultural engineering companies.

Farming, Day By Day - the 1960s (hardback)

by John Winter

Available to buy instore £12.95

As the 1950s closed and rationing passed, farmers and their workers might have expected a golden age. After all, everyone acknowledged that British farming was one of the great success stories of the post-war era. To decide whether the 1960s was in fact a golden decade, turn to this selection from John Winter’s reports in the Daily Mail which were written so that literally anyone would find them interesting, both the millions of lay readers and the specialist farmer or agriculturalist. The early sixties were indeed a time of optimism, with ever more livestock, favourable price reviews and the golden harvest of 1964. But as the decade continued, along with the £10 a week farmworkers’ wage and advances in technology came Fred Peart’s ‘golden pitchfork’, fowl pest, foot and mouth outbreaks and rows over the marketing boards. The benefits of the brucellosis eradication scheme had to be balanced against battles over poor price reviews, spiralling costs of food, concerns about farm safety and the misuse of chemicals. Even the weather seemed to get worse. Overall, a good decade or a bad one? This selection of crisp articles, often passionately on the side of the farmer and farmworker, reveals the issues big and small, and the people who brought them to life.

The Nuffield Tractor Story (volume one) (hardback)

by Anthony Clare

Available to buy instore £24.95

Developed by the Nuffield organization immediately after the Second World War, the Nuffield Universal tractor started to be manufactured at the end of 1948. This is the first detailed book on the organization and its products. Anthony Clare starts with the preparatory work of 1943 and takes the story up to 1967, the era of the powerful 10/60 model. The author deals fully with development, production, models, sales, distribution, implements, after-sales service and testing. He has also unearthed a wealth of previously unseen photographs. Anthony Clare, a chartered surveyor based in Surrey, is a Nuffield tractor owner and enthusiast.

Land Girls At The Old Rectory

by Irene Grimwood

Available to buy instore £4.95

It was 1942 and Britain was running out of food. Twenty-year-old Irene Gibbs had always fancied working on the land rather than in the cigarette factory so she volunteered for the Women’s Land Army. She and her new friends were high-spirited and adventurous. They took in their stride all kinds of farm work, encounters with farm animals and farmers, the army on manoeuvres and the US airforce, not to mention hitch-hiking, wall-climbing and some long-suffering hostel wardens.
These fresh and entertaining memories paint a picture of a very different world. Although the dangers of war were never far away, a gang of girls who missed the last train home would always find a safe refuge in which to spend the night.

In A Long Day: The Titshall Photographs of Farm and Village Life

by David Kindred

Available to buy instore £9.95

From 1925 to 1935 commercial photographers Leonard and Ralph Titshall toured Suffolk recording farm workers, tradesmen and villagers as they paused from their labours or stood at their gates. The result is a fascinating collection of vivid images of the life of the period in an arable farm setting. About half of the 200 photographs show horses at work and their horsemen - ploughing, cultivating, drilling and carting the grain and root harvests. Another substantial series of shots covers threshing and other steam activities, and many of the engines have been identified. Rural tradesmen featured include blacksmiths, harness- and hurdle-makers, hand brickmakers, sack repairers, as well as dairymen and farm-oriented transport. A final chapter focuses on the villagers, showing a wide range of dress, housing and ages, capturing the variety and social change of the period.

Just A Moment: The Titshall Photographs of Working Lives

by David Kindred & Roger Smith

Available to buy instore £9.95

The photographs in this collection were taken in Suffolk between 1925 and 1935. The majority of the shots are of workmen paused for a moment in the course of their normal days. Farm scenes include horsemen with their teams at plough, carting roots, drilling corn or returning from a day’s labour. Town scenes show carriers and deliverymen. At the period of these photographs the internal combustion engine was making a strong impact. Here we see motorbikes and their owners, buses, charabancs and a wide range of commercial freight and motorised vans. The pictures also include sections of general work such as the Ipswich docks, road-building and the railways.

A final section shows cottagers at their doors and some commercial premises such as rural pubs and post offices. The photographs are supported by informative captions.

Harry Ferguson: Inventor and Pioneer

by Colin Fraser

Available to buy instore £9.95

First published in 1972, Colin Fraser's book has remained the main source of information about the life and work of Harry Ferguson. This first paperback edition is an unabridged copy of the second printing of the text, complete with all the original photographs. Before he wrote his book, Colin Fraser had spent five years lecturing and instructing on Massey Ferguson equipment, so he was well qualified to deal with the technical side of Ferguson's work. During eight months of research Fraser had full access to Ferguson's papers and interviewed 62 of his associates. Fraser's book provides a thorough account of the development of the system and tractors that are Ferguson's permanent memorial. It also covers Ferguson's early days as an aviator and motor car pioneer, his business dealings, the tumultuous relationship with Ford and the merger with Massey.

Fifty Years Of Farm Tractors (hardback)

by Brian Bell

Available to buy instore £14.95

Going A-Z by manufacturer, this book describes the host of tractor models used on British farms since the end of the Second World War. It includes machines produced before 1945 but still in common use and it also shows a wide range of imported marques. The most obvious development over the period has been the growth in tractor power, from an average 25 hp in the 1940s to an average of 110 hp in the late 1990s. Four-wheel drive, once the exception, has become the norm and in-cab computers have taken control of some of the functions that used to be the driver’s responsibility. Famous names in the tractor world have disappeared since the mid 1970s while others have merged to form world-wide organisations. One of the pleasures of Brian Bell’s book is to browse through and see just what a wide range of manufacturers and machines there have been during this golden age of the farm tractor.

The David Brown Tractor Story Part One 1936 - 1948  (hardback)

by Staurt Gibbard

Available to buy instore £24.95

The first of three books looking in depth at David Brown and its products, this work begins by tracing the roots of this famous Yorkshire firm back to Huddersfield and its origins in wooden pattern making in the 1860s. Pioneering work in machine-cut gears at the turn of the century brought fame to the company and set it on the road to becoming one of the world’s largest gear manufacturers. David Brown’s involvement with tractors began in 1936 through an agreement to produce them for Harry Ferguson. It was an unhappy and short-lived partnership, but the lessons learnt with the Ferguson-Brown gave the company the experience it needed to introduce its own tractor, the VAK1, in 1939. David Brown’s agricultural tractor production was curtailed by the war, but valuable defence contracts propelled the company into other directions from Spitfire gears and tank gearboxes to aircraft-towing tractors and heavy crawlers. It emerged from the conflict in a strong position with many post-war developments in the pipeline.
This closely researched, highly illustrated book tells the full story of this remarkable company’s early years for the first time, concluding with the introduction of the VAK1/C Cropmaster which became one of Britain’s most popular tractors of the 1950s.

The Ferguson Tractor Story  (hardback)

by Staurt Gibbard

Available to buy instore £19.95

The little grey Fergie was the machine that finally replaced the horse on many farms and it became Britain’s best-loved tractor. At the heart of its success lay its unique hydraulic system and three-point linkage – a concept that brought tractors and their equipment together as a unit. This highly illustrated account covers the full history of Harry Ferguson’s tractor developments from the Belfast plough, through the Ferguson-Brown and Ford Ferguson to the massive production run of the TE-20 at Banner Lane. The story concludes with the days of Massey-Harris-Ferguson and the FE35 tractor. Overseas production, prototypes, variants and industrials are fully covered, as is the use of Ferguson equipment around the world. In the course of his extensive research, Stuart Gibbard has unearthed much new archive material and has interviewed many of the surviving Ferguson personnel. He has been able to give a fresh insight into the development of the models and accurately chronicle the changing fortunes of the companies involved. The book also looks at Harry Ferguson, the Ferguson System and the implements that made up Ferguson's complete vision of mechanised farming.

Claas Chronicle (hardback)

by Horst-Dieter Gorg & Willhelm Kemper

Available to buy instore £26.95

Claas can justifiably claim to be Europe’s leader in harvesting technology. In the early 1920s their patented knotter was giving them the edge in straw trussing equipment. In the 1930s they began to develop combine harvesters suitable for European conditions, a development that gathered pace after 1945. As Richard Godwin writes in his Foreword, “in 1998, the Claas Dominator combine, which had been on sale for 25 years, was the most successful combine harvester model of all time.” The company is also noted for its forage harvesters, balers and, more recently, tractors. This large-format, generously illustrated book covers fully the development of the combine and other agricultural machinery. It also deals with the wider history of the company: its marketing, structure and its role as a successful family enterprise typical of the best of German industry. Finally there are useful appendices giving production details of Claas combines. Translated from the German by William Howard with an Introduction by Oliver Walston.