OUR BOOKS
Grass Skirts and Gurkhas - Martin Gittins
Having previously written Local History books, poetry, a few songs and a short novel I turned my hand to autobiographical short stories.
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This collection charts the ups and downs of a childhood in north Manchester between 1956 and 1966.
Days of Watch with Mother and The Lone Ranger, of hours spent reading comics and storybooks, of cap guns and spud guns, penny bangers and rip raps.
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As I grew a little older my bike was my constant companion, and I went from riding around the garden to riding around the block and then further afield as far as Heaton Park, with the dreaded slow walk back home up Middleton Road.
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For those of you in the autumn of your years, cast your mind back to those halcyon days, and those with grandchildren, why not share some of these simple stories with them as a brief respite from computer screens and headsets.
Breadcrumb Trail - A New Anthology from Poet Lynn Walton
Since publishing her first collection of three small volumes - Northern Goddess, Bar in a Bra and Poems from the Naughty Step Lynn has become widely known and highly regarded around venues in Greater Manchester and beyond.
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Her no-nonsense delivery of thoughtful, hilarious and risque material has made her hugely popular with audiences and fellow poets alike.
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This new collection is, once again, divided into three themed sections The Giggling Ones, The Thoughtful Ones and The Blushing Ones.
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With Illustrations by 'Broady, Northern Art' and others
Can I Paint Your Bin Wid, Mister? - Wilf Veevers
This is the first book from 'Salford Born and Bred' author Wilf Veevers.
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The volume includes stories and poems recounting Wilf's childhood growing up in Salford between 1960 and 1976, around Cross Lane, Eccles New Road and Salford Precinct.
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He covers subjects such as 'Playing Out and Staying Out' 'The Streets and Houses Long Gone', 'The Saturday Flicks' and a host of other familiar themes.
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Whether you are from Salford, Manchester or any one of dozens of other northern towns and cities, these memories will resonate with you.
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Tomos The Dreamer - Geoff Higginbottom
Throughout the course of history, a large number of societies have been invaded from outside and enslaved by their new masters. The reasons for such invasions are many and varied but are almost always built on greed.
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This is the story, set far into the future, of one such Messiah whose advent is foreseen and documented within the ancient writings of his ancestors. It is also the story of a man who dedicates his life to seeking out the chosen one.
This is the story of Tomos the Dreamer.
Mankind Virus - Geoff Higginbottom
Why is our world in such a mess? There is only one species on the planet that can take the blame, ironically the only one that can read these words.
Every problem that the world faces today can be laid firmly at the door of mankind.
Our oceans are used as dustbins for everything that mankind has used and then thrown away. The very air that mankind relies on for its survival is poisoned as it seeks an ever more luxurious lifestyle. The greed of the few is making our planet uninhabitable whilst the many starve.
As the world teeters on the brink of destruction it may prove impossible to turn back the clock, but if such a procedure were feasible it would be necessary to examine where things went wrong in the first place...
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Grass Skirts and Gurkhas - Martin Gittins
(Due out April 2024 Subscription open now)
For this book,I am offering an exclusive subscription deal to the first 50 people who commit to purchasing a copy. In return for a single payment of £25 you will receive the following;
1. A special, numbered, hardback edition of the book limited to only fifty copies, signed by the author.
2. Your name inscribed in a list of subscribers at the front of all copies of the book, both hardback and paperback.
3 A free copy of 'A Crumpsall Childhood' by Eric Hargreaves, worth £4.
4. A discount of 10% off any other Bedford Falls Publications books purchased any time in 2024 (This is for personal use only, and does not apply to multiple purchases.)
5. An invitation to work with Bedford Falls Publications to produce a book of your own, with a wealth of experience and advice available to you.
To take advantage of this subscription offer please email conduitzzz@outlook.com for full details and to arrange payment and your discount code.
The paperback version of the book will go on sale at the price of £11.99
Agatha Christmas - David Seagray
Our human stories need to be told. Like songs and poetry, they long to emerge from the collective subconsciousness of our species through the conduit of storytellers, poets and songwriters in every age; perhaps in every solar system. Sometimes, they find themselves coming to life in hedgerows, on mountaintops, in woodland glades or under the ocean. On other occasions, the wordsmith might find a story reaching out to them from under the soap in the shower one morning.
The title story in this anthology is real and can now be told due to the passage of time. The rest of the stories, however, have come to me from a loom on which tales are woven in the present from threads that were formed in the before and after.
The stories are offered in the hope that something in at least one of them will resonate with your, the reader’s, own insights.
Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs - Mick Coleman
For years many friends and family have been encouraging me to have my poems published but I had no idea how to go about this, so all my creative writing, including children’s stories, tv comedy scripts, songs, novels, short stories and all the poems were stored in shoe boxes under my bed. As fate had it, 35 years after much of the above had been written, I happened to meet someone who, not only suggested I have one of the children’s books, the poems and some of the novels published, but also offered to take on this project for me. I hope you will enjoy the result.
I began writing poems about lots of subjects I experienced
as a child and still continue to do to this very day.
The poems in this first volume go back to my childhood
and through to the present day. All my poems reflect the
motions that made me happy, sad or angry.
This was my only way of releasing my feelings and putting things to bed so to speak.
Looking back at the assortment of poems included in this volume,
they still connect with me and bring back memories and I’m hoping
his book will also resonate with, and please you the reader.
Most of the poems are autobiographical, dating back to the early sixties. Serviettes, beer mats and cigarette packets were useful stationery in those days as I never knew when or where I would be inspired to jot down more poetry or another song.
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Smokeytop Poetry Volume 2 - Michelle Cantliff
This is the eagerly -awaited second volume of verse from 'The Smokeytop Poet' Michelle Cantliff.
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In it she delves deeper into her Salford childhood as well as reflecting on modern day issues and events.
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Poems cover such topics as L. S. Lowry, Grandma's Ghost, King Charles III, Sweaty Cheese, Guilty Pleasures and the mysteriously-titled 'The Stiff'.
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Fans of Michelle's work will be delighted by over fifty new offerings all in her own inimitable style.
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Scenes From Smokeytop Salford In Verse - Michelle Cantliff
My little book of poetry tells the story of life as it was lived by the people of Salford from Victorian times to the swinging 60s.
Millwork, docks, markets and corner shops made up their world, which was peopled by the rag-and-bone men, the knocker uppers, the bobby on the beat and women struggling to bring up their myriad children amidst the cobbled streets and terraced houses.
The hard-working men, who frequented the pubs, often leaving their wives and children with nowt to eat and barely enough to pay the rent. The shadow of the workhouse or destitution hanging over them all.
I pay tribute to the women who loved and lost their menfolk in two World Wars, but who stoically refused to give in, and with the aid of carbolic soap and donkey stones worked hard every day to keep Smokeytop Salford clean at a time when there was no NHS to fall back on.
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Michelle Cantliff
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Musings is a Good Word - Hugh Sandy Cameron
Due to the restrictions that the pandemic set,
I gave myself a task to write a verse each day,
This is a random collection of my attempts including events situations, musings and ruminations.
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I left school at the ripe old age of 15 in 1954 with no qualifications. I probably learned more about life in the first year working on a construction site, than I had done in the whole of the ten years of my post-war existence in Liverpool.
Since then, I have learned many skills, travelled to many places, and gained qualifications to the extent that I even have letters after my name, which I do not use. For the last few years, I have tried to write from the heart about day-to-day experiences, with, I hope, basic honesty, striving to make words rhyme and possibly to amuse anybody who wishes to read.
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Hugh Sandy Cameron
Spyridon's Seal - Martin Gittins
This book has been thirty-four years in the making.
It first saw the light of day late in 1988 after a holiday in Corfu.
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Following the advice of many writers and critics to ‘write about what you know’ I decided to attempt a novel based on what had quickly become my favourite holiday location.
About fifteen years later, I re-discovered it on a shelf at home and decided that I was now ready to have a go at the big rewrite.
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Once again, after all that effort, the book was consigned to the office shelf next to the original. I couldn’t decide whether to submit it for publication or not.
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During and immediately after the worldwide Covid pandemic, out came the novel once again and, armed with a keen eye and a hardened attitude to extraneous content, I set to.
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So here it is, sleeker, leaner and, I hope, better-written. It’s taken me thirty-four years to write it so I hope you’ll find a couple of hours to read and, hopefully, enjoy it.
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Martin Gittins
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Born in Sialkott, Made in Manchester - Sarfraz M. Malik
Born in Sialkot - Made in Manchester is a collection of poems written in an easy-to-read style. Each poem tells a story of an event, person, or a location. “My City” shows my feelings towards my home city, Manchester. A very sensitive “Eilidh” killed in the Manchester Arena blast. The Srebrenica trilogy displaying the deep, deep hurt felt through witness testimonies from the conflicts in Bosnia.
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A number of family and friends are featured. Bringing through a culture reflecting my life experiences, religion, ethnicity and love for sport. Cheetham Hill in Manchester, a very diverse community plays a large part in my life. Hence, a number of pieces of work on people, locations and events of this very special place.
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Although, hard hitting in some pieces. A pinch of humour is sprinkled across most of the stories. Lookout for the cricket references. Cricket is in my genes. Read cover to cover or dip in at random. Be pleased that your purchase is going towards a good charitable organisation.
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Enjoy!
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Sarfraz M Malik
