This fascinating book looks at a typical day in a big house, the relationship between the master and mistress and their valet and maid; the children and their servants; the various departments inside and outside a big house; the London season and country house weekends. Look out for more Pitkin Guides on the very best of British history, heritage and travel.

After becoming king in 1199, resentment grew and grew at the inept way John dealt with financial issues until matters came to a head with his barons.

John lost his military campaigns; he was corrupt, indulged in blackmail, and manipulated the justice system more than any other king. He was a womaniser and rumours of ruthlessness surrounded him. The author provides fascinating insights into John’s rule, which ultimately leads to the story of Magna Carta.

Magna Carta placed huge impositions on the king; now he could no longer rule arbitrarily but only in accordance with ‘the law of the land’. The impact of this precedence remains with us today.

From the charter’s clauses that focussed on more mundane matters to a whole range of references to feudal issues, this guide is a perfect introduction to the incompetent rule of King John and his legacy that is Magna Carta. Calls to standardise measures of wine, ale and corn follow the collapse of empire, bound together in this informative guide complete with full-colour illustrations and contempoaray artworks.

This is a beautiful and informative guidebook and history of HMS Victory. On 7 May 1765 a magnificent new ship of the line was floated out of the Old Single Dock in Chatham’s Royal Dockyard. She was HMS Victory, a first-rate battleship and the largest and most up-to-date ship in King George III’s Royal Navy. In the years to come, over an unusually long service, she would gain renown leading fleets in the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic War. She achieved lasting fame as the flagship of Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson in Britain’s greatest naval victory, the defeat of the French and Spanish at the Battle of Trafalgar. It is almost impossible today to imagine the physical brutality of fighting at sea in sailing warships. These great wooden battleships, under acres of sail, confronted each other at point blank range, their crews intent on smashing and capturing the other ship. Their heavy guns blasted tons of iron, shattering hulls, splintering masts and yards, overturning gun carriages and filling the air with deafening noise and blinding smoke. She may seem beautiful to our eyes, but Victory was built principally as a huge and complex machine of war. Every man in her 820 crew played a vital part in operating the ship and ensuring that ultimately she was in the right place and ready to fire her deadly broadside of iron shot.

This is a beautiful and informative guidebook and history of HMS M.33. The ‘monitor’ HMS M.33 is a small ship with a big history. Built with incredible speed in 1915, she is one of only three surviving Royal Navy warships in the First World War, and the only remaining fighter veteran of that year’s bloody Gallipoli Campaign. M.33 offers the unique opportunity to see how men lived and fought in small ships 100 years ago, and to understand a little of the dangers they faced, floating in a basic steel box in shallow waters underneath Turkish guns. HMS M.33 is also a ship with a long history of service and of restoration. Until her final sale by the Navy in 1987 she had served not only as a monitor but had been adapted to be a minelayer, a workshop and a hulk. She was known as M.33, HMS Minerva, C.23 and RMAS Minerva – and was even painted with the unofficial name HMS ‘Mugwump’ for three months. Now finally, after sterling work by Hampshire County Council to rescue and conserve the ship since 1990, the National Museum of the Royal Navy is delighted to complete the job, to open the ship to visitors and use her to commemorate the Gallipoli Campaign.

The Georgian town of Whitehaven, located on the west coast of Cumbria, was once the third most important port in Britain but today it is only used by a handful of fishing vessels. It has, however, seen development in the form of a new sea-lock and marina, which have enhanced the town’s tourist appeal.

  Whitehaven Then & Now captures the changing face of the town through a series of spectacular old photographs, each paired with their modern equivalent. In this stunning book, Alan W. Routledge shows how industry has changed, with the once flourishing trades of coal mining and shipbuilding now just a memory, and even gives us a glimpse of what the future holds for the seaside resort.

The nineteenth century saw Weston-super-Mare grow from a tiny village of about 100 inhabitants to a thriving Victorian seaside resort of 20,000 people. Today it has a population of over 80,000. Despite changing fortunes during the twentieth century, as the traditional English week at the seaside was replaced by holidays overseas and short breaks in the UK, Weston has managed to adapt – and still flourishes.

  Illustrated with ninety beautiful colour photographs, Weston-super-Mare Then & Now explores the modern townscape to discover what remains of Weston’s past, and what has replaced features that have gone for ever.

This fascinating collection of full-colour Trowbridge views reveals the many changes that Wiltshire’s county town has seen.

Each pair of photographs – each drawing on the extensive collections of the authors, Trowbridge’s librarian and archivist respectively, and featuring beautiful modern photography – reveals a different aspect of the town’s story. Trowbridge has witnessed profound change over the last century, and some of the early scenes revealed here are totally unrecognisable today. However, some of the finer buildings are little altered, and Trowbridge residents will recognise much in this collection.

Deeply nostalgic and filled with insightful and entertaining information about the history of this beautiful Wiltshire town, Trowbridge Then & Now will delight visitors and residents alike.

The landscape of Somerset has changed in many ways over the last century.

From Glastonbury to the Quantax, Somerset Then & Now provides a fascinating snapshot of the county in days gone by. The older photographs in this book were taken by local photographer Henry Montague Cooper between 1904 and 1906. Cooper owned one of the county’s first motorcars, and used it to tour extensively with his camera. His photographic record of Somerset surpasses that of every other local photographer. Comparing his Somerset to the modern county of today reveals many changes: the mechanisation of farming has resulted in the loss of hedgerows, and flail cutting in the loss of trees in hedges bordering roads. Somerset’s traditional industries have now gone, and many ways of life with them. However, much still remains unaltered in the heart of this sleepy rural county, and this book celebrates the unchanging beauty of ‘the land of summer’.

Once described as ‘a poor fishar village’, the ancient Borough and County of the Town of Poole is today a thriving town with a cross-channel port and resort – a beautiful place to live, work and play.

In this stunning photography book, local historians Frank Henson and Ian Andrews explore the changing face of Poole, rediscovering buildings and monuments that have been lost forever – and also all that has been gained along the way.

Passionate about Poole and its history, IAN ANDREWS was Town Clerk and Chief Executive Officer of Poole Borough Council from 1973, as well as Hon Borough Archivist. Since retirement, Ian Andrews has founded the Poole-Cherbourg Twinning Association, the Poole Heritage Forum and is a member of several other local community associations.
A previous borough councilor, FRANK HENSON is a lifelong resident of Poole. He is a member of the Wessex Newfoundland Society of Poole Men, frequently gives talks on the history of the area.

The historic market town of Pickering and its closely connected neighbour Thornton-le-Dale have long since lost their rural isolation. Today both have become host to hoards of tourists, drawn to Pickering’s historic castle and fascinating church and Thornton-le-Dale’s tiny shops and the charming river, which flows past the village cross and stocks near the crossroads.

  In Pickering & Thornton-le-Dale Then & Now, researcher Susan McGill and social historian Colin Waters capture the essence of both places, showing them as they were in the past and how they appear today. With its stunning full colour photographs and succinct but fascinating snippets of local history, this absorbing book should be on every history lover’s bookshelf!

Before the days of photography, North Yorkshire’s picturesque villages were virtually cut off from the rest of the country and served as the haunt of smugglers, footpads and highwaymen. The belief in witchcraft existed well into the 1900s and village festivals and customs were enthusiastically celebrated each year. Today these communities are eagerly visited by an increasing number of tourists keen to experience their captivating beauty and history.
With ninety striking images comparing past and present, this charming volume should be on the bookshelves of all lovers of old Yorkshire.

From the dinosaur age 150 million years ago and the Bronze Age when settlers first arrived, a mere 6,000 years past, the area has weathered huge destructive floods, momentous invasions and famous battles. Its citizens have fought fiercely for their common rights and – as good traders will – have served centuries of travellers on stagecoaches, canals, railways and roads. Residents of the Milton Keynes area toiled in massive brick-works and carriage-works and, as the new city arrived, effected some of the biggest building works the twentieth century has seen in the nation. Many of the photographs in this book have never before been published, taking you on an exciting, nostalgic journey from the Milton Keynes of old to the busy town of today.

Witness the people of the past juxtaposed against their twenty-first century descendants.
Each pairing of photographs includes detailed captions that will awaken nostalgic memories.
Featuring streets and buildings, shops and businesses, and people at work, all aspects of town life are covered.

Author Biography

Marion Hill is passionate about Milton Keynes and the rich seams of heritage that its designated area has revealed. A Londoner by birth, she came to the city in 1972, and has lived and worked in the area ever since. Her eighteen books include Bletchley Park People, Memories of Milton Keynes and, most recently, Bradwell Then and Now (all The History Press). Much of Marion’s inspiration for these local history books comes from the massive archive now largely held online at Living Archive (www.livingarchive.org.uk).