Northern Earth Books
Northern Earth has revived its publishing wing after a hiatus in the 1990s, and offers writers in the field an opportunity for co-operative publishing. We invite enquiries regarding well-researched books free of political or religious agendas. We do not publish poetry or fiction.
The Mixenden Treasure
John Billingsley
Published by Northern Earth Books, 2009
ISBN 978 0 948 63503 8 £ 6.00
In the early years of the sixteenth century, a motley band of commoners, priests and gentlemen agreed to join forces to recover a treasure hoard rumoured to lie beneath a hill north of Halifax. The hoard was, it was said, protected by a demon, and all agreed that this was a matter in which magic was required...
This book tells the story of their ill-fated adventure, from planning to retribution, using documentary evidence from the period.
John's latest offering is his most intriguing yet...
With "The Mixenden Treasure" John has hit the jackpot...
A Laureate's Landscape: Walks around Ted Hughes' Mytholmroyd
John Billingsley
Published by Northern Earth Books, 2007
46pp, 18 ills., 3 maps
ISBN 978 0 948635 04 5 £ 4.50
The late Poet Laureate, Ted Hughes, was born in Mytholmroyd in 1930, and the environment of his early years never ceased to exert an influence upon his writing.
In this book, John Billingsley leads the reader on two walks around the village of Mytholmroyd and up on to the moors that were such an inspiration for Hughes; along the way, he points out places and poems which feature in Hughes' literary memory of the area.
Whether the reader does the walks or not, the book can be enjoyed as a history of the 1930s in Mytholmroyd as well as a biography of Ted Hughes' childhood.
John Billingsley is editor of Northern Earth magazine and is a folklorist and local historian. His previous books have included Aspects of Calderdale, Folk Tales from Calderdale, and A Stony Gaze.
Folk Tales From Calderdale, Vol. 1
Place Legends & Lore from the Calder Valley by John Billingsley
Published by Northern Earth Books, May 1st 2007
Pbk, 90pp, 20 ills. ISBN 978 0 948635 02 9. £ 7.50
This collection of tales from the moorlands of the Upper Calder Valley reveals the wealth of tradition still current in Pennine communities. Nine major stories are presented here, with extensive commentaries on narrative variations and other relevant themes in local history and folklore. A further chapter explores other local legends and traditions of place.
The presentation of these stories locates the cultural tradition of the Calder Valley as part of the wider web of local history, and is the first part of a projected series on the folklore of Calderdale.
"Folk Tales from Calderdale is magic."
"...the format for each bit worked so well (in fact much better than other books of its type that I've read) - with an introduction to the legend, the legend being written exactly as it would be spoken, then some explanation or clarification but not too much, and finally wonderful reference points."
John Billingsley is editor of Northern Earth magazine and is a folklorist and local historian. His previous books have included Aspects of Calderdale and A Stony Gaze.
- Stories from the oral tradition
- Tales of Calderdale witches, fairies, boggarts, the Devil, UFOs, rivalries, mysterious deaths and strange experiences
- Extensive historical and folkloristic backgrounds put the stories in local and broader context
- Map locates the major stories
- First in a planned series of Calderdale Folklore, to be published by Northern Earth Books
The Day The Sun Went Out
Accounts of the 1927 eslipse as seen from
Yorkshire and The Pennines
by John Billingsley
Published by Northern Earth Books £ 1.00 POST FREE
On June 29th 1927 at around 6.23am North Wales and northern England were plunged into darkness for just 23 seconds! It was a brief period during which nothing was quite the same as it had been, or it would be. A total eclipse of the sun is a singular experience both for science and social history. The booklet is a "people's account" of the 1927 eclipse - The Day The Sun Went Out.
Produced to tie in with the total solar eclipse of 1999, this small booklet is the only publication looking at how Britain's only other total eclipse of the 20th century was experienced. Compiled using contemporary newspaper and literature sources, it offers a succinct, wide-ranging and often amusing glimpse of early cosmic tourism.