Books and Recommended Reading

Publications about Padfield & the local area

Literature is the corner cornerstone of knowledge and understanding. We use it every day. Throughout our lives we continue to learn something new and explore subjects we are keen to understand more, be it from newspapers, magazines and books. If, for instance, you enjoy a good book, then what better way is there to learn something new about the local area? It is here we have brought together a small selection of publications that may be of interest to the casual reader with an interest in discovering more about Padfield and beyond.

The publications here include a short biographical profile, usually from the back cover or preface, providing a brief insight to the publication's subject. In many respects the title is self-explanatory. A table provides further publication details such as number of pages, publisher, date and ISBN numbers, if applicable. Some publications have been self-published and do not include ISBN numbers. These numbers link to the Just Books database, where it searches millions of new and used books, compiling a comparative list of booksellers and prices.

We are pleased to start the selection with our very own book, A Portrait of Padfield, the only book written specifically about Padfield, showcasing a stunning array of photographs set along side an informative text that will certainly whet anyone's appetite to learn about Padfield during the last two centuries. A Portrait of Padfield was published by the Padfield Residents' Society and had a limited run. Read on to find out more about this and other fascinating publications about Padfield and the local area.

A Portrait of Padfield: Celebrating a Century of Community Life in Padfield Village
By Janis Birchall (compiler and editor)
From the back cover:
As part of the year 2000 Millennium Celebrations, the Padfield Residents' Society decided to produce a photographic display of Padfield through the 20th century. A large number of residents, and former residents contributed photographs of the village, its people and activities during the pre-Millennium years. The photographs came flooding in, and a large turnout of residents - past and present - came to view the collection. It seemed a shame, afterwards, to send the photographs back into people's lofts and cupboards without compiling, for posterity, a visual history of Padfield.

We wanted to go beyond the national occasions, the world events and the lives of the rich and famous. Instead we wanted to capture the essence of our village - to record for the future what ordinary Padfielders got up to over the time that photography has been available to us.

There are of course many gaps in our record. People suffering grinding poverty have better things to do with their lives than take photographs! We originally managed to turn up very little indeed from the early parts of the twentieth century but eventually some early photographic gems turned up. We think that these 'Snapshots of Padfield,' both visual and verbal, are a valuable historical record. We hope that this book will inspire you to think about those who went before us, spark some memories and, more importantly, help bond us even more firmly together as a vibrant village community.

This book is a compilation of the photographs and memories of the Padfield community. It has been compiled and edited by Padfield Residents' Society and funded by the community itself with the help of a donation from Derbyshire County Council.

Paperback	Author	Publisher	Year Published	ISBN-10	ISBN-13
229 pages	Janis Birchall	Padfield Residents' Society	2013	N/A	N/A
227 pages	Janis Birchall	BookVAULT Publishing	2023	180467236X	9781804672365

Available worldwide through Amazon, Gardeners, and other High Street bookshops. Also from the Great British Bookshop.
If possible, please buy at Dark Peak Books in Glossop, or order from Padfield Residents' Society if you live locally.
Price: £15.95 $20.15 E18.40
Note that both of the editions above are listed on Amazon, but only the 2023 edition, distinguished by the ISBN, is "in print".

Walk The Wheel: tales of the turning seasons
by Keli Tomlin
Walk The Wheel is a collection of original tales inspired by the turning of the seasonal year, evoking the traditions and folklore of eight British seasonal festivals (including Solstices and Equinoxes) with ‘lucid and delicate prose’ that weaves fairytale, nature writing and modern storytelling. Each story centres around a relationship or encounter between the human and the more-than-human beings of our world, highlighting the importance and magic of connection between all living things, and encouraging the reader - young or old - to embrace the beauty and wonder of the natural world.

Padfield author, Keli Tomlin, is inspired by the hills, moors and valleys of her lived environment and certain characters and elements in the book have been heavily influenced by local human and more-than-human beings. For example, the story 'May and the Thorn' centres around a girl's kinship with a Hawthorn tree, which is directly inspired by the author's own relationship with a lone Hawthorn that sits just outside Little Padfield.

The stories are beautifully illustrated by Michelle Shore, a pen and ink illustrator from Macclesfield. They also include small snippets of insformation about the seasonal festvials themselves.

Keli published the book herself, collaborating with a number of North West based practitioners to bring it from imagination into life. She is so grateful for the incredible support shown by Padfield residents for her venture.

Paperback	Publisher	Year published	ISBN-10	ISBN-13	Category
88 pages	Keli Tomlin Writes	2023	1399945823	9781399945820	Nature Writing Folklore Fairy Tales

Walk The Wheel is available to purchase through the author's website https://www.kelitomlinwrites.com/shop/ for £11.99 plus postage (with free collection from the local area).

The Cotton Industry in Longdendale and Glossopdale
By Tom Quayle (author)
From the back cover:
The area around Manchester has always been served by cotton mills. The climate and the easy access to plentiful supplies of clean fresh water for both power and processing were all an important factor in the setting up of mills in the area.

Around Glossopdale and Longendale were many mills, both large and small, providing the main employment for men, women and children from the nineteenth century onwards. The mills are now gone, some closed as the trade moved to cheaper countries such as India, or by flooding as the valleys were used for new reservoirs to supply Manchester with water.

Illustrated with over 100 old photographs, diagrams and maps, this book looks at the history of the cotton industry in Glossopdale and Longdendale between 1500 and 1920, highlighting the importance of water power, the history of the slave trade, the cruelties and miseries of labour and the consequent revolts and movements and the advent of less labour intensive cotton mills.

Paperback	Publisher	Year Published	ISBN-10	ISBN-13	Category
160 pages	Tempus	2006	0752438832	978-0752438832	History

Dark Peak Aircraft Wrecks Volume 1 (Revised)
By Ron Collier & Roni Wilkinson (author)
About the book:
Civil and military aircraft types are represented, from biplanes to modern jet fighters. This is an invaluable guide for walkers and ramblers, as well as for all those interested in flying and the history of aviation.

Paperback	Publisher	Year Published	ISBN-10	ISBN-13	Category
60 pages	Wharncliffe Books	1995 (2nd Revision)	0850524571	978-0850524574	Reference Aviation History

Dark Peak Aircraft Wrecks Volume 2 (Revised)
By Ron Collier & Roni Wilkinson (author)
About the book:
This revised edition contains 26 stories about World War II airmen who came to grief on the Pennine Hills of North Derbyshire. Wartime aviation history is recorded in the crash sites, for each pile of rusting metal represents a chapter in the air war waged against Germany....

....Bomber Command operations are represented by the Halifax returning with one engine shot up - damage sustained over Frankfurt. A Spitfire on a training exercise running out of fuel and a night-fighter of a type disliked by its crews, abandoned and left to crash on the hills above Derwent, represent Fighter Command.

American involvement is seen in the P47 Thunderbolt plucked out of the skies during a thunderstorm and a United States Navy PB4Y abandoned by its crew after being turned on a course that would take it over central England. Some of the best pilots and navigators came to grief in the Peak District and survived to tell the tale.

This book, like its companion volume, tells their stories and, in doing so, offers a brief history of the air war from 1940 to 1945. The author has spent many years visiting the crash sites and examining wreckage, researching records and gleaning information from a wide variety of sources.

Paperback	Publisher	Year Published	ISBN-10	ISBN-13	Category
192 pages	Wharncliffe Books	1992 (2nd edition)	0850523362	978-0850523362	Reference Aviation History

Glossopdale and Longdendale Then and Now
By Andrew C. Perry (author)
About the book:

Paperback	Publisher	Year Published	ISBN-10	ISBN-13	Category
68 pages	Rev 3:20 Publishing	2008	0956103901	978-0956103901	Photography/ History

The Land of the Etherow: Stories of Industry and People in Longdendale
By Neville T. Sharpe (author)
About the book:

Paperback	Publisher	Year Published	ISBN-10	ISBN-13	Category
224 pages	Churnet Valley Books	2000	1897949685	978-1897949689	History

Legends of Longdendale (Classic Reprint)
By Thomas Cooke Middleton (author)
From the preface:
Hitherto, the Legends of Longdendale—although popular with the country people of the extreme north-east corner of Cheshire—have been scattered, and, to some extent, fragmentary. They are here re-told in what, I hope, is a more permanent and complete form. As far as possible I have carefully followed the original versions; but in one or two instances, it has been necessary to draw upon imagination. I have, therefore, introduced several characters and incidents for the purpose of giving local connection and completeness to those stories which were lacking in detail or were vague in location. The legends are here printed in chronological order. They were first published in the columns of the “Cheshire Post” during the winter of 1905-6; and it is to the kind encouragement and assistance of Mr. Frederick Higham, the proprietor and editor of that journal, that they owe their appearance in book form.

If further explanation as to the publication of these stories be considered necessary, I would refer the reader to the Preface to the first series of “The Traditions of Lancashire.” In it Mr. Roby quotes the following passage from a German writer:--

“All genuine, popular tales, arranged with local and national reference, cannot fail to throw light upon contemporary events in history, upon the progressive cultivation of society, and upon the prevailing modes of thinking in every age. Though not consisting of a recital of bare facts, they are in most instances founded upon fact, and in so far connected with history, which occasionally, indeed, borrows from, and often reflects light upon, these familiar annals, these more private and interesting casualties of human life. It is thus that popular tradition connected with all that is most interesting in human history and human action upon a national scale, ... invariably possesses so deep a hold upon the affections, and offers so many instructive hints to the man of the world, to the statesman, the citizen, and the peasant.”

I may add to the above the fact that these wild and improbable tales have a fascination for me, and that I firmly believe it to be the duty of the people of the present to preserve from oblivion the traditions of the past. In the case of the County of Lancaster, this preservation has been admirably carried out by the late John Roby; and it is with the desire to perform a similar service for the County of Cheshire—or at least one corner of it,—that I have ventured to write the stories which appear in this volume.

Thomas Middleton
Manchester Road,
Hyde.
1906

Paperback	Publisher	Year Published	ISBN-10	ISBN-13	Category
136 pages	Forgotten Books	2015 1906 (1st edition)	1330313097	978-1330313091	Fiction

Longdendale and Glossopdale (Archive Photographs)
By Bill Johnson (compiler)
From the back cover:
This collection of over 200 photographs illustrates life in the villages of the Pennine valleys if Longdendale and Glossopdale over a period of more than a century. Collected from a variety of sources they have been assembled here by the chairman of the Longdendale Heritage Trust, an organisation which seeks to preserve memories and material from the past and stimulate interest in the history of this area.

Some of the scenes of Pennine landscapes pictured in the book have changed little since these photographs were taken but the lives of the people of the area have seen dramatic changes. As industry grew and then declined again so the fortunes of the inhabitants rose and fell. The book will appeal to all who know and love this beautiful and sometimes bleak corner of the Pennines.

Note: Images displayed are primarily Hollingworth, Mottram and Tintwistle.

Paperback	Publisher	Year Published	ISBN-10	ISBN-13	Category
128 pages	History Press	1996	0752406590	978-0752406596	History

Longdendale: The Travellers' Valley...its Legends and History (booklet)
By Glynis Greenman (author)
About the booklet:

Paperback	Publisher	Year Published	ISBN-10	ISBN-13	Category
32 pages	Millscapes	1998	N/A	N/A	History

Manchester's Water: The Reservoirs in the Hills
By Tom Quayle (author)
From the back cover:
This is the engaging story of how Manchester built the world's first municipal water supply in the Longendale Valley in the 1840s - 70s. Original images from the archives of North West Water, document the largest chain of reservoirs ever built at that time.

The account demonstrates how the city helped beat cholera, typhoid and other water-borne diseases, factories and cotton mills in the valleys around Manchester.

Tom Quayle's first-hand experiences are backed by information extracted from the Victorian water-engineer - J. F. Bateman's - handwritten reports to the Manchester Corporation Waterworks Committee.

Paperback	Publisher	Year Published	ISBN-10	ISBN-13	Category
128 pages	History Press	2005	0752431986	978-0752431987	History

Silent Valley
By Vic Hallam (author)
From the back cover:
In May 1935, after much nationwide opposition, work began on the construction of a great dam across the River Derwent in Derbyshire, three-quarters of a mile south of Ashopton, a village on the road linking Sheffield and Glossop.

Built to supply water to the citizens of Sheffield, Derby, Nottingham and leicester, the construction of Ladybower Dam caused the villages of Derwent and Ashopton to be demolished in the early 1940s, and then submerged beneath the impounding water that rose steadily. By 1946 the remains of both villages were covered, although twice since then, when the waters have fallen - in 1976 and 1989 - stonework from the village of Derwent has reappeared.

Silent Valley is the story of these two lost villages, of how they developed, and finally quietly died during the Second World War. This new, revised edition incorporates revisions to the text and a range of new, previously undiscovered photographs and maps. The map shows the sites of Derwent and Ashopton before the construction of Ladybower Dam.

Paperback	Publisher	Year Published	ISBN-10	ISBN-13	Category
36 pages	Sheaf Publishing	1989	0950545899	9780950545899	History

Tales from the Townships
By Neville T. Sharpe (author)
From the author's introduction:
This little book consists of a selection of stories from ten townships that once made up Glossopdale. Some are amusing; some tragic; others of historical interest. All, I hope, are worthy of the telling and will support contention that history does not have to be boring. Our local history belongs to us all and is certainly not the property of any small clique.

The stories come from a wide variety of sources; not least being all the wonderful characters I have met when walking about the district. They keep telling me that somebody should write it down before it is forgotten, so in the following pages you will find just a few of the stories that they have told or put me on the right track to unearth.

Note: Very rare, self-published work seen only Amazon and AbeBooks, approx. £10. Areas covered include: Charlesworth, Chisworth and Ludworth, Chunal, Dinting, Hadfield, Glossop, PADFIELD, Simmondley and Whitfield.

Paperback	Publisher	Year Published	ISBN-10	ISBN-13	Category
94 pages	Neville T. Sharpe	1994	N/A	N/A	History

Tunnel Tigers
By Alexander Cordell (author)
From the back cover:
Brunel, Stephenson, Locke and Vignoles - these were the magic names.
And under them 10,000 laboured, blasting, shovelling and digging, changing
the contours of Britain for a new age of railways. Among them is Nick Wortley, whose love for the daughter of the local mill owner is cruelly thwarted. Taking flight he is drawn by the irresistible clamour of the great Sheffield to Manchester, a railway which is preparing to drive a path of steel under the Pennines. Stephenson said it was impossible; Nick and his companions will prove him wrong, but at a terrible price...

Set during the construction of the Woodhead Tunnel in the mid 1800's.

Paperback	Publisher	Year Published	ISBN-10	ISBN-13	Category
288 pages	Penguin	1989	0722125720	978-0722125724	Historical Fiction

Well Dressing in Derbyshire
By Roy Christian (author)
About this booklet:
Well dressing is practise almost exclusively associated with the Peak District of Derbyshire and Staffordshire. The custom, which like no other, decorates wells and other water sources with designs created with flower petals. It is a skilled craft held throughout the summer months and sees competitions in places such as Bakewell, Eyam, Hope and Tissington, plus many other villages across the Peak District. It almost certainly has pagan origins where sacrifices were made to water-gods giving thanks for plentiful supplies but generally, the origins of this artful association with nature still remains somewhat of a mystery.

This booklet does, however, provide some background information about it's mysterious origins and religious links and asks the questions, why dress wells? And why Derbyshire? It explains in detail how this art is done and provides many examples of well dressing, with brief information on each location and plenty of colour images to this unusual art form in all its splendour.

Paperback	Publisher	Year Published	ISBN-10	ISBN-13	Category
32 pages	Derbyshire Countryside Ltd.	1996	0851001211	978-0851001210	Floral Crafts