Hertford Heath is a village of hidden treasures and colourful characters and stories. Embracing the ‘liberty’ of Little Amwell as well as Haileybury College, the present village has a Green which once contained ponds where local women did their laundry, a splendid collection of pubs and modern housing, cheek by jowl with ancient woodland through which runs a section of the Roman road, Ermine Street. This book’s title, Beating about the Bush, refers to the Hertfordshire term, ‘bushes’, meaning sparsely wooded heathland. Pam Kimpton knows the village well – her mother’s family has lived there for five generations. She has taken part herself in most village activities and delights in recalling the fêtes, festivals, fairs and other celebrations of her time and times before. She has also listened to the stories of young and old, retrieved their photos and memories, and pieced the whole together in a rich patchwork of village life. Complete with four pages of photos in colour.

ISBN 1-904851-25-7 Paperback 184pp £9.99

 

 

The Artist and the Organist: The Luppinos of Hertford and Ware tells the story of two generations of the famous Luppino (or Lupino) family, which later found fame on both stage and screen. Thomas Frederick Luppino (1749-1845) was a scene painter at Drury Lane and Covent Garden and spent much time sketching views of Hertford, Ware and the surrounding area -- probably as material for his theatrical scenery. His grandson, Thomas William Luppino (1790-1859) was an accomplished musician and organist of St. Mary's Church, Ware. This fascinating book -- by theatre historican Derek Forbes -- tells the story of their lives and relationship as well as publishing for the first time the hundred or so sketches of Thomas Frederick Luppino (four of them in full colour). This splendid book is supported by grants from the Hertford & Ware Local History Society, Hertford Town Council, the Ware Society and Ware Town Council -- and is published in memory of Adrienne Margaret Kirkby Forbes, F.C.A. (1937-2005)

ISBN 1-904851-06-1 Cased with colour jacket 124pp £9.95

 

Wickham of Ware is the story of a remarkable engineering company, D. Wickham & Co. which made rail trolleys and diesel railcars for customers throughout the world. The company closed in 1991 but the name of 'Wickham of Ware' very much lives on. You can still see it on trolleys and railcars in use in Uruguay, Sabah, Singapore, the Isle of Wight and the Isle of Man. And of course there are very many Wickham trolleys in Britain, now being authentically and lovingly restored by railway preservation societies and enthusiastic individuals.

Cloth bound with jacked, illustrated, 288pp. £14.95

 

 

 

 

Ware at War 1939-1945 is Derek Armes's second book about the Hertfordshire town of Ware in time of war. While it also gives the stories of men and women on active service, it concentrates mainly on the Home Front. There were air raid wardens, first aid and rescue workers, Local Defence Volunteer and their successors "Dad's Army" or the Home Guard, fundraisers for the "war effort", providers of comforts for the troops, hosts for evacuees and many other wartime roles. Derek has researched the town at war thoroughly from the printed records as well as the memories of local people. And the book is profusely illustrated with photographs and drawings

Paperback, illustrated, 200pp. £12.95

 

NB Our Boys: Ware Men in the First World War by Derek Armes is now OUT OF PRINT

 

In an earlier war -- between the King and Parliament -- Ware was the scene of a crucial confrontation. On 15 November 1647 a rendez-vous of the New Model Army resulted in a near mutiny engineered by the Levellers. Only one man died -- shot on the orders of Fairfax and Cromwell -- but the incident proved a turning point in the political struggles of the time. Dr. Alan Thomson of the University of Hertfordshire examines a wealth of evidence to answer the question in the title: The Ware Mutiny 1647: Order Restored or Revolution Defeated? [Fully illustrated & with texts of original documents.]

Paperback, 112pp. £4.50

 

 

THE "PAST IN PICTURES" SERIES

The 'Past in Pictures' series, published by the Rockingham Press, goes from strength to strength ... each volume outstanding for the quality and interest of its photographs, and each -- though it contains no narrative history -- provides illuminating captions which fill many of the gaps which conventional historians do not reach. (Arthur Jones in Hertfordshire's Past, No 38)

All titles are sewn hardback with coloured jackets

AMWELL AND STANSTEAD'S PAST IN PICTURES by Stephen Doree and David Perman 160pp. £14.95

A NEW HISTORY OF WARE: ITS PEOPLE AND ITS BUILDINGS by David Perman 312pp. £19.95

BROXBOURNE AND WORMLEY'S PAST IN PICTURES by David Dent 160pp. £14.95

CHESHUNT'S PAST IN PICTURES by Peter Rooke 168pp. £14.95

HERTFORD'S PAST IN PICTURES by Len Green 168pp. £16.99

HODDESDON'S PAST IN PICTURES by David Dent 160pp. £14.95

WARE'S PAST IN PICTURES by Maurice Edwards and David Perman 160pp. £16.99