The King's England: Staffordshire by Arthur Mee

ISBN 978-1-872438-09-2  (1994 Reprint of 1937 Edn.) 8vo.,  300pp.,  Illustrated, Index, Map, 107 plates, £14.95

“There have been many books on Staffordshire but never one like this”. Thus ran the original publisher’s advertisement for this guidebook to the historic county, first published in 1937. It still runs true today, despite fifty years of change which has altered Staffordshire beyond all recognition in places.

Celebrating Staffordshire’s “Beauty in the Black County”, Arthur Mee embarks on an alphabetical anecdotal ramble through 180 places, complemented by over 100 period illustrations, taking in Chartley Castlewith its hilltop ruins, Stafford, the “busy capital”, forever linked with Izaak Walton: Oakmoor, where Thomas Bolton made the first Atlantic cable (at £5.00 - about $8.00 - a mile) Abbot’s Bromley, home of the horn dance, Lichfield, with its “ladies of the vale”, and Dr Johnson and Salt amongst its luminaries: Mow Cop, cradle of Methodism, Walsall, home of Jerome K. Jerome, and finally, Wolverhampton, with its “vast workshops”.

Skilfully interspersed with description of Staffordshire’s historic buildings and churches, we find not only the great figures from Staffordshire’s past, such as Wedgwood, Spode and Minton, George Anson, forerunner of Nelson, and George Fox, preaching his quaker sermons barefoot in the snow, but also the lesser known characters, such as Ben Boucher the collier, who peddled his topical rhymes through the streets of Tipton, at a penny a sheet, or John Rudge of Trysull, who left £1 a year in his will to anyone who would drive stray dogs from the church and wake up people sleeping during the sermon!

Essential reading for all those who know and love the county, from the moorlands of the north to the unspoilt birch groves of Cannock Chase, this facsimile edition will appeal to all lovers of the county, young and old.

HOME | SEARCH BY TITLE | SEARCH BY AUTHOR | ORDER A BOOK | WHAT'S NEW

TYPESETTING SERVICES (Moose Manuscripts) | THE KING'S ENGLAND SERIES |