A Grim Almanac of South Yorkshire

by KevinTurton (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2004

  $12.69

  From bodies in wells to withchcraft, highway robbery, suspicious deaths and bizarre murders, this book explores the darker side of South Yorkshire. Kevin Turton has searched meticulously through court records, Victorian newspapers and penny dreadfuls to fing a true grim tale for every day of the year. The stories recounted here include: 31 January 1905 when seven people died as the Scotch express hit a mail train on the Midland Railway at Storrs Mill, Cudworth in heavy fog. !2 February 1803 when Colonel Despard and six others were executed for inciting rebellion in Barnsley. Thirty-four years later while developing land just north of Barnsley a man named William Crossley discovered a hoard of weapons, mainly spears, believed to have been part of Despard's intended arsenal. 17 July 1827 when Jonathan Wilson was almost eaten by a lion called Wallace at Wombwell. The unfortunate man died 8 days later from his injuries.

• Used

  Paperback
  2010

  $3.25

  A Grim Almanac of South Yorkshire is a collection of stories from the county's past, some bizarre, some fascinating, some macabre, but all equally absorbing. Revealed here are the dark corners of the county, where witches, body snatchers, highwaymen and murderers, in whatever guise, have stalked. Accompanying this cast of gruesome characters are old superstitions, omens, strange beliefs and long-forgotten remedies for all manner of ailments. Within the Almanac's pages we visit the dark side, plumb the depths of past despair and peer over the rim of that bottomless chasm where demons lurk, with only a candle's light to see by . . . metaphorically speaking of course. You are invited to take that journey, if you are brave enough, and meet some of the people that populated the past . . . while author Kevin Turton holds the candle at arm's length.