100 Days On Holy Island

It was the worst winter in a decade, the winter of foot-and-mouth, when island power cuts ran for up to 72 hours - and two days before Peter Mortimer's planned departure, his father died.100 DAYS ON HOLY ISLAND is a quirky and often moving account of one man's self-imposed exile to a remote island off the coast of North-east England. Eschewing the usual historical or religious portrayal, Mortimer gives a vivid, humourous and often dramatic account of a confirmed urbanite in a small, tight-knit community cut off twice daily by the tides. Throwing himself into island life, he explores the landscape, people and myths that surround this remote `cradle of Chrisianity'. All of Mortimer's experiences within this unique island community are depicted with warmth and humour. The bleak winter scenery and idiosyncrasies of the island's inhabitants are described with an insight and understanding that could only have been achieved from personal experience. He helped in the local school, worked on the land, was the first person to be voluntarily cut off in the island refuge box and spent three tides isolated on the exposed outcrop, St Cuthbert's Island. The 100 days changed him - and probably changed the island. 100 DAYS ON HOLY ISLAND is a personal homage to the island and a remarkable account of a micro-society unique in modern Britain.

When author Peter Mortimer was commissioned to write a play about a little-known riot between Yemeni and British seamen at Mill Dam, South Shields, in 1930, he decided to take the long trip to Yemen itself in search of inspiration. Undeterred by post-11 September government warnings against visiting this 'highly dangerous' area, Mortimer set off and found an extraordinary and surprisingly Anglophile country. Cool for Qat documents this remarkable journey, during which Mortimer pieces together how the riots of 1930 arose and considers their relevance to Western attitudes towards Muslims today. He meets many remarkable characters along the way and immerses himself in the national custom of chewing the narcotic qat leaf. After visiting the ex-British Protectorate of Aden - through which many of the seamen passed en route to Britain - Mortimer travels on to San'a and then Tai'iz. It is while visiting the isolated mountain villages surrounding this city that Mortimer finally meets men who worked in South Shields some 50 years ago. Carrying a battered book with images of Yemenis living in the North-east in the '30s from home to home, trying to jog distant memories, he realises his visit has taken on a new purpose - bringing a small part of the country's history back to where it belongs. Back in the UK, Mortimer's investigations into the 1930 riot reveal a society with many striking similarities to current times. Then, as now, Muslim immigrants were treated as scapegoats for all manner of ills, tabloid newspapers drummed up prejudice and hatred, and the powers that be often used fear and racial mistrust to disguise their own economic failings. Cool for Qat questions just how 'civilised' the Western world - and Britain in particular - is in comparison to Yemen. It is a touching, thought-provoking and at times humorous document of one man's travels through a country about which little is known in the West.

Includes, beginning Sept. 15, 1954 (and on the 15th of each month, Sept.-May) a special section: School library journal, ISSN 0000-0035, (called Junior libraries, 1954-May 1961). Also issued separately.

This is the definitive guide to the best long distance trails in Britain, leading you through landscapes rich in history, wildlife and views. OS references are provided throughout, with invaluable tips on where to walk, timings, nutrition and equipment. There are walks for every level of fitness and contributions from experienced walkers, with practical advice and accompanying maps and explanatory illustrations. Whether walking along the coast or across the moors, following ancient pathways or seeking out less well-known routes, Long Distance Walking in Britain is the ideal companion, and is aimed at walkers and hikers at all levels of fitness and enthusiasm. Illustrated with sketch maps and colour photographs and OS references provided throughout.

David Adam has been captivated by the beauty, wonder and holiness of Lindisfarne since first glimpsing its fairytale castle from the train as a young boy. In this absorbing volume, he shows the island's human face, revealing how Lindisfarne and its people have responded to trial, tribulation and triumph in the course of a long and vibrant history. This tiny place witnessed one of the last stands of the 'British' Celtic peoples against the invading Anglo-Saxons in the sixth century. It has been the home of saints and scholars, most notably St Aidan and St Cuthbert, and famously produced the medieval masterpiece known as the Lindisfarne Gospels. Less familiar to readers, perhaps, will be that the island experienced the first recorded Viking invasion in 793, and was involved in the seventeenth century Civil War and the eighteenth century Jacobite Rebellion. Today its Priory and Castle draw pilgrims and visitors from all over the world.

Some of the country's leading writers are captured in this unique anthology which celebrates the many and varied islands around our shores. Kathleen Jamie, Mervyn Peake, John Betjeman, Brendan Behan, Hugh MacDiarmid, Louis MacNeice, Geoffrey Grigson, W.B. Yeats, George Orwell, and Kathleen Raine are just a few of the 50 authors whose prose works evoke and record in a whole variety of ways, the culture, lives and essence of island life. The collection follows IRON's highly successful anthology - also edited by James Knox Whittet, 100 Island Poems, published in 2005. Praise for 100 Island Poems: "I cannot recommend this book too highly. The Foreword by the editor James Knox Whittet, who himself was born and brought in the Hebridean island of Islay, is deeply moving and thought provoking and contains many wise insights." -- Ann Jones 100 Island Poems, ISBN: 978-0-906228-97-5, £9.00 James Knox Whittet is a poet who grew up on the Scottish island of Islay, and now lives in Norfolk. He previously edited for IRON Press the highly successful 100 Island Poems (2005). He has also published a pamphlet -- Seven Poems for Engraved Fishermen.

From its misty beginnings as part of the mainland in the Stone Age, this history covers Lindisfarne's formation as an island, the Roman and Anglo-Saxon eras, the influence of Columba and Iona, Lindisfarne's own apostle, Bede and the monastic tradition, the coming of the Vikings, the Benedictine years and the dissolution of the monasteries.