Books
The Dogmatists
When you have been brought up with religious practices and beliefs which you can no longer accept, it is time to to break free and decide your own future or condemn yourself to a life of restrictions. However, be very careful. Do you really know how far your nearest and dearest will go to get you back into the fold?
This is a cautionary tale of an extreme religious group who cannot accept the social diversity that thrives around them and will not accept an alternative lifestyle for one of their own.
Frances, eighteen and single minded, tries to escape the suffocating rules that are rigidly enforced by the elders in order to pursue her own dreams, but the Dogmatists are never far away.
"A biting social comment on religious extremism is ever present below the surface of this story set in the industrial north of England. Take a sideways glance at the characters, change a label here and there and you will be surprised what parallels can be drawn".
The Three Men of Gragareth
June 1939, and a Yorkshire farmer disappears amid rumours of strangers visting the village late at night. Jack, the missing man's nephew, is summoned from London to support his aunt and help with the search, but is sidetracked when his travelling companion, an enigmatic woman he meets on the homeward train, disappears during the journey.
Jack joins forces with Inspector Bannerman, a Special Branch officer who shares his view that the two cases are linked, but neither of them suspect that these events would lead them to a far more insidious plot to infiltrate fifth columnists into the country.
The hills and fells of the Yorkshire Dales are the location for this tale set in the politically uneasy atmosphere in the days before the start of the Second World War. Every stranger to the community attracts suspicion but it soon becomes clear that the enemy is not necessarily a stranger ...
A Dales Companion and Other Stories
Five diverse tales in a collection of short stories.
A Dales Companion is a humorous account of an energetic and inspiring week spent in the wilds of the Yorkshire Dales with an overbearing, self-opinionated 'gentleman' and his wiser and more knowledgeable employees. It highlights the stark division between their social backgrounds as the team leads the reader along some of the region's most popular hiking routes.
Reflections in a Ginger Pot is a haunting tale of infatuation reignited after a generation gap, but are these the same two people who knew each other in their youth?
The Power Broker takes a cynical look at the power base held by accountants and financiers in both business and politics.
Pass the Parcel is a cautionary tale about greed and its corrupting influence.
A Village Life is an allegorical story about change in social values and its impact on community life as seen in a compressed time frame of two and a half days, examining the effects on an elderly resident and his neighbours.
The Golfing Society
The regulars of a working-class pub on an under-privileged housing estate form a Golfing Society which allows an occasional day out for the boys. This leads to their entry into a county competition where they come up against the more established clubs in the region, with some unforseen consequences.
The fortunes of the society and the relationships within the group are portrayed through a series of meetings in the pub and action on the golf courses.
Always present is the light-hearted swipe at the defensive rigidity of class structure, whether the viewer is looking up or down the perceived social scale.