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A collection of mainly light-hearted and humorous poems with some more sensitive and deeper verses about the things that many readers will recognise and will have faced themselves. Debut poetry collection by poet, photographer and sheep farmer Bob Spencer

The seventeen short stories in this collection will entertain, delight and intrigue. Some tales are poignant, others whimsical, and then there are those that display a sharp sense of humour and pointed observations. Each one features a colourful cast of characters, many of them brought vividly to life with the rich and varied dialects that the author includes in his writing. His musical talents give him an exceptional ear for accents, while his own travels and experiences have resulted in well-drawn atmospheres and settings for his work.Through these stories, the reader is transported from Birmingham to New Zealand, Ireland to Gloucestershire's Forest of Dean, and Herefordshire to the Marches - as well as places of the imagination.From ballet to high-spirited saints; music to alien encounters; and not forgetting love, loss, religion, fantasy and much mischief, a veritable assortment of themes and topics are featured. Written over a wide period from 1962 to the present day, these fictional tales also reflect changing times and attitudes. Prepare to read on and enjoy.

Anybody who has lived, anybody who has loved and lost will hear the echoes of their own hopes and dreams sounding throughout the poetry in The Weight of Missing, the emotive debut poetry collection by Emily R. Paget. Simultaneously intimate and personal - and authentically Universal - Hope looms large. Paget affords us this gift, a reminder of what it means to be human.

In this follow-up to his autobiography, Michael Rutter changes his focus and now reflects on his father's life - the victories, defeats, scrapes with the law and practical jokes. He also looks at his father's close brushes with death, including the horrific career-ending crash of 1985, and its aftermath.Tony Rutter (1942-2020) is best known for his four world TT-F2 championship wins, seven Isle of Man TT wins, nine North West 200 wins, and two British Championship titles during his twenty-two-year career - but the man himself has remained something of an enigma to everyone including his own son Michael, who himself went on to have a hugely successful career and keep the Rutter name alive in the world of motorcycle racing to the present day.Through his own memories, as well as those of longstanding teammates and friends, Michael pieces together his father's values, what mattered to him the most, his odd - sometimes maddening - traits. What unfolds is a profile of the man behind the incredible talent and singular focus of an elite racer. With a foreword by Carl Fogarty, this is the first-ever book about one of the finest racers in a great generation of racers, by those who knew and loved him the most.

In A Pot of Message the author has crafted poems with pencil sketches that amuse and describe in verse what most of us think and experience in everyday life. Whatever the problems, frustrations or emotions Sullivan manages to put an amusing slant on them through his clever use of words and rhyme. Although mainly light-hearted and humorous, there are some more sensitive and deeper moments, which he has experienced as boy and man, that many readers will recognise and will have faced themselves. This poem casserole is exactly what it says. It is a potpourri of day-to-day life. A multi-ingredient dish that serves many tastes.

Alan Hale was a policeman for 31 years from 1966-1997. The Musings of a Retired Policeman shares the social history of his childhood and his personal development towards a career in the police force. After leaving education, he entered the police service as a cadet, but came close to being a 'suspect for a burglary' but eventually entered the police service as a warranted police officer. Enjoy his adventures, challenges and the stresses of being involved in two full scale riots as well as incidents involving knives and guns. He also describes his working life and several jobs after the police force including making a violent citizen's arrest. Alan Hale's engaging biography describes the life of a normal married man with a family who like every other officer in the country confronted unknown risks and put his life on the line every day.

When the author returned to the Congo for a year as a newly qualified medical doctor he was able to observe Christian missionary activity at first hand and, more importantly, to work and learn from the people amongst whom he had been born, and who he came to appreciate and admire.The stimulus for this book sprang from a desire to learn more about the country and the people of Congo before the intrusion of Europeans, the effects of Belgian colonization, the role of missionaries in exposing the brutalities of King Leopold II's rubber industry, and the contribution of Christian missions to the development of the country that is now the Democratic Republic of Congo.Mission. Impossible? is based on a detailed study of the archived records of the Congo Balolo Mission, personal interviews with retired missionaries and missionary children, current leaders of the Congolese church and other previously unpublished personal material. Following the "discovery" of the Congo River by Henry Morton Stanley in 1877 the Congo was presented to the wider world as "The Heart of Darkness", a concept challenged by the author in the final chapter.A postscript by Norbert Mpu-Mbutu adds an important Congolese perspective.

The Royal Navy's Submarine Command Course, or 'Perisher', is a unique course, training, assessing and qualifying officers for submarine command which is, itself, unique, challenging and demanding; the epitome of mission command, with no succour, referral or support in a continuously threatening environment. It is therefore essential that those 'in command' are proven to be worthy and capable of their appointment. The evolution of 'Perisher' is in recognisable periods: the earliest days, following the submarine's introduction into the Royal Navy, was an autodidactic existence with COs learning from their peers and by experimentation. By 1917 circumstances had conflated to create the Periscope School and the Periscope Course to train and qualify COs whose characteristics were now fully formed. The interwar period was a difficult time, but it produced new submarines and technological innovations just in time for the Second World War and the most intense evolutionary period for 'Perisher'. Post-1945 to 1969 experienced two evolutions: Commander Sandy Woodward's codification of the art of attacking and a shift in emphasis from purely 'periscope eye' attacking toward the development of safety and tactical prowess in students. In the 1970s-1980s, two parallel courses satisfied the demand for COs from an expanding diesel-nuclear submarine fleet using SSKs and then in 1989, an SSN. The final period, 1990-2017 continues today with an all-nuclear Perisher and a curriculum to meet a changing battlespace, new weapons and tactics. Throughout its history, 'Perisher' has shaped the submarine commanding officer and he, in return, has shaped 'Perisher'.

Meet Billy. a young donkey who lives with his mum and dad in the resort town of Blackpool in the North-West of England. He expects nothing more out of life than to follow in the family tradition of providing rides along the beach for tourists visiting Blackpool during the summer months. Little does he know that his father had the foresight to save his pennies for the time when he and his wife would retire and the courage to move the family to a place where most days in the year are filled with warmth and sunshine!Having arrived on Spain's Costa del Sol, Billy immediately falls in love with his new home in Mijas, where his passion for life and desire to help others in need truly blossom.On his first day alone, he unknowingly saves the life of a young Spanish bull and from here the adventures continue, from fixing a wonky church bell to making English cakes for the local children's charity ... our little Billy's imagination and enthusiasm seem to know no limits!