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Countrybookshop Autumn Peak Festival 2006
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Country Bookshop Local Book of the Year Award 2006
Women writers compete for The Peak District & Derbyshire Local Book of the Year Award
The local book of the year award is organised by Country Bookshop and supported by the Friends of the Peak District
each year in the Autumn. This year the judges were Dot McGahan, of Friends of the Peak District, Mary Elsworth and
Elaine Blair.
Again the high standard of books entered for the award made it a difficult task for the judges but a shortlist of
4 books, all by women authors this year, was finally decided. Dot McGahan said that, 'It was a close call, a very
difficult decision that took a few hours to reach, with the excellent quality of writing'.
The Shortlisted Books:
'Brill Walks in the Peaks and Dales' by Freda Bowman and Bob Brill, from Northend Publishers
In Freda and Bob’s second book of walks in the Peak District we are guided through 12 circular walks in and around
Matlock, Bakewell, Birchover and Youlgreave. Freda Bowman says that one of the main aims of the book is to give
people confidence in exploring the countryside and making it very hard for them to get lost and Freda displays
her storytelling flair through short tales inspired by the history of the areas covered.
'Bess of Hardwick, First Lady of Chatsworth' by Mary Lovell, from Little Brown Publishers
Dedicated to Deborah, Dowager Duchess of Devonshire who, Mary says, loves and cares for modern day Chatsworth as
Bess did for the original. Mary Lovell shows us, in this affectionate biography, a portrait of Bess that we have
not fully seen before in this the longest, the most thoroughly researched and the most complimentary of Bess’s
biographies to date. There is much to enjoy in this lucidly written biography, evoking so skilfully this ‘
intelligent, affectionate, diligent and loyal woman’. Altogether a rattling good read.
'Round and About Chatsworth' by The Dowager Duchess of Devonshire and Photographs by Bridget Flemming, from Francis Lincoln
The Dowager Duchess has known and loved Chatsworth for over half a century and probably knows it better than anyone
else. Here, she tells the story of the glorious and superbly kept estate that surrounds it and weaves her tales
around an album of specially commissioned photographs by Bridget Flemming, Licentiate of the British Institute of
Professional Photography and of the Master Photographers’ Association.
'Behind the View - Life & Times in Cressbrook - a Derbyshire Mill Village' written by the people of Cressbrook
‘Behind the View’ chronicles the history of the village from 1765 until the present day with the development and
eventual closure of the mill, the construction and final end of the railway and much more. Interviews with local
residents together with old and new photographs give a unique insight into a small Derbyshire village.
Now the difficult task of choosing only one title from this excellent shortlist remains to be decided. The winner
will be presented with the award at the Launch of the Peak Literary Festival on Friday 27th October at Country
Bookshop, Hassop Station, Bakewell. The Peak Film and Literature Guide, published by Peak Experience, Peak District
National Park will also be launched on the evening and local authors are invited to sign copies of their books.
Mary Elsworth, Elaine Blair and Dot McGahan holding the shortlisted books:
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