Whilst its horrible and cold out there why not catch up on some nice reading. I've added a couple more reviews to the Book Reviews section. I'd love to hear from you if you've read any of these and what you think.
You can also order through the review section, which really helps out this blog. Thank you to all who have done so so far.
I must get asked, literally 100s of times a day, where did the R come from in RTW come from. Well now I am safe to hide behind a fabulous new book from the Royal Tunbridge Wells Civic Society. Tunbridge Wells in 1909 by Chris Jones is a month-by-month diary taking us through the year that we obtained our Royal title. Its an utterly absorbing book that lasted me just a few hours as I raced through discovering just how our ancestors lived and shaped our town.
Fascinating tales of immigration, unemployment, countless applications for skating rinks, politics, the economy, in fact most of the same troubles that face the country today. You'll read open-mouthed at the stories of the local train crash, the workhouses, the domestic servants and the branding of the town with its shiny new title.
The back of the book is devoted to a tour of the town in 1909, pointing out all the local landmarks and buildings together with lots of new exclusive pictures to go along with the text which in themselves are worth the money. This is a wonderful book that had me in wonder and amusement from start to finish. Grab a copy now.
You may of course have noticed from the title of the book, that 1909 is 99.9 years ago. Its going to be a great celebration next year so look out from some very exciting posts to celebrate the 100 years of our Royal heritage.
Seeing as though I have been in and out of our local book store over the past few days badgering the staff about a new local book that is due out and the fact that I get quite a few e-mails asking about books written about Tunbridge Wells, I thought I'd introduce a whole new section to the blog, just like the Eating Out section, but for books.
Please take a minute to stop on by to read my mini-reviews of the vast collection of titles that you can buy about our lovely town. The first book I have added is the Historical Atlas of Tunbridge Wells. Have a look at tell me what you think of the book in the comments, it would be great to hear from you all.
Just found rather a bargain on amazon.co.uk. In fact its more than a bargain because its a book I'd never even heard of before. Wellspring by Colin Aston is a book of poetry based on Tunbridge Wells, or as the author himself puts it "a portrait in verse of Royal Tunbridge Wells"
I shall tempt you into tracking down a copy with some of Colin's beautiful words. "Sunshine licks at the mintiest domes, an architecture of pleasure and welcome" in the poem "The Way Around", in which Colin takes us on a photography tour around the Wells. Colin then he leaves us on the final page with "The Pantiles less the derring-do; Near gentle Groves cool retinue; King Charles the Martyr claims the true; Royal, loyal, Tunbridge Wells".
Its lovely to read the poetic thoughts of someone who obviously loves this town as much as I do. If you're passionate about Tunbridge Wells then this book highly deserves a place on your bookshelf.
It's inspired me to undertake some poem-themed walks to Colin's words, I'd love to know if you feel the same way after reading it.
New books about Tunbridge Wells are always a surefire way to get me excited and are annoyingly too few and far between. I have just finished reading the latest addition to the literary works of the history of our town, My Young Life in Tunbridge Wells, a record of Michael Gardner's childhood in Tunbridge Wells from 1935 until 1953.
Rather ingeniously, the book was written for the authors children as a way to make sure that they didn't forget about their family's history and that his exploits would be remembered and hopefully passed on to future generations. It describes the authors early years exploring the area around Grove Hill Road, Calverley Grounds and the Grove. The book gives the reader tales of mischief, insight into the impact of the War on the town and a generally captivating view of the town from the eyes of children.
Although a good addition to our town's history, one cannot escape the fact that almost every page has spelling errors and grammatical mistakes. Also, images are an important part of any historical reference, the ones contained in this book are unfortunately of too low a quality to be of use.
Gripes aside it's a captivating read, in fact it reads almost as if its your granddad regaling you with his war stories. If you've got an interest in Tunbridge Wells, and I'm sure if you read this blog regularly then you do, go get yourself a copy, it's a worthy addition to your library. As a bonus, if you purchase your copy from Waterstones it will more than likely be a signed copy too.
I'm a bit of a book nut anyway, but get really excited when new books about Tunbridge Wells appear, and to celebrate our wonderful towns 400th anniversary next year, a new book has been written to update the towns history right up to the present day, 400 Years of the Wells: A History of Tunbridge Wells. There is also a calendar, mugs and all sorts of other touristy delights, nip down to the Pantiles and buy something today and give thanks to Lord North's discovery, because without him finding the Chalybeate spring in 1606 what on earth would we all have to be so proud of?
For
a complete collection of over 3,500 historical and interesting images of Tunbridge
Wells, you can purchase this fantastic CD from www.royaltunbridgewells.org
All profits are donated to the Royal Tunbridge Wells Symphony Orchestra. £10
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