Old Pond publishing days

Plant Names Simplified - now in stock

"Dahlia, dah-le-a; named after Andreas Dahl, a Swedish botanist and pupil of Linnaeus. Originally (and still in America) pronounced dah-le-a and not day-le-a as commonly heard. All dahlias usually grown are hybrids from species rarely seen in gardens. Half-hardy tuberous herbaceous plants.

COCCINEA, kok-sin-e-a, scarlet

IMPERIALIS, im-peer-e-a-lis, powerful

JUAREZII, ju-a-re-zei, after Juarez

MERCKII, merk-ei, after Merck

VARIABILIS, var-e-ab-il-is, variable coloured

ZIMAPANII, zim-ap-a-nei, after Zimapan."

This glossary contains over a thousand entries like the one above, the aim of the authors being to remove the 'awkward obstacle' that these names can present. In recent years this classic aid for the gardener and plant lover has been published by Landsmans Bookshop. Old Pond has agreed to take the book over.

Plant Names Simplified, A.T. Johnson & H.A. Smith, paperback 180 x 120 mm, 128 pages. ISBN 978-1-905523-82-5. £7.25, available now.

Know Your Sheep - new book in stock

First-time author Jack Byard has come up with a simple recipe for a new book. He was surprised to discover that children in Yorkshire schools thought that 'a sheep was a sheep and they were all the same'. He was even more surprised to learn how difficult it was to get clear information about sheep breeds that he could hand out. So he prepared for himself the book he wanted.

Know Your Sheep is a pocket-sized paperback, 88 pages including 41 photographs. ISBN 978-1-905523-83-2. Published 6th April by Old Pond. Price £4.99.

The book contains details of the 41 pure breeds that Jack thinks 'you are most likely to see on your rambles in the British countryside.' To each breed he dedicates two pages: one is a photograph showing the animal in a typical setting; the other is a concise description. This covers the breed's distinguishing appearance, history, range and uses.

 

Massive Earthmoving Machines Part Two

Massive Earthmoving Machines Part 2, DVD by Keith Haddock, approx 70 minutes, now in stock at £15.95.

Filmed in 2007 at Black Thunder mine, Gillette, Wyoming and Garzweiler, Germany. Shows a wide range of exceptionally large machinery at work in these open-cast coalmines. Photographs from Garzweiler are in the post of 20 October 2007.

The detailed narration is scripted by Keith Haddock, retired mining engineer and author of many books and articles about earthmoving equipment.

The following is a list of the main machines which appear. The machines are not in running order.

1. Black Thunder mine, Gillette, Wyoming

Walking dragline

Bucyrus-Erie 2570-WS "Ursa Major", 164 cu yd bucket

Electric shovels

Bucyrus 495HR, 82 cu yd dipper

P&H 2800, 65 cu yd bucket

Haul trucks

Liebherr T282 diesel-electric, 400 ton capacity

Komatsu 930E diesel-electric, 320 ton capacity

Caterpillar 793D mechanical drive, 240 ton capacity

Other equipment

Caterpillar 24H motor grader

Caterpillar 657E twin-engined motor scraper

Le Tourneau L-1800 diesel-electric wheel loader, 33 cu yd capacity

Caterpillar D11R bulldozer

2. RWE, Garzweiler, Germany

Bucketwheel excavators

No. 288, 12,500 cu m per hour

No. 284, 10,400 cu m per hour

Other equipment

Spreader 760

Bucketwheel coal loader

Caterpillar D8R crawler dozer

Caterpillar 824H wheeled dozer

Conveyors, control room, coal train

Perkins engine book in stock

We now have copies for sale of this new book designed and published for Perkins Engines by Landmark Publishing.

A Square Deal All Round ... the history of Perkins Engines: 1932 to 2006 is a large-format hardback, 253 pages with 136 generously sized black-and-white photographs. The price is £25.00. Buy now

Author David Boulton joined Perkins as a student apprentice in 1957. He enjoyed a wide range of experience with the company at home and overseas as a development engineer and in quality control. He was one of the founders of Perkins's heritage club and retired from the company in 2002.

In the book he deals thoroughly with the company's engineering, finance and structure. Because the engines have had a wide range of applications, his story includes agricultural, trucking, marine and military applications, among others. In a useful appendix he gives engine specifications. David Boulton's account runs from the visionary founding in 1932, through the M-F years to the early period with Caterpillar. In separate chapters he covers the Brazilian, American and licensee operations.

William Brewis - his diaries

From 1833 to 1850 William Brewis, who farmed at Throphill Hall, near Mitford, Northumberland, kept a journal in an account book. His entries cover the progress of his farming against the background of the repeal of the corn laws. Fairs and markets, the weather, crops and livestock are all included. Wider political events such as battles in India compete for space with outspoken comments about local people, the prowess of the Morpeth hangman and Queen Victoria's child-bearing.

The Diaries of William Brewis of Mitford 1833-1850, transcribed by Joan Foster & Dr Michael Smith, edited by Hilary Kristensen, paperback, 116 pages, approx 30 illustrations, ISBN 978-0-9538443-8-8 (published in 2007 by Wagtail Press), available from Old Pond Publishing at £9.95. more ...

The diaries have been preserved in the Robinson special collection at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. One of William's descendants was arguably the 20th century's greatest writer of farming humour: Henry Brewis. more ...

Some sample entries

Morpeth Fair for servants. I hired 2 men 14 & 17 £ and one girl £8 per year.

Died at Windsor, the King of Great Britain ... I had the pleasure of seeing him on my road from Windsor to London about 5 years ago. He appeared to be a round faced good looking man and very plain. He has been a good king for this country.

I was out on the moor on Friday afternoon and the fire and thunder fell both together fell just where I was and I was stupified and turned quite round. When I looked round I saw my bloodhound dog standing upon his hindlegs looking with astonishment to know what was to become of me.

County: a pictorial review

Which British company ... exported its 4-wheel drive tractors to nearly 150 countries ... produced the only tractor to have crossed the English Channel under its own steam ... built tractors for agriculture, mines, aircraft-towing and lifeboat-hauling ... was at the forefront of transport engineering design and innovation, producing trucks, vans, tanks and specialised off-road vehicles? County.

Hardback book by Stuart Gibbard, 168 pages including 290 photographs. Published 1997 and out of print for several years. Now reprinted and back in stock at £19.95. More ...

Rodeo in the Blood

Join Dylan Winter on his quest across America and Canada to discover why perfectly ordinary young men hunker down on the back of a bull and try to stay there for eight seconds - the longest eight seconds in the world. On the way you'll experience almost every element of the rodeo way of life.

Junior rodeo - 'pee-wee goat tying' and onwards.

High School rodeo - superb riding in the pole-bending and barrel-racing events.

Rookie riders - meet rookie bulls.

Ranch rodeo - team sorting, penning and loading; throwing and tying.

Big Man event - steer wrestling.

Bull riding and bare-back horse riding. Why do they do it? It's in the blood. Even at the Oklahoma (gay) rodeo.

In stock now. DVD approx 90 minutes plus extras. £15.95  More ...

Seventy Years of Garden Machinery

In stock today: Brian Bell's encyclopaedia of the smaller machines used on estates, allotments, nurseries and large gardens. The period covered is 1920-90.

The book deals with two-wheel garden tractors; ride-on tractors; ploughs, cultivators and hoes; sowing spreading and spraying; lawn mowers and motor scythes; saws, trucks and other equipment.

Hardback, 246 x 189 mm, 304 pages including 485 illustrations. ISBN 978-1-905523-64-1.  £24.95. More ...

Secret Rivers

We now have DVD stock of Secret Rivers, the two series of programmes Paul Heiney presented for ITV Anglia. Paul paddled his canoe down twelve East Anglian waterways capturing insights into the rivers' histories, wildlife and those whose livelihoods were connected with the water.

The is a double-disk set running for approx 295 minutes. Price £24.95.

The rivers included in disk 1: Waveney (two episodes); Blyth; Little Ouse; Ivel; Colne; Cam.

Disk 2: Lark; Stort; Stour (two episodes); Gipping; Nene; Wensum.

More ...

Hell Drivers

Ex-con Tom, played by Stanley Baker, has no licence and no option but haul ballast for Hawletts in this 1950s feature film. 'Twelve runs a day or you're sacked' is the threat that hangs over the drivers as they speed their Dodge trucks along narrow lanes.

Stanley Baker is joined by other greats of British film and television: Patrick McGoohan as the violent No. 1 driver and William Hartnell as the corrupt manager. Sid James, Alfie Bass, Gordon Jackson, David McCullum, Peggy Cummins and a very young Sean Connery all give support.

The corruption soon has the men at each others' throats, until they are using their trucks with murderous intent.

First released in 1957 (black and white), approx 104 minutes plus special features - which deal mostly with Stanley Baker - and a viewing notes booklet. We have stock for sale at £14.95 inc VAT. More ...

In their November issue, the magazine Classic and Vintage Commercials ran a Readers' Memories special feature celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of this film. One article is headed; 'Albert Hall took over as fleet engineer at Drinkwater shortly after Hell Drivers was filmed ... and some of the Dodges were still around.' Classic and Vintage Commercials magazine