My Lunchtime Reading...For A Long Time To Come

I received a book in the mail from England the other day. It has become my lunchtime book and undoubtedly will keep me busy for a long time. It’s entitled The Lore of the Land: A Guide to England’s Legends from Spring-Heeled Jack to the Witches of Warboys. It was written by Jennifer Westwood and Jacqueline Simpson. Jacqueline Simpson is a sort of acquaintance of mine through an amateur press association in which we both are active. The book is 851 pages of fairly small type. Since I’ve spent a fair amount of time in England and have traveled it from end to end I know it fairly well. The subjects of the short and long items cover everything from ghosts, devil, fairies, churches, holy places, heroes and villains and many others. Already I’ve read about Dick Turpin, the famous highwayman, and the doomed dirigible, R101, which was thought, like the Titanic, to be indestructible. Its maiden voyage was supposed to be from England to India, but it crashed in a wood near Beauvais, France. Faulty design and bad weather were blamed. This is a wonderful big book filled with the legend and lore of England. Anyone with an interest in this sort of thing will find hours of enjoyment in this title.