Category: Recreation: Library, Books and Reading

New Book: Commit Random Acts Of Kindness

Friday 24th October 2025

Danny Howell writes:
New book. I’m pleased to say that the second book in my Mortal Visible series of books featuring photographs of Warminster taken by myself is now available. The title is Commit Random Acts Of Kindness. Published by Bedeguar Books. ISBN 978-1-872818-61-0. The book is hardback, measures 218mm x 218mm approx., and has 100 pages plus illustrated endpapers. It features 112 colour photographs of people, places and things in Warminster, taken between 2009 and 2025. Photographs have succinct captions and there is an index. Supplied brand new and shrink-wrapped. The price is £20 per book. Free delivery locally (Warminster and surrounding villages). If you live further away I can post (postage and packing will be extra). The book will not be available in shops. Limited edition. (The first book in the series is nearly sold out and is already a collector’s item). Only available while stocks last – first come, first served. If you would like to purchase a copy, please let me know – message me dannyhowellnet@gmail.com and if you are new to buying books direct from me then remember to include your address. And dare I say it, these books make unique Christmas presents for anyone interested in Warminster!

New Book: Luke Eggoton Was Here

Monday 25th August 2025

Danny Howell writes:
New book. I currently have available a book featuring some of my photographs. The title is Luke Eggoton Was Here. Published by Bedeguar Books. ISBN 978-1-872818-60-3. The book is hardback, measures 218mm x 218mm approx., and has 100 pages plus endpapers. Features 107 colour photographs of people, places and things in Warminster, taken during the last 15 years. Photographs have succinct captions and there is an index. The book is the first in a planned series called Mortal Visible. There will be at least three volumes. Supplied brand new and shrink-wrapped. The price is £20 per book. Free delivery locally (Warminster and surrounding villages). If you live further away I can post (postage and packing will be extra). The book will not be available in shops. Limited edition. Only available while stocks last – first come, first served. If you would like to purchase a copy, please let me know. email dannyhowellnet@gmail.com

New Book: Luke Eggoton Was Here

Monday 25th August 2025

Danny Howell writes:
New book. I currently have available a book featuring some of my photographs. The title is Luke Eggoton Was Here. Published by Bedeguar Books. ISBN 978-1-872818-60-3. The book is hardback, measures 218mm x 218mm approx., and has 100 pages plus illustrated endpapers. Features 107 colour photographs of people, places and things in Warminster, taken during the last 15 years. Photographs have succinct captions and there is an index. The book is the first in a planned series [Mortal Visible] of at least three volumes. Supplied brand new and shrink-wrapped. The price is £20 per book. Free delivery locally (Warminster and surrounding villages). If you live further away I can post (postage and packing will be extra). The book will not be available in shops. Limited edition. Only available while stocks last – first come, first served. If you would like to purchase a copy, please message me. dannyhowellnet@gmail.com

And The Winner of Warminster Book Festival’s Longleat Prize Is . . .

Saturday 14th June 2025

A message from the organisers of the Warminster Book Festival 2025:

Longleat offered a fabulous prize to everyone who came to the Book Festival.

If you came to four talks and the Sunday, you could have had five chances -all for free!

The super prize was won by lucky Teresa.

She has been contacted and will be enjoying a superb day at Longleat.

Congratulations Teresa and thank you Longleat.

Re-Opening Of Warminster Lions Book Shop

Monday 28th October 2024

The Warminster Lions Bookshop in George Street, Warminster, re-opens tomorrow, Tuesday 29th October 2024. They say:

As we start half term our window this week features some great books on walking and hiking trails.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused by our 5-day closure. The refurbishment / refit was necessary due to Health & Safety and damp issues, which have now been rectified. We hope that you will agree that the bookshop is now a brighter, more welcoming and safer environment for our customers and volunteers.

Pop in and take a peek . . . . it’s half term and our children’s section looks especially good with lots to choose from for toddlers to teens in its revamped corner.

Still a few shelves to fit and fill so drop your donations in, or message us to collect any larger donations.

Rhyme Time At Warminster Library

Tuesday 8th October 2024

A message from Warminster Library:

If you’re looking for a fun, friendly group to bring your little one along to, why not try the library?

We have rhyme times for babies on a Wednesday morning, and for babies and toddlers on a Monday afternoon and a Thursday morning.

All sessions are free, and you don’t need to book ahead, just drop in.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Five Young Men In A Van

Saturday 24th August 2024

Heytesbury resident Nicholas Williams has a book called Five Young Men In A Van for sale on Amazon cost £5:49

This is a true story of youthful exuberance overcoming adversity and achieving great things. Imagine, five young 19-year old military cadets embarking on a 4,000-mile road trip across Europe and Asia Minor to Iran, having only recently qualified to drive.

This, dramatic and often hilarious tale, illustrates how fortitude can overcome the dangerous mix of over-confidence, ineptness and high spirits.

Set in the very different political world of the mid-1960’s, this book follows the successes and mishaps of the five as they struggle to reach Iran’s notorious “Valley of the Assassins” high in the hazardous Elburz Mountains and explore the infamous “Eagle’s Nest” Fortress at Alamut. What could go wrong?

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Nicholas O Williams (14 Aug. 2024)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 72 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8227097484
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.97 x 0.38 x 21.59 cm
  • Paperback
  • www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DBKQK8C6?

Longleat: British TV Series, The Runaways

The Runaways by Victor Canning was first published in Great Britain by William Heinemann Ltd., in 1972, and again as a Puffin Book by Penguin in 1978.

The Puffin paperback (190 pages) has the following introduction:

The Runaways
‘Samuel M.,’ he said, ‘you got to think this out. You’re wet and muddy and half naked. Your clothes is all soaked and your belly’s rumbling a bit now and then because all you’ve had in the last two days is them eggs just raw and nothing to write home about. You are wanted by the police. Like a real criminal, which you aren’t.’

On a night of wild storms, Smiler (Samuel M.) escapes from a police car – he’d absconded from an approved school and the police were taking him back. On the same night, only ten miles away, Yarra, a female cheetah, escapes from the Longleat Wild Life Park.

Both boy and cheetah are determined to stay free – Smiler because he’s waiting for his seaman father to return and help to prove he is innocent of the charge that landed him in trouble, Yarra, because she wants a safe, private place in which to have her cubs.

The hunt goes up both runaways – and as the days pass, Smiler feels that Yarra is his mascot. That while she’s at liberty, all will be well for him. Yet both are in considerable danger, from other people and from each other, as they find out how to live their separate secret lives on the edge of Salisbury Plain. This story combines an exciting adventure with a love of animals and of other wild things. It is the first in a series of three stories about Smiler. The others are Flight Of The Grey Goose and The Painted Tent, also now published in Puffin.

Danny Howell writes: Victor Canning was born in 1911 and died in 1986. He wrote over 60 short stories, novels and thrillers. Although The Runaways is fictional, the text mentions Longleat, Warminster, Crockerton, Heytesbury, Imber and the Wylye Valley. At one point in the story, the lead character Smiler goes into the Warminster branch of Woolworths to buy an alarm clock. The postscript to The Runaways reads: ‘Joe’s old green van was found by the police late that afternoon. It was abandoned in a lay-by on a main road twenty miles from Longleat. Lying on the driving seat was a note that read: This van belongs to Joe Ringer of Heytesbury. Say to him the old grey goose is still flying.’

Danny Howell adds: A tv movie was made of the book, filmed at Burbank Studios, California, produced by Lorimar, and was released in the USA in 1975. But later on, and it must have been in the late 1970s or the 1980s or 1990s, The Runaways was made into a children’s tv series and broadcast on British television at teatime. It was filmed locally. I can remember seeing how the production team made a community camp at Norton Common, Corsley, for filming some scenes and when I watched the series on tv (at which time I was an adult) I was able to recognise many places and roads in the Warminster area. Does anyone else remember this series, whether it was called The Runaways or something else, who filmed it and who were the actors in it?

Warminster Library Has Updated Its Local History Section

Friday 11th August 2023

David Pollard has been in touch. He writes:

Just a heads up! The brilliant team at Warminster Library has updated the stock of books on Warminster’s history, in its local history section. The stock now on the shelves includes many new books and some probably never seen before. There is a good selection of books by local historians. My own book The Astronomical Clockmaker Edward Cockey And Other Warminster Horologists, which has been in the Library’s storeroom for a long time is now on the local history shelves and available for looking at in the Library or lending. Many of Danny Howell’s books are now at Warminster Library too.