History book tells of ghosts and bombs
A NEW book has been published with quirky details from the history of Hinckley.
‘The Little Book of Leicestershire’ was written by Leicester-based historian Natasha Sheldon over 18 months.
It includes a chapter titled ‘Ghostly Goings-On’, which mentions a regular phantom who sits at a table reading in The Union Inn on Stockwell Head, as well as a mischeivous ghost child and several soldiers.
The chapter also tells the tale of Richard Smith, a young saddler killed by a sergeant recruiting in the town in 1727, after Smith kept taunting him.
His gravestone in St Mary’s Church reputedly oozes a blood-red liquid each April.
Barwell gets a mention in a chapter focusing on the military history of the county, as an unexploded bomb was once found there.
The device was safely detonated, with its nose landing in a greenhouse in Elmesthorpe, two miles away.
The book’s chapter on ‘Religion and Superstition’ talks about the Quaker movement started by George Fox, who was originally from Fenny Drayton.
Ms Sheldon said: “Leicestershire is at the centre of the country, with the actual central point of England in the Hinckley and Bosworth borough.
“It has been an important region at different points in history. A lot of people who live in the county have expressed an interest in reading the book.”
The 192-page book is a whistle-stop tour through all aspects of the region’s history, from its rivers and land formation to its famous figures, food and drink, and common working life over the centuries.
Ms Sheldon said: “It’s very nice-looking; the way the publishers have set it out really does it justice.
“I hope I have written it in a light-hearted sort of way and that it can be accessible to different ages.
“I want readers to enjoy it while learning something new.”
Ms Sheldon studied ancient history and archaeology at the University of Leicester.
Her published works include ‘Not a Guide to Leicester’ and ‘Leicester in 100 Dates’.