Publications

Several of the following publications are available from Amazon (see Links in text, or Amazon Author page), others as PDF downloads (with Links shown in text).  They are listed with the most recent at the top.

 The Collections of Henry Clifton Sorby (2019)

 A summary of the findings of a project to find the location and status of specimens and other artifacts relating the scientific life of Henry Clifton Sorby.  Most of the collections, but by no means all, are held by Museums Sheffield and various departments at the University of Sheffield.  The aim of the project was two-fold - firstly to bring together the information for future students of Sorby's work, but also to show the custodians of these collections how they relate to the broader picture of scientific development in the late 19th century.  The findings are inevitably a 'work in progress' and the informal project will continue as more information is unearthed.  Published by Sorby Natural History Society, Sheffield, in Sorby Record, No. 55, 2019 (published September 2020).   Link to PDF

 John Leland's Travels between the Trent and the Ouse in 1539 and 1544 (April 2019)

This book gives extracts from Leland's "Itinerary" describing his travels in South and West Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, and parts of Lincolnshire (defined as in the title).  It adds a rendering in more modern English, and extensive notations about the people and places mentioned in the text. It also includes references and links for further reading and study.

Link to Amazon

"Sheffield's Weather"​ - Five Years On (2016)

An update of many of the statistics and charts shown in the 2011 publication "Sheffield's Weather" (see below). Published by Sorby Natural History Society, Sheffield, in Sorby Record, No. 51, 2015 (published 2016).

Link to PDF 

 

"Sheffield's Weather" - The Unwritten Chapter - Climate Projections for Sheffield (2014)

An analysis of climate projections based on UKCP09 'Weather Generator' data for Sheffield (5km square SK38NW), and a comparison with past trends (as shown in the 2011 publication "Sheffield's Weather", see below). Published by Sorby Natural History Society, Sheffield, in Sorby Record, No. 48, 2012 (published 2014).

Link to PDF

 

Illustrations of Nineteenth Century Sheffield (2014)

A collection of illustrations from the four editions of Pawson and Brailsford's 'Illustrated Guides to Sheffield and the Surrounding District', published in 1862, 1879, 1889 and 1899. Using the illustrations as a guide, it provides a summary of the development of Sheffield during the latter half of the nineteenth century. Each illustrations is accompanied by notes which try to place it in context, and where possible to bring the story into the twentieth century and the present day.

Link to Amazon

Some might call it poetry (2014) 
A slim volume bringing some of my miscellaneous writings, mainly poetry, out into the light of day after anything up to forty years mouldering in a cupboard. 
Link to Amazon 

The Tour of the Don (Annotated) - Volumes 1 and 2 (2013, Revised 2018)
The Tour of the Don was originally published as weekly parts in the Sheffield Mercury newspaper through the year 1836. It is based on a ramble along the length of the Don from its source in the Pennine hills, through Sheffield, Rotherham and Doncaster, until it joins the Ouse at Goole.

The parts were republished as two volumes in 1837. Volume 1 describes the journey from the moors to Sheffield, Volume 2 the journey from Sheffield to the Ouse at Goole. Diversions include descriptions of the main tributaries of the river, and vignettes of local characters, personalities, and legends.

Though originally published anonymously, John Holland, a local poet and an editor of the Mercury, was later identified as the author.

John Holland was born in Sheffield in 1794, and was appointed as the editor of the Sheffield Iris in 1825, following James Montgomery who had published a number of Holland’s writings over the years. After a short break in Newcastle editing the Newcastle Courant, Holland returned to Sheffield and became the editor of the Sheffield Mercury in 1835, a post he remained in until the paper was closed in 1848. John Holland died in 1872.
Holland was also the curator of the Sheffield Literary and Philosophical Society, and wrote a number of works on botany, geology, local history and topography — ‘The Tour of the Don’ touches on all of these interests.
This version includes the edited and reformatted text of Volumes 1 and 2, together with annotations and a preface outlining the origin of the book and something of the character of the author.

Link to Amazon for Revised edition of Volume 1
Link to Amazon for Revised edition of Volume 2

Sheffield's Weather (2011)
This book was written with Gaynor Boon, then the Curator of Earth Sciences at Weston Park Museum, Sheffield.  Gaynor brought together the history of the weather station while I concentrated on an analysis of the data collected at the station over 130 years.  The book gives a description of the history of weather recording in Sheffield and the weather station at Weston Park, together with details of the weather in Sheffield from the creation of the station in 1882 through to 2010. Changes in weather over the surrounding region are also outlined, and the volume closes with a summary of many of the notable weather events in the region. It was published as No. 16 of the Sorby Record Special Series, by the Sorby Natural History Society, Sheffield.
(Not available as a download, but still available via the Sorby NHS web-site )

How Green is Sheffield? (2006)
A detailed analysis of land use data for the Sheffield Metropolitan District, based on a variety of sources, to investigate the assertion that 'Sheffield is Greenest City in Britain'. Published by Sorby Natural History Society, Sheffield, as a Supplement to Sorby Record, No. 42, 2006.
Link to PDF

Land Use and Other Background Information for the Sorby Recording Area
Maps and analyses based on data from the Countryside Information System (CIS) and Ordnance Survey (OS) for the recording area of the Sorby Natural History Society. 
Published by Sorby Natural History Society, Sheffield, in Sorby Record, No. 41, 2005.
Link to PDF