A Guide to Herefordshire (Softcover)
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By Michael Raven
A topographical guide to the county of Herefordshire.
Price £10.00 p&p £2.80
Descriptions of all the towns, villages and hamlets of the County of Hereford, their history, geography and commercial activities, all known prehistoric sites, Roman remains and medieval castles and monasteries, all parish churches, important houses and notable people past and present, their beauties, treasures and a few skeletons in the cupboard.
First edition 1996
270 pages 185 illustrations
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A Guide to Shropshire (Hardcover)
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By Michael Raven
Price £12.00 p&p £2.80
978-0906114346
A topographical guide to the county of Shropshire.
A Shropshire Lad (Soft cover) – Book ONLY 1 COPY LEFT (Last one)
By Michael Raven
(English Folk Guitar Series)
Price £4.00 (p&p £2.80)
First Edition 1994, 64 Pages
Includes Transcriptions of the settings of 17 Housman poems and 20 welsh airs and dances, arranged for guitar and voice on the CD of the same name by Michael Raven and Joan Mills.
In the Dark Ages Shropshire was ruled by the Princes of Powys and Welsh blood still flows in the veins of many a Salopian. There is a link too, between the poetry of A Shropshire Lad and the pre-Celtic Iberians from over the border, namely a melancholy of mood. Sombre, brooding melodies are as typical of the Welsh as jigs and reels are of the Irish. As to our poet, Housman’s epitaph might well have been “With rue my heart is laden.” The ancient music of the Welsh and the timeless verses of the English bard travel well together. However, these glum companions do have their lighter moments and are also represented here.
Sources The Housman poems are all from A Shropshire Lad, except The Deserter, In Midnights of November, and Half Moon which are from Last Poems. All the tunes are traditional, fitted by Michael Raven, except those of the Deserter and Is My Team Ploughing which were composed by Michael Raven. The Welsh tunes are all traditional arranged for solo guitar by Michael Raven, except Galaru and Rhoslan Reel which were composed by him.
Sample Tracks
Along the Fields from the companion CD: A Shropshire Lad
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Cheshire in Pictures (Softcover) Only 8 copies left
By Michael Raven
Price 2.00 (p&p £2.80)
ISBN: 0 906114 27 6
First Edition, Autumn 1997
80 Pages
Black and white photographs of Cheshire life, old and new – many taken by Michael Raven – together with a sprinkling of the author’s poetry.
It is hoped that this little book will reflect something of the diversity to be found in Cheshire: the highlands and lowlands, the pastures and the seaports, old money and new, cottages and country mansions galore, the charms of Chester and the horrors of Spike Island, and the cohorts of cows almost equalled in numbers by fashionable ladies’ dress shops. It is a well-fed county with prosperous little towns in which the businessmen of Manchester and Liverpool hide their wives and children.
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Shropshire in Colour Photographs (Hardcover) ONLY 1 COPY LEFT
By Michael Raven
Price £3.50 p&p £2.80
ISBN: 0 906114 36 5
Shropshire in 120 Colour Photographs by the author of the highly regarded A Guide to Shropshire
The photographs in this book were selected from some 5,000 taken between 1987 and 2005, whilst the author, Michael Raven, was researching his book, A Guide to Shropshire.
The historic castles, splendid country houses and romantic landscapes of this large, and in places, mysterious county are captured in a series of classic photographs.
Charles Scott, Head Photographer of the Shell Documentary Film Unit, said of this collection: “Superb, a Magnus Opus”; and John Ogden, a senior journalist with the Express and Star, said of a similar collection: “What makes this book really special is the quality of the photographs. They are truly splendid. Michael Raven has the eye which can see beauty in the commonplace and the skill to communicate it to the rest of us.”
Also included in this book are an article on the Shropshire highwayman, Humphrey Kynaston, and a Second Collection of Poems by Michael Raven.
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Staffordshire in Colour Photographs (Hardcover) SORRY, ALL SOLD OUT
By Michael Raven
ISBN: 978 906114 377
Staffordshire in Colour Photographs (Hardcover) Including Song of the Fox, poems by Michael Raven.
Price £3.50 p&p £2.80
In 138 Colour Photographs by the author of the highly-regarded A Guide to Staffordshire.
This book encompasses the historic county of Staffordshire and so includes the Black Country.
The photographs in this book were selected from some 5,000 taken between 1987 and 2005 whilst the author was researching his book, A Guide to Staffordshire, which encompasses the historic county of Staffordshire and also includes the Black Country. That book has 64 colour photographs and only one is duplicated in this book.
Charles Scott, Head Photographer of the Shell Documentary Film Unit, said of this collection: “Superb, a Magnus Opus”; and John Ogden, a senior journalist with the Express and Star, said of a similar collection: “What makes this book really special is the quality of the photographs. They are truly splendid. Michael Raven has the eye which can see beauty in the commonplace and the skill to communicate it to the rest of us.”
Also included in this book is Song of the Fox, a collection of poems by Michael Raven.
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Songs and Solos (soft cover) SORRY, ALL SOLD OUT
From the Folk Guitar Series
By Michael Raven
Price £4.00 p&p £2.80
Off the record transcriptions from the CD recorded by Michael Raven and Joan Mills.
Includes 24 guitar solos and 6 songs from the CD of the same name, in staff notation and tablature. Accompanying CD can be purchased for a discount by purchasing this book and CD as a bundle
First edition: Spring 1994
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The Ross Workhouse Songbook (soft cover)
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By Michael Raven
First Edition, Spring 1996
Price £4.00 p&p £2.80
Please note that this is the last copy and the price has been reduced as there is some fading on the cover.
In the first quarter of the 20th century Cecil Sharp and Vaughan Williams, under the guidance of Ella Mary Leather, were out and about in Herefordshire collecting traditional songs from country singers.
They reaped a rich harvest, not just in the quantity (Vaughan Williams noted nearly 150 airs) but in quality also. They found version of songs like The Blacksmith, The Lowlands of Holland, Sheffield Park, The Trees they do Grow High, and numerous carols, which stand in the first rank of English national song.
Most of the singers were very old and were amongst the last true, traditional carriers in the country. Many were also very poor and ended their days in the grim bastions of the workhouse at Ross-on-Wye, where Cecil Sharp collected some 45 songs. Nine of the 19 songs in this book are from the Ross Workhouse, and doubtless many of the others were known there.
All the songs, dance tunes and poems in this book have been recorded on a companion CD by Michael Raven and Joan Mills with guest appearance by Pat and Roy Palmer. It is called “Songs and Dances of Herefordshire”, and has a playing time of nearly 80 minutes.
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West Midlands’ Ballads (soft cover)
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West Midlands’ Ballads (Softcover)
Price £7.99 p&p £2.80
By Michael Raven
ISBN 978 0 906114 85 8
This was Michael Raven’s last book before his untimely death in 2008. It comprises a collection of ballads from medieval times to today that have either the words or tunes from the local oral-folk tradition, or relate to people or places of historical interest within the region, or were written by authors and composers resident in the area, which includes Staffordshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Herefordshire and the Birmingham-Black Country conurbation.
A collection of 171 songs. The ballads are profusely illustrated with a wide variety of carefully chosen engravings and photographs and each has an informative note and full details of the source of each piece.