Books by David Simpson

Above David Simpson and two of his latest books (details below)

David Simpson

David Simpson is the author of fourteen books on northern history. He is a publications editor and columnist for The Northern Echo and The Durham Times which are based in Darlington and lives in Durham City with his wife, young daughter and two cats. He has made numerous television and radio appearances including several appearances on BBC Radio 4. He has recently appeared on Ant and Dec's televised History of Tyneside for Tyne Tees Television and more recently on the Channel 4 series The Face of Britain. He writes a popular column on the history of County Durham entitled Durham Memories for The Northern Echo and has given over two hundred talks on dialect and place-names.

David lived as a child in the station house at Chester-le-Street railway station and then for a number of years near the town of Yarm in Cleveland on the edge of Yorkshire. He has worked at Beamish Open Air Museum and The National Garden Festival in Gateshead. While working there he gave tours to visitors like foreign ministers, company directors, school children from Chernobyl, local mayors and other visitors. For a time David toured as a drummer in a band called The Whisky Priests.

In the early 1990s David was proprietor of his own publishing business called North Pennine Publishing and on one occasion he personally presented copies of his work to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. He has undertaken various research projects for tourism development companies in the past and has hosted 'hysterical' guided tours with actors for conferences.

In 1999 David published The Millennium History of North East England, a year by year chronological history of the region. This work was specifically praised by the Prime Minister, Tony Blair in his Millennium Address to the Nation, December 1999. David likes to spend his spare time with his family, but also enjoys photography and has occasionally performed as an actor with Durham City Theatre and the County Durham Shakespeare Group. He also occasionally provides the voice for the ghost of W.T.Stead on The Northern Echo website.

This website was developed and designed by David independently and is his own personal website. The website first appeared in the mid 1990s and has undergone two name changes since then, formerly hosted by compuserve and then freeserve.

David meets Prince Charles in 1991

Author David Simpson and Paul Callaghan, Managing Directorof Leighton at the book launch of The Millennium History of North East England held at Lumley Castle, Durham December 1999

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All the books by David Simpson are listed below

Books by David Simpson

LATEST BOOK : CHESTER-LE-STREET AND WASHINGTON (November 2007)

by David Simpson

Business Education Publishers Limited ISBN ISBN 978 1 901888 58 4

176 pages including 16 pages of colour inserts Price £12.95

Chester-le-Street and Washington features the remarkable history of two North East towns. One has a history stretching back to Roman and Saxon times and was once the spiritual capital of the region long before Durham or Newcastle rose to prominence. The other is a new town embracing older communities like the ancestral home of the Washington family. Here too are some of the oldest industrial riverside communities of the region. As well as the two towns the book also covers Beamish, Pelton, No Place, Kibblesworth, Ravensworth, Waldridge, Penshaw, Lumley, Lambton Park, Bournmoor and Birtley. It is a history encompassing Saxon bishops, Eric Bloodaxe, Daniel Defoe, Radical Jack, iron works, sweet factories, pit disasters, riotous football and first class cricket. It is a history of castles, halls, mansions, dukes and earls, nobles and rebels, political reformers and a Scottish earl who came to hide. The story includes hippos, lions, and a worm with a twist in its tale, a famous painting, a buxom landlady recalled in song and a mischievous goblin. There are smuggling bandits, keelmen, pitmen, a Greek monument, a Roman viaduct and even the remarkable female founder of Iraq who hailed from Washington. Whether you are a visitor, exile, local, or just curious you will find this is a land with many surprising stories to tell.

Paperback 176 pages plus 16 page colour insert. Published November 2006. £12.95 plus postage and packing on single copies (UK £2.50). For multiple copy orders or overseas orders please contact Business Education Publishers Limited.

To place an order you can either Fax, Telephone or contact: Business Education Publishers Limited, E-volve Business Centre, Cygnet Way, Rainton Bridge Business Park, Houghton-le-Spring, DH4 5QY Tel No: +44 (0) 191 3055165 Fax No:+44(0) 191 3055506 email: info@bepl.com Fax/Order Form Qty Price Durham City by David Simpson Web: www.bepl.com

This book may also be ordered via Amazon

DURHAM CITY (November 2006)

by David Simpson

Business Education Publishers Limited ISBN ISBN 978 1 901888 50 8

192 pages including 16 pages of colour inserts Price £12.95

Durham City is based on the Durham Memories column that appears in The Northern Echo newspaper and features the history of Durham City and its surrounding suburbs. It includes the historic city centre with all its wonderful buildings and wealth of history but also visits the city's outer reaches, where Framwellgate Moor, Pity Me, Crossgate Moor, Neville's Cross, Gilesgate Moor and Carrville and many places besides are explored. Throughout the book, colourful characters that have inhabited the city, such as the oversized actor Stephen Kemble, the eccentric mayor called 'Icy' Smith and a tiny man called Joseph Boruwlaski, are recollected. Whilst on the more sinister side the notorious inmates of Durham Prison and the hangings at Dryburn are documented. Homage is paid to the occasional shop, pub and church and of course the University of Durham, along with South Road, with its nineteenth century mansions and forgotten roadside inns hidden amongst the colleges of today. The names of influential people that lived in and around the city in grand mansions such as Western Lodge, Dryburn and Springwell Hall are also uncovered. Whether you are a visitor, a local or an exile, it is hoped that you will enjoy this journey through the history of Durham City.

Paperback 192 pages plus 16 page colour insert. Published November 2006. £12.95 plus postage and packing on single copies (UK £2.50). For multiple copy orders or overseas orders please contact Business Education Publishers Limited.

This book may also be ordered via Amazon

THE DURHAM VILLAGES (November 2006)

by David Simpson

Business Education Publishers Limited ISBN 978 1 901888 51

176 pages including 16 pages of colour inserts Price £12.95

The Durham Villages is based on the Durham Memories column that appears in The Northern Echo newspaper and features the history of more than 70 villages and hamlets within a five to six mile radius of Durham City. It includes all the villages within the present administrative district of Durham City as well as Sacriston, Edmondsley, Plawsworth, Lanchester and all the villages in the Browney valley. Places covered by this book include Old Durham, Shincliffe, Houghall, Croxdale, Sunderland Bridge, Hett, Whitwell, Brandon, Browney, Langley Moor, Brancepeth, Brancepeth Castle, New Brancepeth, Esh Winning, Waterhouses, Esh village, Ushaw Moor, Ushaw College, Bearpark, Broompark, Langley Park, Wall Nook, Cornsay Colliery, Satley, Quebec, Hamsteels, Kimblesworth, Nettlesworth, Witton Gilbert, West Rainton, Great Lumley, Pittington, Littletown. Sherburn, Sherburn Hospital, Sherburn Hill, Shadforth, Ludworth, Kelloe, Quarrington Hill, Cassop, Bowburn, Tursdale and Coxhoe. Some of the places covered are mining villages whose histories are limited to the nineteenth century whilst others have much longer histories. However, it is indisputable that all lie in beautiful countryside that is intersected by the charming valleys of the Browney and Deerness in the west and enriched by the rolling scenery of the limestone hills in the east. In many places there are often wonderful views that occasionally encompass the beautiful Durham Cathedral. It serves as a constant reminder that history is never very far away.

This book may also be ordered via Amazon

NORTH EAST ENGLAND: Places, History, People and Legends

BUSINESS EDUCATION PUBLISHERS LTD : ISBN 1 901888 37 1

by David Simpson illustrated throughout

Business Education Publishers Ltd. : ISBN 1 901888 35 5 (Price £7.95 plus p & p)

Stretching from the River Tees to the River Tweed, the North East of England was the ancient heartland of the Kingdom of Norethumbria. It was the birthplace of the railways, the 'borderland zone' of the Scottish raids and the quiet retreat of the ancient Celtic saints. It is a region steeped in history and a home to wonderful sites like Durham Cathedral, Hadrian's Wall and the bustling quayside of Newcastle upon Tyne. Travelling across the region from Durham and Teesside to England's northernmost county of Northumberland, this book explores the places, people, history and legends of this remarkable region.

Paperback, 224 printed pages, published April 2003

This book may also be ordered via Amazon

NORTHERN ROOTS

Who we are, where we came from, why we speak the way we do

by David Simpson

Business Education Publishers Ltd. : ISBN 1 901888 35 5 (Price £7.95 plus p & p)

The origins of the people of Northern England from Celtic and Viking times to the present day. Covers place-names northern surnames, Irish immigration in Northern England, the Border Reivers and a dialect glossary. Covers the whole of northern England from Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester to Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough.

Paperback, 160 printed pages, published December 2002.

This book may also be ordered via Amazon