Open Writing

…‘Getting on’ was paramount in Bradford and Keighworth. From the cradle to the grave you had to get on and make money to show the world you'd got on and were summat. Those who had nowt were nowt. But those who had summat were summat, and young Clemence made damned sure he was going to get on and be summat at Illingworths…

A younger generation are becoming involved in running Illingworths’ textile mill.

John Waddington-Feather continues his story of a Yorkshire business dynasty.

Continue reading "36 – Bright Young Things" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 09:12 AM | Permalink

Simon Grimstone is good at acting. He sometimes trod the boards at Keighworth's Little Theatre. A real lawyer whose smiles were reserved only for the rich or those with clout, he was obsessed with getting on, getting to the top, and he didn't care who he trampled on to get there, or who he sucked up to.

And Simon has discovered a secret concerning Abe Illingworth.

To read earlier chapters of John Waddington-Feather’s novel about life in a Yorkshire mill town please click on Illingworth House in the menu on this page.

Continue reading "35 – Discovering Skeletons" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 10:10 AM | Permalink

The World War is fading into memory, but greed and class conflict still thrive in Keighworth.

John Waddington-Feather continues his novel of life in a Yorkshire mill town.

Continue reading "34 - Keighworth Returns To Normal" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 09:12 AM | Permalink

Wealthy folk in Keighworth were expected to put on a good show on public occasions, especially at funerals.

In the latest chapter of John Waddington-Feather's saga of a Yorkshire mill-owning family Abe Illingworth buries his wife Rachel.

Continue reading "33 - Putting On A Good Show" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 09:12 AM | Permalink

After the horrors of warfare a 'flu epidemic sweeps across Europe - and Abe Illingworth is summoned to London where his estranged wife is desperately ill.

To read earlier chapters of John Waddington-Feather's novel please click on Illingworth House in the menu on this page.

Continue reading "32 - Another Crisis" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 09:12 AM | Permalink

..."Ah'd just like to say first that there were nowt courageous about what Ah did. Ah were bloody fritted to death from start to finish an' Ah'm sorry it all happened. They were nobbut youngsters Ah killed. Family men like meself an Ah'm ashamed at what Ah did an' may God forgive me. There were nowt honourable about it an' there's nowt honourable at all about this war. It's animal butchery, that's all. An why the hell we're fighting it Ah don't know. Happen the general 'ere can explain." Then he sat down...

VC-winner Joe tells the hard truth at a Keighworth civic dinner for the town's servicemen.

To read earlier chapters of John Waddington-Feather's novel please click on Illingworth House in the menu on this page.

Continue reading "31 - The Mayor's Dinner" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 09:12 AM | Permalink

Joe Gibson is awarded the Victoria Cross, the ultimate award for military gallantry. The mayor and a brass band are waiting to greet him when he returns home to Keighworth, but Joe is a changed man.

To read earlier chapters of John Waddington-Feather's epic tale please click on Illingworth House in the menu on this page.

Continue reading "30 - Hail the Conquering Hero" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 09:12 AM | Permalink

....The artillery lay down a barrage for hours and as soon as they let up, the Guards went over. They'd been given tots of rum prior to the charge and when the order came, they scaled the trench ladders and went over with fixed bayonets. The artillery had dropped a smoke-screen, so that all Joe saw at first were the vague figures of his comrades staggering through the mud like himself. All around them bullets whined and cracked and men dropped like flies, but still Joe kept going crazed and half-drunk - frightened as he'd never been before....

Joe faces the horrors of Passchendaele.

To read earlier chapters of John Waddingtton-Feather's novel please click on Illingworth House in the menu on this page.

Continue reading "29 - Joe's Passchendaele" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 09:12 AM | Permalink

...As her horse raced on, Mary tried to rein it in, but to no avail. It galloped alongside the major till the path began to narrow again. He suddenly realised they wouldn't make it riding together and reined in to let her pass, but too late.

Mary's horse lost its footing and fell, throwing Mary clear but rolling on under its own impetus into the heather at the edge of the quarry....

Major Kingham-Jones is the new man in Abe Illingworth's sister's life - and Abe has good reason to detest him.

To read earlier chapters of John Waddington-Feather's novel please click on Illingworth House in the menu on this page.

Continue reading "28 - The Ladies' Man" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 07:56 AM | Permalink

Joe Gibson is about to leave for the war front when he has a confrontation with Abe Illingworth.

John Waddington-Feather continues his novel which is set in a Yorkshire mill town.

Continue reading "27 - Growing Hatred" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 07:56 AM | Permalink

The war brings about changes in Abe Illingworth, emphasising the harshness in his nature.

To read earlier chapters of John Waddington-Feather's novel please click on Illingworth House in the menu on this page.

Continue reading "26 - Deserters" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 09:22 AM | Permalink

Some folk are prospering in Keighworth during the war years.

John Waddington-Feather continues his story set in a Yorkshire mill town.

Continue reading "25 - Useful Contacts" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 09:12 AM | Permalink

...He squeezed her hand and breathed the air deeply. The tang of heather and earthy smell of peat, the scent of ferns and the spory smell of the warm grit at their feet rose all about them. He was home, alive and with the woman he loved at his side. He would never return to the hell he had left. And that was a huge burden lifted...

Abe Illingworth, injured in battle, is more than glad to be back home in Yorkshire.

John Waddington-Feather continues his story of the fortunes and misfortunes of a Yorkshire mill-owning family.

Continue reading "24 - Recovery" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 09:12 AM | Permalink

Abe Illingworth and Henry Johnson are both wounded in action on the Somme, and Abe's brother-in-law Sam Braithwaite loses his life in battle.

John Waddington-Feather continues his story of the turbulent lives of a Yorkshire mill-owning family.

Continue reading "23 - Injury and Death" »

Posted by John Waddinton-Feather at 09:12 AM | Permalink

Joe Gibson, who has thrived during the war, exempted from service because of his work skills, volunteers to join the army and is called up into the Coldstream Guards.

To read earlier chapters of John Waddington-Feather's novel please click on Illingworth House in the menu on this page.

Continue reading "22 - Shameful Security" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 07:56 AM | Permalink

...An evening breeze had got up and caught her hair. The last of the sun's rays lit up her face and he leaned down and kissed her...

Abe, returned from the war front, and Mary share a romantic reunion in the Yorkshire Dales.

John Waddington-Feather continues his story of a mill-owning family.

Continue reading "21 - Pleasure Preceeds Duty" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 09:12 AM | Permalink

Abe Illingworth is awarded the Military Cross for his bravery in the Battle of Mons. His loveless marriage ends in divorce.

John Waddington-Feather continues the story of a Yorkshire mill-owning dynasty.

Continue reading "20 - On the Home Front" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 09:12 AM | Permalink

The Great War is bringing enormous social changes to the mill town where the Illingworths are based.

John Waddington-Feather continues his story of the fortunes and misfortunes of a Yorkshire mill-owning dynasty.

Continue reading "19 - Great Changes" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 09:14 AM | Permalink

While Abe Illingworth is at the war front, his son and niece enjoy childhood games on an idyllic Dales farm

John Waddington-Feather's novel tells of the fortunes of a Yorkshire mill-owning family. To read earlier chapters please click on Illingwoth House in the menu on this page.

Continue reading "18 - John And Rosemary" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 10:10 AM | Permalink

Abe Illingworth, embroiled in the horrors of front-line warfare, sends a letter to his beloved Mary.

To read earlier chapters of John Waddington-Feather's story of a Yorkshire mill-owning family please click on Illingworth House in the menu on this page.

Continue reading "17 - A Cherished Letter" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 10:10 AM | Permalink

...Overhead, the sun grew in warmth and beads of sweat trickled down their faces. All had gone so still that a skylark got up from the cornfield and began pouring out its song. It seemed so idyllic lying there in the summer sun, smelling the earthy scent of harvest as they listened to the lark above and the breeze blowing over them. It was impossible to believe that men were killing each other in this paradise...

Abe Illingworth is commanding troops who are in the thick of the battle.

John Waddington-Feather continues his story of the lives of a Yorkshire mill-owning family. To read earlier chapters of this novel please click on Illingworth House in the menu on this page.

Continue reading "16 - Killing In Paradise" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 10:10 AM | Permalink

...They peered over the bank. Two of his men were lying in the open. "Give me rapid fire!" yelled Abe to the men on his left, and immediately they began pumping bullets into the copse were the German troops were entrenched. They fell silent under the hail of bullets, which gave Abe and his sergeant time to rush out and drag back the wounded men...

Abe Illingworth goes off to war, and soon finds himself in the thick of the action.

To read earlier chapters of John Waddington-Feather's novel about a Yorkshire mill-owning dynasty please click on Illingworth House in the menu on this page.

Continue reading "15 - In the 'Contemptible Little Army'" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 10:10 AM | Permalink

...Perhaps it was his air and easy smile that endeared him to some folks. Certainly he could turn on the charm when needed - especially with women. He was nothing to look at, sallow and gaunt with oily black hair plastered well down. He had horsey teeth, which flashed suddenly when he smiled, breaking his face in two.

Like many family lawyers Simon Grimstone came to have some sort of hold over the Illingworths as he grew older. It was said he'd picked up some dark secret from the past...

John Waddington-Feather introduces a sinister solicitor into his expansive story concerning a Yorkshire mill-owning family.

Continue reading "14 - The Landlord" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 09:12 AM | Permalink

..."He was with that young woman, his secretary I think. I've seen her here at Sir Luke's soirees. Very pretty. Very," continued Mrs Sharp giving Rachel a knowing look.

Rachel coloured deeply. She'd said nothing as long as her husband's affair was kept well under wraps. Now it was in the open she found it difficult to handle and was angry. She was doubly hurt, being told by Emily Sharp, whom she'd never liked...

Abe Illingworth's affair with his secretary is no longer a secret.

To read earlier chapters of John Waddington-Feather's novel about the fortunes and misfortunes of a Yorkshire mill-owning family please click on Illingworth House in the menu on this page.

Continue reading "13 - Secret Knowledge" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 09:12 AM | Permalink

...The week before he left, Abe took Mary Calow to their hideaway at Grasby. As always, she took the train to Skiproyd where he met her incognito at a restaurant. She looked more radiant than ever in a new summer dress, which set off her face and complexion exactly. He sported white flannels and blazer. The last time he'd wear them for years...

Abe and Mary share a weekend together in the Yorkshire Dales before he goes off to war - but a chance meeting means their affair will now become public knowledge.

John Waddington-Feather continues his novel concerning the fortunes of a mill-owning family.

Continue reading "12 - A Chance Meeting" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 10:10 AM | Permalink

...The Keighworth mob, which had focussed on the great houses of their bosses during the strike, switched its attention once war was declared to the German butchers who had settled in the town years before. They went on the rampage again kicking in the shop windows in the middle of town, before marching up Black Lane again and wrecking what they could there...

War is declared, and mill master's son Abe Illingworth is called to the colours.

To read preceding chapters of John Waddington-Feather's novel please click on Illingworth House in the menu on this page.

Continue reading "11 - Preparing To Serve" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 09:10 AM | Permalink

...In 1912 the Greenwoods surprised everybody by fostering a baby daughter right out of the blue. Everyone assumed he was doing it for his boss. He'd been well paid, very well paid to take on the child. Paid to brush the scandal of a bastard under the carpet.

It happened often in Keighworth. Sometimes they knew who'd fathered the child but no one ever found out which upper-crustian had fathered the child the Greewoods adopted, or who the mother was. Folks who took on bastard upper-crustians were paid well to keep their mouths shut....

John Waddington-Feather continues his story of the lives and times of Yorkshire mill folk.

To read earlier chapters please click on Illingworth House in the menu on this page.

Continue reading "10 - The Adopton" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 07:56 AM | Permalink

Rugby League star Joe Gibson is humiliated in a court appearance which follows a violent incident.

On the bench to sentence him is his employer, Abe Illingworth.

John Waddington-Feather continues his story of a Yorkshire mill-owning family.

Continue reading "9 - Public Humiliation, And Worse" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 10:10 AM | Permalink

War with Germany is imminent, and Abe Illingworth, heir to a thriving Yorkshire textile business, is on stand-by to be called up.

John Waddington-Feather continues his story of a mill-owning dynasty.

Continue reading "8 - Trouble At Illingworth House" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 10:10 AM | Permalink

...Joe's temper flared at work when he had run-ins with his boss, Sam Hirst, the iron-master who owned the foundry. Joe was shop steward and Sam Hirst would have got rid of him, but he was a good worker and his being a star rugby player brought some sort of kudos to the firm...

Joe Gibson is a union shop steward, willing to stand up to a bullying boss.

John Waddington-Feather continues his novel which revolves around a mill-owning family, portraying with vivid realism the characters and the conditions which prevailed in a Yorkshire industrial town last century.

Continue reading "7 - A Fiery Temper" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 09:12 AM | Permalink

Mill master Abe Illingworth attends his first rugby league game.

John Waddington-Feather continues his story of the lives and intrigues of a Yorkshire mill-owning family.

Continue reading "6 - The Cup Tie" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 09:12 AM | Permalink

Mill master's son Abe discovers that rugby league comes before romance in the latest chapter of Illingworth House by John Waddington-Feather.

Continue reading "5 - A Challenge" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 09:22 AM | Permalink

...She spent two years in the main office, then at eighteen she blossomed suddenly into womanhood, caught Abe Illingworth's eye and became his personal secretary. It was inevitable they should fall in love. Though almost twice her age he looked much younger. He'd a mane of blond hair and blue attractive eyes. He was tall and strikingly handsome and in her eyes he was a gentleman. He came from another class, the upper-crustians. He spoke nicely, had polished manners and charmed her from the start...

John Waddington-Feather continues his story of the Illingworths, a wealthy mill-owning family. To read earlier chapters of this novel please click on Illingworth House in the menu on this page.

Continue reading "4 - Spartan Beauty" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 10:10 AM | Permalink

...Sir Luke grunted and gave the fire a final poke. He was well pleased with the night's outcome. Illingworths Mills had an heir at long last. He yawned and pulled out at his gold pocket watch, which straddled across his waistcoat on a solid gold chain. "Time I turned in," he said. "Work as usual tomorrow, m'boy." Then almost as an afterthought, he asked, "What are you going to call the lad?...

An Illingworth heir has been born, and the patriarch of the family is well-pleased.

John Waddington-Feather continues his story of a Yorkshire mill-owning dynasty.

To purchase John's book please visit
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/202-5400595-9895847?initialSearch=1&url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=john+waddington-feather

Continue reading "3 - John Illingworth" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 11:22 AM | Permalink

...From the start there'd been no love in their marriage. It had been entirely a marriage of convenience. Abe sought his love elsewhere and she knew it. An only child, she'd been part of a business arrangement between her father and Sir Luke. So had Abe, but it hadn't stopped him making his own arrangement, too...

But Abe manages to give his wife a peck on the cheek after she gives birth to a son.

John Waddington-Feather continues his saga of a Yorkshire mill- owning family.

Continue reading "2 - Part Of A Business Arrangement" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 10:46 AM | Permalink

Today we begin the serialisation of Illingworth House, a three-volume saga about a Yorkshire mill-owning dynasty.

It's author, the Reverend John Waddington-Feather, grew up in the area in which his story is set. He now lives in Shropshire.

John worked as a schoolmaster and is an ordained Anglican priest. For the past 38 years he has been a prison chaplain. He began writing novels as a hobby and has had number of books published. He also writes poetry, editing and publishing a poetry magazine.

In the first episode of the epic Illingworth House tale Sir Luke Illingworth is hurrying home from his mill, expecting the birth of a grandchild.

The Illingworth House novels are available from Spire Publishing in Toronto www.spirepublishing.com and alson from Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/202-3722478-2761436?initialSearch=1&url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=illingworth+house

Continue reading "1 - Growing Agitation" »

Posted by John Waddington-Feather at 12:12 PM | Permalink