The gallows pole by benjamin myers, paperback barnes. Set in the moorland hills of 18th century yorkshire, the gallows pole is the true story of an organized crime of forgers known as the cragg vale coiners. When an excise officer vows to bring them down and with the industrial age set to change the face of england forever, hartleys empire begins to crumble. This is such a good historical novel about a common man, albeit an outlaw, in 1770s west yorkshire known by the villagers as king david hartley of the cragg vale coiners or the turvin clippers. Weve recently been made aware of the existence of an illustrated map based on ben myers brilliant novel the gallows pole. The hartley surname hall of fame 2 af hartleyfamily. The yorkshire author now vying for historical fictions. A beautifully written tale of the cragg vale coiners, a bunch of forgers who clipped coins to make fake money. The cragg vale coiners history special study, college of. While reading this true story of the david hartley and the clagg vale coiners i.
A sir geoffrey mappestone mysterywestminster, 1102. Discover delightful childrens books with prime book box, a subscription that. The yorkshire coiners a somewhat misleading title see below was written by h. The book corner is an independent and contemporary bookshop in the piece hall, halifax. King david hartley 17301770 ringleader of a gang, the cragg vale coiners the removal by the mint of wording around the edge of a gold guinea, relying solely on the milling around the edge of the coin, was to make the act of coining much simpler, since the milled edge of the coin could easily be reinstated with a file. The gallows pole opens with a taxonomy of the terrain as a boy named jack bentley wends his way towards the stronghold of the cragg vale coiners. King david hartley cragg vale coiners the gallows pole. The cragg vale coiners clipped and filed the edges of gold coins and return the clipped coins to circulation. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. One of the most notorious gangs involved, now known as the cragg vale coiners, was led by king david hartley who was convicted in 1769 and hanged in york in 1770.
They form the cragg vale coiners and risk execution to clip coins and melt the shavings into new ones, dubbing their leader king as their. The story is seen through the eyes of a fictitious twelveyearold boy who lives nearby and who befriends the son of david hartley. The poor inhabitants of this area made their trade in looming and farming and were struggling to feed and clothe their families. England wins owpg outdoor book of the year award15th october 2018. This ends the tale of the turvin gang and the cragg coiners. The gallows pole tells the story of the cragg vale coiners, an organised gang of criminals based in and around the upper calder valley, in what was then a remote part of england where the law held little sway. The cragg coiners were the subject of a childrens novel gold pieces by phyllis bentley. A coiner by the name of james broadbent betrayed the gang by turning kings evidence and revealing the gangs existence and operations to authorities. In the meantime, i visited todmorden tourist office and bought some modern books, clip a bright guinea the yorkshire coiners of the eighteenth century by john marsh, published by smith settle ltd. Do you think women played a greater role in the rise of the cragg vale coiners and have been written out of history, or in fact this was a very malecentric enterprise, as criminal gangs so often are. Brilliantly atmospheric descriptions of west yorkshire in the 18th century. The gang was hunted down and one of the was murdered. Known in order of least to greatest geographical specificity as the yokrshire, or west riding, or cragg vale coiners, their operation was a straightforward shaving precious metal from coins but found its edge so to speak in their lairs remoteness from the capital.
Army and navy gazette, and have proved of great value. Bluemoose triumphed over some of the uks biggest publishing houses to claim the prize with a novel based on of the true story of 18th century counterfeiting gang the cragg vale coiners. Information about cragg vale, a pennine valley of calderdale in west yotkshire. The cragg vale coiners were the most notorious of the coining gan. The cragg vale coiners the apparent tranquillity of mytholmroyd belies a murky past involving an 18th century counterfeiting gang, the cragg vale coiners. The gallows pole is the true story of an organized crime of forgers known as the cragg vale coiners. Lead by the charismatic king david hartley, a man prone to violence and mystical visions, they rise to glory until the bloody murder of a government official brings them to the attention of the authorities. The cragg vale coiners were a band of counterfeiters from the area who produced fake gold coins in the late 18th century.
It runs off the calder valley from the village of mytholmroyd, near hebden bridge, and climbs steadily up the hillside to. Inspired by the reallife story of the cragg vale coiners this route takes in several key. Cragg vale is a peaceful pennine valley, once the site of a norman deer park, later in the middle ages the centre of a thriving iron smelting industry and centuries later, during the industrial revolution, home to around a dozen cotton mills. Review the gallows pole, benjamin myers book of the. Yet this gang were far from being the first or only coiners around this area. Inspired by the reallife story of the cragg vale coiners this route takes in several key locations that feature in the acclaimed novel the gallows pole, which charts the rise and fall of king david hartley and an 18th century criminal enterprise that rocked the national economy. King david hartley of bell house was the leader of the cragg vale coiners, whose. The novel, published by hebden bridgebased bluemoose books, was inspired by the true story of the cragg vale coiners, who almost brought the bank of england to its knees when they began minting.
The cragg vale coiners walk gritstone publishing cooperative. A beautiful illustrated map of this route around coiners country interspersed with. In 1769, william dighton, a public official, investigated the possibilities of a counterfeiting gang in cragg vale. A collaboration between ben and christopher goddard, the map takes the walker on a route around cragg vale, aka coiners country, and is interspersed with extracts from the book. Some of the farms used by the coiners still exist in cragg vale today. Coining was a trade around the cragg are from around 1500 ace. Today the cragg vale coiners and their chief, david hartley, who ran a. Buy the cragg vale coiners walk by christopher goddard isbn. The prose is majestic, evocative and utterly compelling. It runs off the calder valley from the village of mytholmroyd, near hebden bridge, and climbs steadily up the hillside.
The cragg vale coiners walk by christopher goddard and benjamin myers. The coiners of cragg vale published by the metropolitan borough of calderdale, and coiners chronicle by bruce. Cragg vale coiners news newspapers books scholar jstor october 2014 learn. The book contains well over 300 pages, along with 25 plates, 233 illustrations and a massive index of names.
Kershaw and tells a dark and intriguing story based on the 18th century cragg vale coiners. The tale of the cragg vale coiners is currently the subject of a project to produce a new feature film entitled the last coiner which is inspired by the events surrounding the gang. Third man books debut fiction novel, the gallows pole by benjamin myers, is for fans of cormac mccarthy, ted hughes, daniel woodrell, david peace. Inspired by the reallife story of the cragg vale coiners this route takes in. They are the cragg vale coiners and their business is clipping the forging of coins, a treasonous offence punishable by death. The book corner dedicated to the very best stories. He is also prone to selfdelusion and strange visions of mythical creatures. It was also home to the cragg vale coiners, a murderous gang who used the diverse landscape to pull off britains largest forgery operation and whose leader, king david hartley, was hanged.
David hartley king of the coiners peter brook prints. The man behind the project is peter kershaw, writer, director and producer of duchy parade films, now based in new mexico. Third man books debut fiction novel, the gallows pole by benjamin myers, is for. Set in the moorland hills of 18th century yorkshire, the gallows pole is the true story of an organized. Cragg vale, although fairly close to halifax in the west riding of yorkshire, was a remote place in those days so it suited the coiners well. Uk walks with a tale to tell part 1 travel the guardian. The surname cragg was first found in west yorkshire at cragg vale, a village that dates back to roman times. This gangs activities were said to be so damaging that they threatened to wreck britains currency. Buy the gallows pole by myers, benjamin from amazons fiction books store. The book corner halifax the piece hall hx1 1re tel. Browse the amazon editors picks for the best books of 2019, featuring our favorite. A charismatic leader, hartley cares for the poor and uses violence and intimidation against his opponents. One coiner called greenwood lived at hill top farm, another, john wilcock, at kellham, thomas clayton and matthew normanton at stannery end, and thomas spencer lived at new house, mytholmroyd. The gallows pole by benjamin myers the golden notebook by doris lessing midnights children by salman rushdie of the three books, i went for the one that was probably the least well known the gallows pole.
The last coiner art novel is headed by local filmmaker peter m. King david hartley, a man prone to violence and mystical visions, they rise to glory until the bloody murder. This particular gang of yorkshire coiners are perhaps more accurately referred to as the cragg vale or turvin coiners due to their base being in an area just off the calder valley in west yorkshire. The apparent tranquillity of mytholmroyd belies a murky past involving an 18th century counterfeiting gang, the cragg vale coiners. The novel is set against the backdrop of imminent industrialisation, with the threatened arrival of mills, the rochdale canal, and the. They are the cragg vale coiners and their business is clipping the forging of. Today the cragg vale coiners and their chief, david hartley, who ran a successful coining business and protection racket from his moorland home in the 1760s, are commemorated in a calderdale museum. The gallows poles ultraviolence turns reading into a kind of dare. The hinchliffe arms quality, honest, local food, hebden. Cragg vale, hebden bridge, west yorkshire, hx7 5ta.
300 1473 602 693 279 1326 212 602 813 1355 1320 1384 1283 1181 1477 495 1081 1211 1618 870 1291 722 368 1434 1099 1197 1581 1301 264 380 1010 228 1089 217 879 890 375 630 627 2 1336 706