After the death of my wife Alison in July 2019, I decided to handpick and publish a collection of my poetry and prose. Gathering together faded pencil-written verses and rediscovering older forgotten works was a joy and, if I'm honest, probably saved me from imploding. The majority of the work included here relates to daft husband-and-wife banter. From self-mocking humour and daft comical incidents, to silly, embarrassing misfortunes - it's all here! I've also included a few of my personal favourites, including my first ever poem, which I wrote whilst still at school, some 44 years ago. Significantly, there is a core of truth in each and every poem. The majority were written during the 17 years we had together: 2002 to 2019. Happy times for sure.

Ian Shipley has now been traditionally hand-digging graves for 40 years. He was taught to dig the old-fashioned way and four decades on, averaging 114 graves per year, Ian can still be found habitually toiling away in one of any number of locations across Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire. In Tales of a Gravedigger, the author's first book, he recalls true tales from his early years whilst working at Newark's London Road Cemetery in Nottinghamshire. It is a light-hearted and occasionally amusing look into the life of a gravedigger. From coffins getting stuck to stomach-churning exhumations. From unexpected cave-ins to practical jokes and various other ghostly goings-on. It's an interesting glimpse into a profession that most of us know very little about. Ian has always believed that a grave should be hand-dug. It's more personal that way. For years he has declined to use mechanical digging, preferring instead to keep alive the old ways. In Newark-on-Trent and throughout the surrounding villages of Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire, Ian will possibly be the last of the traditional gravediggers.

A Gravedigger's tales is a fascinating look into the life of a village gravedigger, and the trials and tribulations that frequently beset this intriguing, but little known profession. In this, the author's second book he recalls digging out the wrong grave to working in a somewhat spooky churchyard. From a Halloween prank that terrified a colleague to embarrassing cock-ups and a floating coffin. About the author Ian lives with his wife Alison and Wag the dog in Swinderby, Lincolnshire. He's been traditionally hand-digging graves for 28 years and has dug over 3,384 graves in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire.