Based on a wide variety of government and civic records, this book traces the evolution of the changing nature of city status, particularly through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Beginning with an explanation of how city status first became connected to cathedrals in the medieval period, the book explores how during the nineteenth century, links evolved between Anglican diocesan sub-divisions and city creation. It then shows how in a few years, between 1888 and 1907, the traditional interpretation of a city was overturned as the most major British industrial and commercial towns received city status and lord mayoralties. The second half of the book concentrates on city status during the twentieth century, and particularly the politicisation of the process and the linking of grants to royal occasions. The study concludes by looking at the city status competitions of 2000 and 2002 in relation to the previous two hundred years of city history.

Based on a wide variety of government and civic records, this book traces the evolution of the changing nature of city status, particularly through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Beginning with an explanation of how city status first became connected to cathedrals in the medieval period, the book explores how during the nineteenth century, links evolved between Anglican diocesan sub-divisions and city creation. It then shows how in a few years, between 1888 and 1907, the traditional interpretation of a city was overturned as the most major British industrial and commercial towns received city status and lord mayoralties. The second half of the book concentrates on city status during the twentieth century, and particularly the politicisation of the process and the linking of grants to royal occasions. The study concludes by looking at the city status competitions of 2000 and 2002 in relation to the previous two hundred years of city history.

This fascinating book looks at how local history developed from the antiquarian county studies of the sixteenth century through the growth of 'professional' history in the nineteenth century, to the recent past. Concentrating on the past sixty years, it looks at the opening of archive offices, the invigorating influence of family history, the impact of adult education and other forms of lifelong learning. The author considers the debates generated by academics, including the divergence of views over local and regional issues, and the importance of standards set by the Victoria County History (VCH). Also discussed is the fragmentation of the subject. The antiquarian tradition included various subject areas that are now separate disciplines, among them industrial archaeology, name studies, family, landscape and urban history. This is an authoritative account of how local history has come to be one of the most popular and productive intellectual pastimes in our modern society. Written by a practitioner who has spent more than twenty years teaching local history to undergraduates and M.A. students, as well as lecturing to local history societies, John Beckett is currently Director of the VCH. A remarkable book that will be of great interest to students and scholars of local history as well as amateur and professional genealogists. -- .

The Path of Paganism provides practical advice and support for living an authentic Pagan life in our mainstream Western culture. Witches, druids, polytheists, and other Pagans will discover an experiential guide to the foundations and practices of these deeply meaningful traditions. For John Beckett, practicing Paganism means more than adopting a set of books, tools, and holidays. Practicing Paganism means cultivating a way of seeing the world and your place in it. It means challenging the assumptions of mainstream society, keeping those that prove true and helpful while discarding those that show themselves to be false. It means building a solid foundation from which you can explore the nature of the universe, the gods, your self, and your community while learning to strengthen your relationship with all of them.

Paganism In Depth is a next level book for Pagans interested in taking their practice deeper. Author John Beckett helps you develop a detailed understanding of practical knowledge as well as ideas for working through new challenges you'll encounter as you advance in your practice, such as what happens when a deity makes demands of you, and how to form and sustain a community. This book shares several keys to help you find your way forward when you feel you've gone as far as you can, including daily spiritual practice, ancestor veneration, perceiving the otherworld, religious ecstasy, direct experience of the gods, offerings, divination, magical practice, and devotional practice. Your relationships with your community and with the gods and spirits are of the utmost importance. John Beckett helps you navigate those relationships so you can give and receive the energy you need on your unique spiritual journey.

Collected box set of the irreverent and innovative BBC satirical comedy, about an elite police unit under the eye of a fly-on-the-wall documentary crew. Using this spoof docu-soap format, the self-referential series allows various celebrities to become embroiled in the 'Good Guys' team's bungling investigations. By the second series the team are established as docu-soap stars within the world of the programme itself, and are forced to deal not only with organised crime, but with the attentions of PR consultants and irate BBC producers. Written and directed by stars Dominic Anciano, Hugo Blick and Ray Burdis, and containing all 19 episodes over three series.

The eleventh volume in the acclaimed paperback series . . . the only county series that can legitimately claim to represent the past and present of a nation.

Contributions by
John Beckett, Graham Busby, Stuart Dalley, Bernard Deacon, Brian Elvins, David Everett, D. H. Frost, Julyan Holmes, Alan M. Kent, Patrick Laviolette, Philip Payton, Mark Sandford, Matthew Spriggs, Malte W. Tschirschky and David Windsor

This fascinating book looks at how local history developed from the antiquarian county studies of the sixteenth century through the growth of 'professional' history in the nineteenth century, to the recent past. Concentrating on the past sixty years, it looks at the opening of archive offices, the invigorating influence of family history, the impact of adult education and other forms of lifelong learning. The author considers the debates generated by academics, including the divergence of views over local and regional issues, and the importance of standards set by the Victoria County History (VCH). Also discussed is the fragmentation of the subject. The antiquarian tradition included various subject areas that are now separate disciplines, among them industrial archaeology, name studies, family, landscape and urban history. This is an authoritative account of how local history has come to be one of the most popular and productive intellectual pastimes in our modern society. Written by a practitioner who has spent more than twenty years teaching local history to undergraduates and M.A. students, as well as lecturing to local history societies, John Beckett is currently Director of the VCH. A remarkable book that will be of great interest to students and scholars of local history as well as amateur and professional genealogists. -- .

A fascinating account of the Nottingham story, from its origins as a small college earliest days to the worldwide university of today. The University College of Nottingham opened in 1881, funded by Nottingham Corporation, and on land in the centre of the town. It expanded in student numbers and in the courses available, and in 1928 it moved to a new site at Highfields, three miles west of Nottingham city centre, given by the pharmaceutical entrepreneur Jesse Boot. In 1948, after much lobbying, the University College was awarded a Royal charter, allowing it to award its own degrees. Student numbers grew through the 1950s and 1960s, but speeded up with the opening of the Medical School in 1977, and then in conjunction with subsequent government policy. New campuses were opened: Jubilee in 1999, Kings Meadow in 2004,Derby Medical School also in 2004, and Malaysia and China the following year, 2005. Today it has roughly 44,000 students globally, of whom about half are from outside of the United Kingdom. The book traces these developments, but with particular emphasis on students, and what it has been like to study at Nottingham since the 1880s. Based on the university's own sources, including oral testimony, and consistently placing local events in their nationaland international context, the book provides a detailed and entertaining history. John Beckett is Professor of English Regional History at the University of Nottingham.