No church in Canada has generated more news coverage for more years than Vancouver's First United. That has everything to do with its location in the heart of the infamous Downtown Eastside and with its role as caregiver and defender of the poor, the needy and the homeless inhabitants of Canada's poorest postal code. Like Mother Teresa's mission to the slums of Calcutta, the First United seizes its position among the marginalized as an opportunity to serve and has proven a shining example of humanitarian activism for 125 years.
Famous for its defence of the jobless poor during the Great Depression under the leadership of the Rev. Andrew Roddan, it is now equally renowned as a bastion of support for modern-day street people with more complicated problems. With its roots in the early Presbyterian and Methodist Church Missions established in Vancouver in 1885 and 1888, the history of the First United Church spans that of the city it resides in. During that time it has seen the area around it and the population it serves undergo tremendous changes, as initial generations moved out to the suburbs, and the congregation assisted with the settling of newcomers from all over the world.
In this well-written and lively account, Burrows, himself a United Church minister for over four decades, brings his lifetime of commitment and compassion to the remarkable history of the First United Church in "Hope Lives Here."

A report on the excavation of a series of plots, defined by ditches and adjoining metalled roads, in use from the 2nd century into the 3rd century AD. The plots contained a ditched enclosure, two roundhouses and other contemporary features. A double-ditched enclosure was laid out further to the west, set within a ditched compound. Both the enclosure and the compound contained elaborate 'funnel-like' entrance arrangements which suggest use by livestock.

Ethel Baddeley a lively feisty young girl was born in Oldham in 1915 in poor but happy circumstances.Grandma's Letters tells the story of her growing up during the First World War and of her struggle as a young mum in the Second World War when her husband of just a few months left to fight the Japanese in Burma and India. Unbeknown to them at the time of his departure she was pregnant and it would be four long years before Ken would see his daughter.The last chapter tells of Ken's War deriven mainly from a diary which he kept of the long journey to reach Northern India and his stories of fighting a vicious enemy.However the major part of the book consists of Grandma Howard's letters all written when she was over eighty to her children and her six grandchildren. They say that letter writing is a dying art and that it is a great joy to read other's letters. Her letters are a joy. Repeated exactly as they were written, spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and as she mentions complete with breaks for the toilet, a snooze or food. She writes about the birds and flowers in her garden, religion, politics, modern society, family values, the past, husband Ken, death and dying. She is funny, outrageous, frank, sensitive, warm and over the years has exasperated, enlightened, shocked and confounded her friends and family. Her letters are an insight into a lost world of good manners, respect and caring and reveal the daily struggle of the elderley to cope in a society so alien to that in which they grew up. At 91, her eyesight failing she no longer writes or paints but still rails against the fading of the light.A lovely unusual book.

Ethel Baddeley a lively feisty young girl was born in Oldham in 1915 in poor but happy circumstances.Grandma's Letters tells the story of her growing up during the First World War and of her struggle as a young mum in the Second World War when her husband of just a few months left to fight the Japanese in Burma and India. Unbeknown to them at the time of his departure she was pregnant and it would be four long years before Ken would see his daughter.The last chapter tells of Ken's War deriven mainly from a diary which he kept of the long journey to reach Northern India and his stories of fighting a vicious enemy.However the major part of the book consists of Grandma Howard's letters all written when she was over eighty to her children and her six grandchildren. They say that letter writing is a dying art and that it is a great joy to read other's letters. Her letters are a joy. Repeated exactly as they were written, spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and as she mentions complete with breaks for the toilet, a snooze or food. She writes about the birds and flowers in her garden, religion, politics, modern society, family values, the past, husband Ken, death and dying. She is funny, outrageous, frank, sensitive, warm and over the years has exasperated, enlightened, shocked and confounded her friends and family. Her letters are an insight into a lost world of good manners, respect and caring and reveal the daily struggle of the elderley to cope in a society so alien to that in which they grew up. At 91, her eyesight failing she no longer writes or paints but still rails against the fading of the light.A lovely unusual book.

Infamous Cheshire explores the darker side of this idyllic county, revealed here as not only the quiet, picturesque and affluent place that is often portrayed as a tranquil backwater. In his new book Bob Burrows digs deep into forgotten tales of villainy and crime, deceit and death, as well as throwing new light on more recent and well-remembered events - such as the Great Train Robbery's connections with the county, Britain's biggest financial fraud, the IRA attack in Warrington, the plane that crashed in the centre of Stockport, and even the story behind one of Cheshire's roads - designated the most dangerous in Britain. Bob Burrows' first book about Cheshire's history was described as 'a work of real quality...well researched, worth reading and worth keeping'; his second book is just as enthralling, and will fascinate anyone who knows and loves the picturesque county of Cheshire.