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Leeds: the heart of Yorkshire
the heart of Yorkshire
Paperback
Published January 1, 1984
About the author
John Waddington-Feather
74 books4 followersJohn Waddington-Feather (1933-2017) was a popular British author who belonged to the West Yorkshire ‘school’ of writers. His children’s novel, Quill’s Adventures in Grozzieland, was nominated for the Carnegie Medal in 1989, and his widely produced verse-play, Garlic Lane, (now on Kindle) won the Burton Award in 1999 and was staged in London in 2011 at the Rosemary Branch Theatre, Islington. In 2002 he was awarded the American DeWitt Romig Prize for his poetry. He was the first chairman of the J.B.Priestley Society and then a vice-president. In 1985 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
A school-teacher all his life, he was also an Anglican non-stipendiary priest and was a volunteer chaplain in Shrewsbury Prison from 1969 to 2009, going into prison the odd night after school and helping in the chapel at weekends. From his forty years as prison chaplain he had much material to draw on for his Blake Hartley crime novels!
The Quill Hedgehog novels are a series of novels age-range from 10 to 100! The first, Quill’s Adventures in the Great Beyond, was written in the 1970s as a protest against the pollution and urbanisation of the countryside. The third Quill Hedgehog novel, Quill’s Adventures in Grozzieland, was nominated for the Carnegie Medal by the Library Association of Great Britain. The first three novels now on Kindle have gone into three editions. A worthwhile read for children and adults alike.
Since being placed on Kindle, his wide range of work has sprung to prominence and attracted a growing number of readers in many countries including the USA which he visited often; more recently in translation in mainland Europe where his short stories are used by the British Council in their BritLit educational scheme to promote contemporary British writing abroad.
His very popular Blake Hartley crime novels are now published by Kindle as e-books. Over 80,000 of his works including his romantic trilogy ‘Chance Child’, have already been sold on Kindle. Now published also as paperbacks by Amazon.
Amazon has constructed a website for his bio and work at Amazon.com.uk
A school-teacher all his life, he was also an Anglican non-stipendiary priest and was a volunteer chaplain in Shrewsbury Prison from 1969 to 2009, going into prison the odd night after school and helping in the chapel at weekends. From his forty years as prison chaplain he had much material to draw on for his Blake Hartley crime novels!
The Quill Hedgehog novels are a series of novels age-range from 10 to 100! The first, Quill’s Adventures in the Great Beyond, was written in the 1970s as a protest against the pollution and urbanisation of the countryside. The third Quill Hedgehog novel, Quill’s Adventures in Grozzieland, was nominated for the Carnegie Medal by the Library Association of Great Britain. The first three novels now on Kindle have gone into three editions. A worthwhile read for children and adults alike.
Since being placed on Kindle, his wide range of work has sprung to prominence and attracted a growing number of readers in many countries including the USA which he visited often; more recently in translation in mainland Europe where his short stories are used by the British Council in their BritLit educational scheme to promote contemporary British writing abroad.
His very popular Blake Hartley crime novels are now published by Kindle as e-books. Over 80,000 of his works including his romantic trilogy ‘Chance Child’, have already been sold on Kindle. Now published also as paperbacks by Amazon.
Amazon has constructed a website for his bio and work at Amazon.com.uk
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 19, 2026
Informative and seemingly unbiased. Very good book. I recommend this book to anyone interested in a quick read of local Leeds history as it comes with pictures and maps, as well as an extensive list of places of note.
Some information is out of date which is to be expected since this was published in 1967, keep that in mind while reading. I’ll be recommending this book to friends who are also interested in local history. Thank you to the author for his work (RIP🕊️).
Some information is out of date which is to be expected since this was published in 1967, keep that in mind while reading. I’ll be recommending this book to friends who are also interested in local history. Thank you to the author for his work (RIP🕊️).
Displaying 1 of 1 review