THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES

A great book,

Pat “looks like

 you have a smash

 on your hands” 

A harvest of memories has become a harvest of success for author Pat Hitchon who is enjoying booming sales of her community-supported book, Botcherby A Garden Village.

Good news for Pat because at the outset the book was a gamble. But it was also a a labour of love and Pat was prepared  to spend several hundred pounds of her own money to get  the book published because she had such fond memories of life in Botcherby, It was then changing from being a country village into what  is now a district of  the city of Carlisle.

There were other fond memories too and

Pat spent four years collecting them.  Hundreds of  other people remembered and loaned photos, letters , diaries. And the local community group Botcherby Forever held monthly workshop meetings to help collect those  memories.

Professional help in editing  came from Pat`s brother Gil, a former journalist and magazine editor.

The gamble has now paid off and all 300 copies of the book have  been sold.  Now comes another gamble as Pat orders a second edition. But this time she is keeping her fingers well cossed… it is far from certain that all copies will be sold.

Gambles or not, Pat`s  250-page  book with more than 1,000 pictures has done well since its very  successful launch  a month ago at  Botcherby Community Centre. One hundred and thirty five friends and guests attended including the Mayor Councillor Mrs Trish Vasey and the Mayoress Mrs Elaine Donnelly.

There  was  a lot of good feeling in the air, as people met up with old friends at a buffet and discovered long lost neighbours.

Shortly afterwards Stephen White of Carlisle Library invited Pat to do a ‘Meet the Author’ event . Again this was  popular with visitors enjoying a coffee, watching a presentation and a book-signing.

Success as an author is  nothing new to Pat. But she had to wait until retirement to achieve that success.

At the age of seven she told her mother that she wanted to be either a milliner or a newspaper reporter – as it turned out she became neither.  Instead she studied business administration and spent much of her career working for Cumbria Education Department and for the last 24 years for the Careers Service where she became Senior Finance Officer.

But the writing bug never left her and before retiremen she researched (and her brother Gil wrote) a history of Carlisle’s famous Victorian artist, Sam Bough, which won the Lakeland Book of the Year award in 1999.

On her retirement Pat turned again to writing and produced ‘Chanel and the Tweedmaker’ the 100 year history of Linton Tweeds in Carlisle, which again was a runner-up in the Lakeland Book of the Year awards and was published in 2012. It proved very popular with fashion and textile lovers.

Her early childhood memories of visiting her relatives at Croft Nurseries in Botcherby led her to fulfil the long held ambition and write a history of Botcherby.

At the invitation of John Barker Secretary of Botcherby Forever Community Group, she joined the group in 2013 and work on the book began. Botcherby  Forever is part of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation which publishes this blog.

WHAT DO READERS

THINK OF PAT`S BOOK?

Here are some of the comments

Well done Pat, Happy Days have come back to Botcherby!

 This is a beautiful, quality book, the pictures and presentation are wonderful. Very well done.

Congratulations, absolutely wonderful, my wife wants to read it, but I won’t let her until I finish it.

A marvellous book –fantastic – I’m very impressed.

A great book. Pat, start your next one Right Now!!

It seems as though everyone I speak to is enthralled by the 250 pages.

What an excellent book, I was unsure what to expect when you first mentioned it to me. But this book is fantastic.

I am writing to say what an excellent and attractive book this is. I have not read it properly yet but have ‘dipped in and out’ and thoroughly enjoyed the information. Brought back long forgotten memories. Congratulations to you and all those who worked so hard with you on this hugely successful and interesting achievement.

Many congratulations, the launch was so busy and the book well, really special an absolute gem, so much information and such a pleasant presentation. Congrats,

Well done on a great book launch and event today Pat, looks like you have a smash on your hands , brilliant achievement, congrats!

...

I’m so pleased for you that it has all come to fruition. There’s a lot of reading there and many memories woken (Miss Lily and all!)  I am glad that it has all gone so well.

Wishing you lots of luck with your book launch – you deserve it.

I hope everything goes well for you, Pat. I will look out for the book when it comes into the shops.

The cost of publication was assisted by Pat winning a £1,000 Hunter Davies Bursary award from Cumbria Community Foundation, and by sponsorship from Crown Bevcan and the Botcherby Forever group.

 
   Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation publishes this blog. Information about the Federation is available on 01228 522277 or 01228