Mike Charlton,illustrator of Marlborough and Eastern Wiltshire, and Devizes and Central Wiltshire, and cover illustrator of Collett’s Farthing Newspaper, died in June. He had completed not long before his final illness all the illustrations for Salisbury and South-East Wiltshire, which Hobnob Press will publish one day. I was invited to write a tribute for the Wiltshire Local History Forum Newsletter, and it was published as follows:

‘If a measure of a man’s life is the crowd he draws to his funeral, there can be no doubt that Michael Charlton was someone of wide-ranging talents, enthusiasms and friendships. The venerable Norman church at Stapleford, the village that had been his home since the 1990s, was packed with people of all ages, from the worlds of art, drama, archaeology, and history, long-standing friends from his 40-plus years association with Salisbury, and his more recent village neighbours, all met in a spirit of celebration and cheerful reminiscence. Mike was a man who made you feel special, whoever you were, and who took an intense and kindly interest in everything (usually with a slightly sideways ‘take’ on the subject under discussion). Quick-witted, with a mischievous twinkle, he was stimulating and endearing company. He died on 23 June 2008, aged 85, and cremation in Salisbury, followed by the Stapleford service, took place on 4 July.

‘Mike was born in Poole in 1923 and attended Clayesmore School, then newly relocated to Iwerne Minster, and Edinburgh College of Art. Wartime service in India, stationed at Deolali (where, as he once explained to me, staff driven insane by the heat were sent before returning home – hence the slang expression), was followed by a successful, enduring and acclaimed career as a children’s book illustrator. After arriving in Salisbury he became a founder member of the (St Edmund’s) Art Centre, where he ran a life class for art students for more than 25 years; a supporter of many voluntary groups, including the Talking Newspaper project; and one of the founders in 1976 of Salisbury Local History Group, becoming its president in 1995. His presidential introductions of the visiting speakers each week became legends of circumlocution and confusion, always awaited with warm anticipation. He was fascinated by archaeology, and keenly followed the career of his friend Julian Richards, who (along with Sonia Woolley) spoke at his memorial. He turned his genius for book illustration to good local history use as well, producing the superb drawings for the History Group’s book Caring, about Salisbury charities, and (despite increasing eyesight problems) over one hundred exquisite illustrations of village scenes to accompany my own books. Mike was special to so many people and in so many ways. It is a privilege to have known him and enjoyed his company for so long – John Chandler’

British Association for Local History held its Local History Day as usual on the first Saturday in June at Friends’ House, London. The subject for the morning session was Publishing Local History, and I was invited to give a paper. I explored the differences in perspective between producing local books and mainstream publishing, but also the similarities and the opportunities presented by new technology, such as Print on Demand. An abbreviated version of the paper will be published during 2009 in the Local Historian.

British Archaeological Awards 2008. These biennial awards have been going since 1976, and have grown to include twelve categories covering every aspect of archaeology. We submitted Andrew Lawson’s Chalkland in the ‘Best Archaeological Book’ category, and were very gratified to learn that we have been shortlisted – one of six books. The winner will be announced at a ceremony which Andrew and I shall attend at the British Museum on 10 November 2008.

Harnham Water Meadows. These meadows, most famous as the foreground in countless paintings and photographs of Salisbury Cathedral, are of great historical and ecological importance, and are managed by a charitable trust. Hobnob Press, on behalf of the Trust, has prepared a new edition of its guidebook in our ‘Sarum Studies’ series, and it was launched on 14 September. The trust had gathered a very distinguished line-up of local celebrities for the occasion, and anyone attending would have been rewarded by the sight of the local MP, Robert Key, kissing in friendly greeting the Dean of Salisbury and the Mayor of Salisbury (who are both ladies).

A Step Change? Anyone following the comments strings on the online Bookseller website attached to various 2008 news items about The History Press and Alan Sutton will have witnessed how vitriolic and wide-ranging they became. One day in March, feeling overworked and having noticed that one contributor was offering storage and distribution facilities for ex-Sutton authors, I decided to dip my toe in the water. I posted the following comment: ‘By Ex Sutton author, now publisher: Where are they now, those committed and experienced local publishers I dealt with, who no longer work for the Sutton empire? I could do with some help.’ The result was very interesting, and could herald a promising future for Hobnob Press. Watch this space.

The Christmas Rush. As it turned out, the three Christmas titles which created the most panic and overran the closest to 25 December were also the most successful, and all in different ways (this year I shall try to have all my new books in the shops by October). A Hundred Years of Speed with Safety has had a huge, and hugely appreciative, readership among present and former employees of the Westinghouse company, and the majority of sales were achieved by offers through specialist magazines, company outlets, and the ever supportive Chippenham Museum and Heritage Centre. The Definitive History of Wilts & Dorset has received rave reviews in the enthusiasts’ press and has had a brisk sale in Salisbury (not least at the bus station enquiry office), as well as through specialist wholesalers. We knew last year that another book about the company was due for publication in February 2007, so naturally wanted to be ahead of our rival. The tactic has led to the joke in Salisbury that ‘you wait ages for a Wilts & Dorset book, and then two come along at once’. Rex Sawyer’s Nadder has been selling like the proverbial hot cakes ever since December, mostly in the few remaining village shops between Salisbury and Shaftesbury.

Wiltshire Record Society. I stood down as general editor of the society last year but am continuing to typeset and oversee the production of volumes – Lorelei Williams’s edition of Marlborough Probate Inventories, completed by Sally Thomson, has just appeared as volume 59. Hobnob Press has entered into an agreement with the Society that it will store and act as distributor for all the recent volumes (from 52 onwards). This was in part precipitated by the relocation of the Wiltshire & Swindon Record Office (see below) from Trowbridge to Chippenham, and the Society’s need to weed its backlist.

Wiltshire & Swindon Record Office. The new building at Chippenham (close to the railway station) is now (June 2007) filling up with records, as daily pantechnicon trips are made from the old site at Trowbridge. The new facility, the Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre, will include (as well as the record office) the local studies library, buildings record, archaeological unit, and Victoria history staff (all of which I – and Hobnob Press – have been involved with over the years). When it opens at the end of October 2007 it will become the Mecca for students of Wiltshire local and family history and archaeology. More good news is that it will include a selling area, and I am assured that there will be room for Hobnob Press to display its wares.

Southern Map Distributors. Much as I like going to chat to booksellers, I just haven’t had time of late, and have decided (with the agreement of Roger Jones of Ex Libris) to hand over, for a trial period initially, the representation and distribution of Hobnob and Ex Libris titles in the local area (Wiltshire, Somerset, Dorset and Bath-Bristol) to Southern Map Distributors of Ilchester (phone 01935-842060: more details on the ‘About Us’ page of this website). I envisage that they will serve the local area for stocking and restocking on a regular basis, while Gardners will offer a nationwide next-day service for customer orders and more distant outlets. I plan to continue a vigorous mail order and internet trade, and will of course remain on hand to deal with the inevitable crises and urgent orders, as well as to keep in touch with all the friends I have made among the bookselling fraternity.

New Titles. One of the pleasures of small-scale publishing, and of typesetting in-house, is that one’s authors can be involved in the processes of designing their book. Val Knowles (Stanton St Bernard), Sue Robinson (Chitterne) and David Maclean (Donhead) have all spent hours sitting next to me at my computer as we ponder over layouts. Andrew Lawson, an old friend, is perhaps the doyen of Wessex archaeologists (he built up over many years as Director the enormously successful archaeological unit Wessex Archaeology – now one of the largest in the country). His book Chalkland: the archaeology of Stonehenge and its region, will be the most important academic title that Hobnob Press has published to date, and every page will have been discussed and experimented with on screen in my office. So although Hobnob Press has not actually published anything between January and May 2007, it has been a time of continuous and sometimes frenetic activity, which I hope will all bear fruit over the next few months.

Codford. Away from Hobnob Press (I do other things as well) I have been heavily involved in the Victoria County History’s lottery-funded project, England’s Past for Everyone. The first-fruit of this national endeavour has been a local history of the Wiltshire village, Codford, which (somewhat erroneously) has my name as author on the title page. It was launched in April, and is published by Phillimore (now part of Alan Sutton’s empire). It is intended as a prototype of how popular village histories could be researched and written by academic experts (not me), and will be followed by similar volumes in a dozen or so English counties. For me it has been a privilege to have been involved in the national local-history scene – which is emphatically not the contradiction it may seem.

December 2007

The 2007 output. Running late, as always, with most of this year’s titles appearing in November and early December, and one (Sarum Chronicle 7) delayed until the New Year. But looking back on this year’s crop I am delighted with the production quality achieved by my friends at Salisbury Printing (and Haynes, who have undertaken most of the binding). The four village histories this year – Stanton St Bernard, Chitterne, Winsley and the Donheads – have all turned out well, and are receiving accolades and warm appreciation from their respective communities. The two (very different) social histories, Forgotten Labour and Foot Loose, are receiving a great deal of interest, and our Sarum Studies series (see below) has made a great start with Richard Durman’s Milford. I am particularly pleased with the two new titles which involved the biggest input from me, in terms of typesetting and design (and self-diagnosed Repetitive Strain Injury in my right elbow). Andrew Lawson’s massive account of the archaeology of the Wessex chalklands is far more than another book about Stonehenge, and seems set to become a standard text for academics, students and general interest. I am very proud to have published it. The Wiltshire Cotswolds, by Ken Watts, is a thorough and very timely guide to a somewhat neglected area of the county, and we are all delighted with the way it has turned out – the page design was adapted from the Sarum Studies template. Like his other two ‘Exploring Historic Wiltshire’ volumes I am sure that this will become a steady seller for years.

Typefaces. Easily taken for granted by the casual reader, the choice of typeface can make or mar the appearance of a book. As my interest in this area has developed I have looked out for and noted attractive typefaces, and in some cases added them to my collection. For several years Scala was a favourite, and I have used it many times (I always state the typeface used alongside the other publishing details on the back of the title page). Last year I began to work with two others, and am very pleased with the result. Joanna is a serif font designed by Eric Gill (better known for his sanserif Gill Sans), with an unusual italic, and both Stanton St Bernard and Foot Loose employ it. I came across Octavian in the Penguin edition of Domesday Book. As well as being attractive and easy on the eye, its letter forms have a narrow set width which makes it very economical for a long text. It is particularly effective, I think, in Chalkland, which is set in justified two-columns, and also in the Wiltshire Cotswolds/ Sarum Studies design, where a generous inner margin accommodates captions and images of varying shapes and sizes.

Catalogues and Publicity. I decided against a commercially-printed catalogue this year, opting instead to buy a colour laser printer, and produce my own bespoke fliers and lists. More than a thousand sets of lists went out to my previous mail-order customers at the beginning of December, with good results, and in the New Year I shall produce fliers and publicity targeted at particular markets.

Sarum Studies. This is a spin-off from the annual Sarum Chronicle. The editorial team has agreed to help me with editing (and possibly in some cases writing) contributions to a series of small books about suburbs and villages in the ambit of what might be called ‘greater’ Salisbury’. Milford is first, and Harnham Mill second. We hope also to add Bemerton, Wyndham Park and Stratford sub Castle (with Old Sarum) before long. And there could well be others.

Publishing with Hobnob Press. Following discussions with Salisbury Printing and Dr Jane Howells (a Salisbury-based historian and editor – and member of the Sarum Chronicle team) I have prepared guidance notes for potential authors and societies wishing to have their work published by or in collaboration with Hobnob Press. If you would like a copy email me and I’ll attach it as a Word file to my reply. Part of the intention in doing this is to allow me more time to write my own books, as I have five or six writing projects on the go. In early 2008 I hope to complete Corsham and Box, in the ‘History around us’ series (uniform with Swindon decoded and Salisbury), and produce a sequel to The Day Returns, which will be called Reflections in a Pond. Michael Charlton has now completed and submitted all his exquisite illustrations for Salisbury and South-East Wiltshire, which I have been stuck halfway through writing for years. So that should spur me on. And there are others . . .

2008 taking shape. Too early to predict which of the many titles on Hobnob’s forthcoming list will appear in 2008, but front-runners are the delayed Sarum Chronicle 7, and a second in the Sarum Studies series, devoted to Harnham Mill, by Michael Cowan. We’re also planning a paperback edition of Little Imber on the Down, currently out of print as a hardback. I should like to reformat my Vale of Pewsey, also out of print (Ex Libris), as a volume in the ‘History around us’ series. And I keep toying with the idea of a Hobnob Classics series, to reprint important Wiltshire-related texts (Jefferies, Hudson, Street and Olivier are in my sights). I’d be interested to hear any comments and suggestions about this.

Hobnob Marketplace. I have grouped all the publications which I distribute and sell, but am not actually the publisher (such as Ex Libris Press, Wiltshire Record Society and Wiltshire Buildings Record), under this heading. As an experiment I have also taken small quantities of a number of titles privately produced by individuals or societies to sell on their behalf, and if this proves successful, may extend this facility.

Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre. This magnificent facility opened in Chippenham at the end of October, and accommodates the county’s archives, principal local studies library, and many other heritage-related services, such as archaeology, museums and buildings record. Congratulations to everyone involved. It also includes for sale the full range of Hobnob Press and Ex Libris Press Wiltshire titles. The address is Cocklebury Road, Chippenham SN15 3QN, and phone is 01249-705500. It is very close to Chippenham railway station.

Hobnob in the flesh. Hobnob Press is nothing to do with biscuits – it takes its name from the Salisbury medieval processional giant’s accomplice, the hobby-horse Hobnob. McVitie’s launched the biscuit in 1985 (according to Wikipedia), whereas the first Hobnob Press title (Endless Street) was published in 1983, so we hold priority. Salisbury & South Wilts Museum, where the original Giant and Hobnob reside, has just reissued its booklet about them (with help from Hobnob Press) if you are interested. While attending the local Tisbury Folk Festival this autumn I came face-to-face (or face-to-jaw) with a real-live Hobnob, performing with the White Horse Morris. And to my surprise, when divested of his costume, she turned out to be a lady, historian and educationalist Alison Dike. We exchanged details, and she will be guest of honour if Mr Hobnob (as many bookshops now refer to me) decides to hold a party.

February 2008

How Local? Local history publishing at the ‘macro’ scale has been in turmoil for the last few months, with the sad demise of the group of companies acquired by Alan Sutton early last year. Anyone interested in following the sorry tale should go to www.thebookseller.com and search on Alan Sutton, Tempus, NPI or similar, especially the strings of comments following news items. I had a number of books published by the Sutton companies in the 1980s and 1990s before setting out to publish myself, and I am pleased that all rights attached to them have now reverted to me. I was planning a collaboration on a new edition of two titles with one of the companies which has now gone. I have chosen not to work with its successor, The History Press, and now intend to produce a variation on the book myself. More news later in the year. Perhaps the lesson is – as some of the comments have pointed out – that local publishing is successful only when it remains local.

The Good News 1. Always nice to receive complimentary reviews, and the recent crop has been especially gratifying. Chalkland is British Archaeology’s Editor’s Choice for its February/March 2008 issue. After recounting the rash of recent books on Stonehenge, Mike Pitts, the Editor, comments that ‘. . . lovingly produced, Chalkland has no pretensions to racy adventure or groundbreaking ideas, but in its thoroughness and detail may have the longest shelf life of them all.’ And later: ‘It is a rather old fashioned approach, to quote the author, but one that makes the book of immense value for reference. It is good enough on stuff you know, to be trusted on stuff you don’t and a delight to use.’ Another accolade in the national arena for a book which Hobnob produced and distributes comes from Adam Nicolson in his new study, Earls of Paradise (Harper 2008). He describes Joe Bettey’s edition of Wiltshire Farming in the Seventeenth Century (Wilts Record Society vol. 57) as ‘a brilliant act of research and editorship’, and continues: ‘There is no more remarkable account of rural England on the cusp of the medieval and the modern.’

The Good News 2. At a more local level Hobnob books have also found favour. Foot Loose by Jane Holmes was described in the Salisbury Journal as a ‘magical diary of farm life’. The Blackmore Vale Magazine, in a long and thoughtful review of The Donheads past and present, concluded by describing the book as ‘a quite invaluable and most excellent contibution to the archive of life as it will never be lived again’. And the Wiltshire Local History Forum Newsletter, reviewing Sue Robinson’s Chitterne, comments: ‘The result is an excellent and informative book, clearly and engagingly written, that is a pleasure to read, and maintains the consistently high standard we have come to expect from John Chandler’s Hobnob Press.’ The reviewer ends by noting that cricket teams visiting Chitterne were always served with an excellent tea, thus ensuring their return as well as strong support for the home team. ‘Sue’s book is the literary equivalent of such spreads, for both locals and visitors.’