Hawksmoor

In the year 1811, Hawksmoor is a growing town surrounded by all the splendour of the northern moorland. This is the dramatic story of the people who helped it grow. The Hardcastles are the wealthy mill-owners – the landed gentry who rule the town with an iron hand. The Scotts belong to the poor but indomitable class of men and women who labour in the factories and scrape a living from their small plots of land. In rivalry and co-operation, love and ambition, their lives touch – yet remain separate. As always, new ideas clash with the ancient values. ‘‘Hawksmoor’ is the fictional name for the industrial Yorkshire town of Huddersfield where I grew up,’ says the author Aileen Armitage. ‘I was captivated by its history and the curious fact that the town was owned by one family right up until the 1920’s. My dad used to tell me tales as we walked on the surrounding moors about our family’s climb from rags to riches and their subsequent decline. Can I help it if my passion for the West Riding and its history shows a story of love and hatred, tragedy and triumph?’ Hawksmoor is a magnificent epic set in Yorkshire during the hardship and excitement of the Industrial Revolution. It spans more than fifty years of England’s most turbulent history and its pages are filled with staunch North Country spirit of the time.