Hunter Davies

Hunter Davies, renowned journalist and biographer, decided to write his memoirs after forty years of asking other people lots of questions. He has met and worked with many prominent politicians, sportsman, artists and musicians, including The Beatles, throughout his career.

Driven by his own passion for collecting Hunter Davies sets off in search of Britain's maddest museums. As he explores these hidden gems he soon discovers that they celebrate just about everything, from lawnmowers in Southport to pencils in Keswick. These eccentric collectors are Britain's finest and could live in no other country in the world.

The Carr's biscuit factory that towered over Carlisle might look like just another slice of the industrial North, but for the biscuit girls, it was a place where they worked hard but also where they gossiped, got into scrapes and made lifelong friends. Outside the factory walls, there might be difficult husbands or demanding kids, but they knew there would always be an escape from their troubles at Carr's.

In his memoir of growing up in post-war North of England, Hunter Davies captures the dreariness of life amid the immense damage wrought by the Second World War. He recalls the struggle to make ends meet on rationing, when chocolate was scarce, and bananas a pipe dream!

A thirst for teenage thrills takes Flossie back to the room of wonders, but has the coat retained its fabulous secret? The shape-shifting heroine of Flossie Teacake’s Fur Coat returns, bored, envious, and itchy for instant adolescence. Join the fun, as two wicked boys, one nosy neighbour, and an all-night concert smash the teenage dream, and unravel a world of incredible possibilities…

In 2016 Hunter Davies' wife, the writer Margaret Foster, died and in the days that followed, Hunter was forced to navigate the implications of being widowed. Revealing his emotional journey over the course of one year, he talks about being alone again after 55 years of marriage, coping with bereavement and being elderly. Part memoir, part self-help, this is a fitting, heartfelt tribute to the love of his life and an amusing and informative book about growing old.

The eight hundred acres of Hampstead Heath lie just four miles from central London; and yet unlike the manicured inner-city parks, it feels like the countryside: it has hills and lakes, wild spots and tame spots. Hunter Davies has lived within a stone's throw of Hampstead Heath for more than sixty years and has walked on it nearly every day of his London life. For him, it is not just a place of recreation and relaxation but also a treasure-house of memories and emotions.

In The Heath, he visits all parts of this, the largest area of common land in Britain's capital city: from Kenwood House to the Vale of Health, from Parliament Hill to Boudicca's Mound, and from the Ladies Bathing Pond to the fabulous pergola. As he walks, Davies talks to the diverse array of individuals who frequent the Heath: regulars; visitors; dog walkers; stall holders at the weekly farmer's market; famous faces having their morning stroll; twenty-first-century hippies spreading peace, love and happiness.

In London Parks, Hunter Davies illustrates their wonders by spending a year walking round his favourite parks. From his local haunt on Hampstead Heath to the capital's latest wonder, the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, each one is chosen for its unique appeal. Informative and entertaining, he details their history, describes their layout and reveals hidden delights and new attractions that might otherwise be missed, such as the statue of a small brown dog in Battersea Park, a garden full of exotic plants and palm trees in south London's Burgess Park or, for something completely unique, Ian Dury's musical memorial bench in Richmond Park.

Fun, thought-provoking and uplifting, London Parks is an essential companion for anyone wishing to explore the ever-green beauty of Britain's capital city, whether it's spotting pelicans and politicians in St James's Park, the birds in the London Wetland Centre or the views from Greenwich Park.

The author reveals the complex, witty and generous man known to all true walkers for his Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells.

More than any other poet, Wordworth was his own biographer, and told his story through his verse. This work on the poet's entire life and times, first published in 1980, remains the only full-length popular biography. It draws upon the letters and diaries of Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy, and of their contemporaries Coleridge and Southey. Hunter Davies also draws upon his own knowledge of the Lake District, which featured so strongly in Wordsworth life, to present a complete portrait of England's best known poet.

Hunter Davies shares his colourful memories of living in London during the height of the Swinging Sixties. This is an enjoyable memoir of what it was like to be at the epicentre of Britain’s artistic heart and an emotional tribute to family and friends.