New release: GOOLE, A PICTORIAL HISTORY, VOL. 4 by Susan Butler.
Now available from local shops and to order online.

Keep up with local history news and information in the area on my blog - East Yorkshire History

Goole, a pictorial history Vol. 1

By Susan Butler

Paperback, ISBN 1 900503 00 X. Published 1995.

Cover illustration: 'The Middle Lock, Goole, February 1862' from Views of Goole and Neighbourhood

Goole is a tightly-knit community and many of its present-day inhabitants are descended from families who have lived in the town since the early days of the nineteenth century.

This book tells the story of their Goole - its people and its buildings - by using photographs and memories.

It is the first volume of a series and so concentrates on the time up to the First World War. There are pictures of early Aire Street and Boothferry Road shops; of Goole's first rugby club and Goole Town juniors; of geese grazing in Victoria Street; of sailing ships in the docks, and of the Cape of Good Hope.

Find out why the Riot Act was once read in Goole, what it was like to have your ears pierced in the Theatre Royal and who Montagu Street and Dunhill Road were named after.

You will see, too, a picture of Goole's first doctor, who sailed on a whaling ship before coming to Goole and fighting one of the most severe cholera epidemics in Yorkshire, of Old Goole's first Post Office, and of the fire which destroyed the town's original market hall.

But above all this book will bring back memories - of the Balloon Yeast shop in Aire Street; of Hopleys', Hackforths', Shorts' and Glews'; of the Empress and the Equity and of gathering bluebells in Cobblers' Wood.

Unfortunately this book is currently out of print.

Goole, a pictorial history Vol. 2

By Susan Butler

Paperback, ISBN 1 900503 00 1. Published 1996.

Cover illustration: Goole tug no.3 of the Goole and Hull Steam Towing Company. She was built in 1899 at South Shields and was 75 feet long and 56 tons.

There are not many families in Goole who have not had some connection with the docks, the shipping companies and the waterways. When a Goole ship was lost the whole town mourned.

This second volume of Goole, a pictorial history tells the story of the change from sail to steam. It tells of the rise of the Goole Steam Shipping Company, of Bennetts' Red Cross Line, of the Goole captains and their adventures. There are photographs of many of the ships and of the docks.

But this is not just a book about ships. It concentrates on the time up to the First World War when the coal trade was flourishing and Goole was prosperous. There are pictures of Boothferry Road, of Pasture Road, of Bridge Street and of Greenawn Corner.

It was a time of chapel and church building and there are the stories of Carlisle Terrace, of the United Free Methodists and of St. Paul's.

And there are the people: the schoolchildren, the football teams and the characters of those years such as Goole's grand old man, Benjamin Andrews and C.J. Forth, first headmaster of the Grammar School.

Do you remember Branson Bowles, Crappers and Shipleys' post office - they are all here.

And did you know that 450 Goole men were killed in the First World War? Their names are listed in this book.

Unfortunately this book is currently out of print.

A few copies are still available for purchase at a cost of £7.00, plus £2.50 p&p - please contact me for more details.

Goole, a pictorial history Vol. 3

By Susan Butler

Paperback, ISBN 1 900503 00 2. Published 1997.

Cover illustration: Market place and the clock tower on a wet afternoon in the 1930s.

This third volume of Goole's history covers the time between the two world wars. Beginning with the dedication of the town's war memorial, the book looks at the celebration of the centenary in 1926 and the visit of Prince George in 1933.

It also describes the three terrible tragedies that hit the town with the losses of the Goole ships - the Merville, the Calder and the Broomfleet.

But a large part of the book is about memories - of life on the docks and life in the kitchen - as well as memories of the shops and the people in the twenties and thirties.

Do you remember Hackforth's and the Bon Marche, Scutt's tripe stall and Icecream Mary? What about Ted Newell's band, the old Steam Packet and the Mariners' Street recreation ground? Or were you in the Goole Town team which won the West Riding County Cup in April 1930?

This is a book about Goole people; their tragedies, their celebrations and their everyday life.

Unfortunately this book is currently out of print.

A few copies are still available for purchase at a cost of £7.00, plus £2.50 p&p - please contact me for more details.