Tag Archives: history

In which the author announces the publication of The Little Book in Glasgow…

 

My next publication, The Little Book of Glasgow, officially hits the shops on 21st November. It is basically ‘1000 things you didn’t know about Glasgow’ – a mix of trivia, facts, bizarre historical titbits, artistic achievements, and peculiarities of animal and human behaviour.

 

If you do know Glasgow, I hope it will shine a light on areas that were previously in shadow; and if you are new to the city, welcome to its leftfield wonders.

 

The book is divided up into nine chapters:

 

Places – Here and Now, Then and There

The River Clyde and other Waterways

Wars, Battles and Riots

Crime and Punishment

Transports of Delight – From Trains to Trams, and from Stagecoaches to Seaplanes

Food and Drink

City of Culture

Sports and Games

The Natural World

 

The book will tell you where to find sculptures of a Native American chief and an Egyptian pharaoh; which Glasgow-set film was actually filmed in London; how many pairs of shoes were fleeced from the city’s textile manufacturers by Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Jacobites; the story of how chicken tikka masala was invented in the city; and how Glasgow saved Britain in World War II.

 

There’s also oodles of stuff on everything from Glaswegian poets and authors of graphic novels to the tiger escape at Glasgow Zoo, the speed of 18th-century stagecoaches, and an investigation into deep-fried Mars Bars.

 

My favourite episode comes from the 1960s. A porpoise was discovered in a forgotten sack in the gents toilet at Central Station. It was never claimed and its skeleton is in the Kelvingrove Museum. Please, no jokes along the lines of “I’ve lost my porpoise in life.”

In which the author looks in on ‘Poltergeist Manor’…

The other day I attended a talk by the fine author Lorn Macintrye, who had many interesting things to say about his family background of second sight in Argyll and Mull, and his own dealings with people involved in the paranormal, such as the Scottish medium Albert Best.

 

My main focus of interest, however, was Lorn’s investigations into Pitmilly House, which he dubbed ‘Poltergeist Manor’. The house in East Fife was demolished decades ago, but I’ve been pursuing its supernatural history for my forthcoming book Haunted St Andrews and District, so getting hold of a copy of Lorn’s booklet on the subject was a bonus.

 

Now here is the key question: does anyone reading this have a family tradition of a connection with Pitmilly? Perhaps you have a relative who visited the house, or worked there? If so, I would be delighted to hear from you – especially if the memories are from the 1930s or 1940s, as this was the period when the poltergeist was reportedly active.

 

You can get in touch via the contact form here.

**CANCELLED** – ‘Paranormal Glasgow’ Talk and Signing

Wednesday 19th October 2011

 

7.00pm, The Ladywell, 
268-270 High Street,
 Merchant City,
 Glasgow
 G4 0QT. Tickets £7 – limited numbers available, so please call 0141 552 7810 in advance to reserve your ticket.

In this intimate setting (see www.theladywell.com) I will be giving an extensive talk on the topics covered in Paranormal Glasgow:

 

 

 

    • Witchcraft in Glasgow, including the Witches of Pollok, and the Possessed Children of Bargarran and Govan
    • Miraculous Fasts, Emissaries from Hell and Murderous Doppelgangers
    • Spontaneous cases of Precognition, Crisis Visitations and Clairvoyance
    • Big Cats and Anomalous Racoons
    • Hunting The Vampire With Iron Teeth

 

Following the talk there will be time for questions. Copies of all of my books will be available for sale and signing.

In which the author picks up a spiffing Loch Ness review on Amazon…

 

Yes it’s immodesty time today. One of my correspondents from the USA recently posted the following 5-star review of The Guide to Mysterious Loch Ness and the Inverness Area on Amazon, and as it is exactly what I’m seeking to achieve when connecting with an audience, I thought I’d reproduce it here.

 

My thanks to Jeromy Van Paassen.

 

The most comprehensive book on Loch Ness folklore, 6 Sep 2011

By Jeromy Van Paassen

 

This review is from: The Guide to Mysterious Loch Ness and the Inverness Area (Mysterious Scotland) (Paperback)

 

I purchased The Guide to Mysterious Loch Ness and the Inverness Area while my wife and I were visiting Urquhart Castle and I was immediately amazed at the density of the material inside this fantastic book. I have a degree in Anthropology and am deeply interested in both archaeology and folklore and I was very pleased with Geoff Holder’s excellent research and scholarship. When I was a boy I used to frequent my local library, always looking for a book on the strange and unusual. Naturally at that age I was interested in the Loch Ness Monster and came across a book that discussed so much more than the monster. I was introduced to the world of ghosts, fairies, ancient sites, etc. The moment I lifted Holder’s book off the shelf I was filled with nostalgia for that long forgotten book from my childhood, as it too discusses so much more than just the monster. I could not put this book down and have read it cover to cover at least four times. I am planning on purchasing as many of Holder’s books as I can.

 

See http://www.amazon.co.uk/Guide-Mysterious-Loch-Inverness-Scotland/dp/0752444859

In which the author appears on the ‘History & Mystery Show’ on RedShift Radio…

On Tuesday 30th August I’ll be the feature guest on the ‘History & Mystery Show’, a weekly broadcast from the online community radio station RedShift Radio, based in Crewe. My interrogator will be the estimable ghost tour guide Mr. Tim Prevett. The show goes out from 10-11pm on Red Shift Radio and can be heard for the following six weeks on the station’s Listen Again facility – only without the music. Yes, I get to choose some of the tracks played during the show, so expect classic clattery-ah post-punk-ah from Manchester-ah, beautiful driving Krautrock, and bonkers Italian film soundtrack horror-prog. Yay!

 

As for the topics, Tim will be quizzing me on the Vampire with Iron Teeth and other stories covered in Paranormal Glasgow. Be prepared for urban legends, crypto-Communists, monster-hunts, Spring-Heeled Jack and city hobgoblins.

In which the author gets a grand review from veteran Fortean Lionel Fanthorpe…

 

Back in the day, I enjoyed many a talk (at Fortean Times UnConventions and elsewhere) by the Rev. Lionel Fanthorpe, the President of ASSAP (Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena) and the former President of BUFORA (British UFO Research Association). Among his 250(!) books, many written in conjunction with his wife Patricia, my favourite is an in-depth study of that enduring Fortean enigma, the Oak Island Mystery.

Just recently, Lionel and Patricia kindly got in touch with a splendid review of The Jacobites and the Supernatural. Here it is, reproduced with permission:

Review of The Jacobites and the Supernatural

 

By Lionel Fanthorpe

Geoff Holder already enjoys an excellent reputation as an author specialising in history and mystery – and The Jacobites and the Supernatural enhances that reputation yet further. What he has done in this highly readable and informative book is to take the reader through the period from 1689 to 1745 and the grim battles of Culloden, Sheriffmuir and others. He has also brought the Jacobite period vividly to life again with accounts of witchcraft, talismans, sorcery, psychic phenomena and portents: all of which coloured Jacobite society.

 

Geoff takes the reader to fascinating sites and locations including Lord Pitsligo’s ruined castle at Rosehearty, Blair Castle, Loch Rannoch, Dunkeld and Eilean Donan Castle. He introduces the reader to many larger than life characters of the Jacobite period: James II, Louis XIV, Viscount Dundee, Duncan Forbes and the beautiful Mary of Modena. All this relevant and worthwhile historical and geographical material provides an ideal background for the accounts of the anomalous and paranormal events which make the book so interesting.