Valley Writers ...
Valley Writers take their name from the Deerness Valley just west of Durham City. They are a group mixed in age and experience, but with one purpose in common: to write to the best of their ability, to have fun doing so and to encourage others to do the same and thus show that writing is not an elitist pastime. They have five books to their collective name, Write up your Valley (now out of print), Monks, Miners and Moonshine, Laying Ghosts, A Shull Full of Coal and Milly.
This website tells you a bit more about the group and their publications, and lets you read extracts — just click on any of the covers in the right margin, or preferably all of them! Clicking the small logo at the top of the right-hand column will always bring you back to this page.
Current projects
2007 has seen the completion of two books written by members of the group:
Milly, by Tina O'Neill, is a children's book. We are progressively adding chapters to this site, so far you can read chapter 1, Moving Day, chapter 2, New Friends, and chapter 3, Old Enemies.
A Shull Full of Coal, by Ron Gray, charts his life. The first chapter, Colliery Playground, has memories of a childhood in the 1940s, and you may read part 1 and part 2. We also have Taking a Ride and Death Valley.
Earlier projects
Valley Writers have been involved in a number of community-based projects before and published a number of books.
After receiving a £2,500 grant from the National Lottery, Awards For All, the Valley Writers researched “The Life and Times of St John Boste” in a project taking a year and wrote stories, poems and playlets based on it. They have taken some of their work to local Primary Schools and encouraged the children not only to act out the plays but to write some stories themselves or to do some paintings or story boards inspired by the story of St John Boste. This project culminated in staged an exhibition with a difference on 22nd July 2006 in the Newhouse Parish Centre in Esh Winning.
It is 2016 and Class Six is in its last year at Netherfield School. To help assess their future education path, the pupils have been given an exercise in historical research. This concentrates on the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease, which ravaged Britain in 2001. In the course of their studies, the children learn many things — some good, some bad, some expected, some surprising. Most of all they learn a lot about themselves. Read on...
Laying Ghosts costs £4.95 plus 95p postage and packing (total £5.90).
Special offer: buy Monks, Miners and Moonshine as well as Laying Ghosts for £10.90, which means we pay the postage!
To purchase: send your cheque for the appropriate amount (£5.90 or £10.90) payable to Valley Writers, to 7 Hamilton Row, Waterhouses, County Durham, DH7 9AU.
These prices apply to UK sales only:
for details of worldwide prices.
Valley Writers meet on alternate Monday nights at 5.30 p.m. - 7 p.m. in Esh Winning Library. To contact please phone 0191 373 3089 or write to
Last update: 4th September 2006
