Merton Priory Press
an independent publisher
of academic and mid-market history
including new titles and reprints
9 OWEN FALLS AVENUE :: CHESTERFIELD :: S41 0FR :: Tel: +44(0)1246 554026
Email: mertonpriory@btinternet.com
Shoestring Warrior
by Lynda Franklin
Things were looking bad for Lynda Franklin and her partner. They were being sued for a large amount of money and faced total ruin, they had two offices they couldn't afford to run and two houses to sell, no transport and no money. Then Lynda saw an advert for a dilapidated house with 42 acres of land for sale in deepest Devon.
Shoestring Warrior is the story of two and a half years in heaven and hell as Lynda and Joe fought famine, floods, green fields and grey suits to save a centuries-old farmhouse from death by human hand. Living down a muddy track in a caravan bought for £450, they had water from a stream, a portaloo and no electricity.
It never stopped raining but they learned to float. Well below the poverty line, they still had feasts during the famine. Best of all, they were surrounded by nature's green, the calm grassland playing host to rich flora and fauna, including a pair of breeding barn owls nestling between the ancient thatched roof and its rusty corrugated iron hat. With her back against the wall, the more the grey suits threatened and obstructed, the more Lynda's warrior instincts came to the fore. She stuck to her guns and refused to give up. Now she hopes that this honest, revealing and heart-warming book, illustrated with striking colour photos of the cottage and its surroundings, will inspire others to do the same.
Essential reading for anyone who has ever thought of restoring a run-down country cottage or who cares about the future of rural England.
