New Audiobook Launched
In March 2023, Tim Walker re-published his Thames Valley Tales as a second edition, and also published it as an audiobook. He hired actor Richard James to narrate and produce the nine stories in the audiobook; now available from Amazon Audible.
Thames Valley Tales is a light-hearted yet thought-provoking collection of nine stories by Tim Walker. These tales are based on the author's experience of living in Thames Valley towns, and combine contemporary themes with the rich history and legends associated with an area stretching from the heart of rural England to London.
The collection includes The Goldfish Bowl, in which an unlikely friendship is struck between a pop star and an arms dealer in Goring-on-Thames; Maidenhead Thicket, where the ghost of legendary highwayman, Dick Turpin surprises a Council surveyor; The White Horse intrigue surrounding the dating of the famous chalk carving on the Berkshire Downs; Murder at Henley Regatta, a beguiling whodunit, and The Colnbrook Caper, a pacey crime thriller. Thames Valley Tales starts with The Grey Lady, a ghost story from the English Civil War, and features The Merry Women of Windsor in a whimsical updating of Shakespeare's classic play. The Author’s Note explains the context and reasoning behind each story.
Thames Valley Tales oscillates from light-hearted to dark historical and at times humorous stories ideally suited to bedtime or holiday reading that will amuse, delight and, hopefully, inform the reader about the rich history of the Thames Valley as it winds 215 miles from the Gloucestershire countryside, past many towns and villages to London and out to the North Sea. The book also has a factual chapter and map of the Thames Valley showing the towns through which the 184-mile Thames Path passes. It’s a walk-through history and the natural beauty of England that will inspire and captivate.
Thames Valley Tales, second edition, is available in audiobook, Kindle e-book and paperback from Amazon worldwide, and can also be found on Kindle Unlimited.
Audiobook Narrator
Thames Valley Tales audiobook is narrated and produced by actor, author and playwright Richard James who has been appearing on stage and screen for over thirty years.
Most recently, he played a guest role in Miss Scarlet & The Duke for PBS and Alibi Films and was nominated for 'Best Supporting Performance' at the Off West End Awards for his roles in A Sherlock Carol at the Marylebone Theatre.
Richard is on Twitter as @RichardNJames
Author Bio:
Tim Walker is an independent author living near Windsor in the UK. He grew up in Liverpool where he began his working life as a trainee reporter on a local newspaper.
After graduating, Tim moved to London where he worked in the newspaper publishing industry for ten years before relocating to Zambia where, following a period of voluntary work with VSO, he set up his own marketing and publishing business. He returned to the UK in 2009.
His creative writing journey began in earnest in 2014, as a therapeutic activity whilst recovering from cancer treatment. He began writing an historical fiction series, A Light in the Dark Ages, inspired by a visit to the site of a former Roman town. The series connects the end of Roman Britain to elements of the Arthurian legend and is inspired by historical source material, presenting an imagined history of Britain in the fifth and early sixth centuries.
Book one is Abandoned (second edition 2018); followed by Ambrosius: Last of the Romans (2017) and Uther’s Destiny (2018). The last two books in the series, Arthur Dux Bellorum (2019) and Arthur Rex Brittonum (2020) cover the life of an imaged historical King Arthur, and are both Coffee Pot Book Club recommended reads.
In 2021 he published a dual timeline historical novel, Guardians at the Wall. This was inspired by visits to Vindolanda and Corbridge at Hadrian’s Wall, and concerns the efforts of archaeologists to uncover evidence and build a narrative of the life of a Roman centurion in second century Britannia… and find his missing payroll chest.
Tim has also written three books of short stories, Thames Valley Tales (second edition 2023), Postcards from London (2017) and Perverse (2020); a dystopian thriller, Devil Gate Dawn (2016); and three children’s books, co-authored with his daughter, Cathy – The Adventures of Charly Holmes (2017), Charly & the Superheroes (2018) and Charly in Space (2020).
He plans to re-work some stories in Postcards from London into London Tales, with the addition of new stories, for publication in 2024 in audiobook, Kindle and paperback.
Connect with Tim Walker:
Extract:
In The Colnbrook Caper, low paid temp, Andy, is contemplating a daring theft from his Travel Cash employers. On the night before his caper, he visits his local pub to mull over his plans…
Andy decided to ease his rising anxiety with a pint at his local pub, The Ostrich in Colnbrook High Street. It was quiet on this mid-week night, and the friendly publican, Steve, was happy for someone to chat to. He picked up a booklet on the history of the area, and Steve drew his attention to the chapter on this very pub.
“This pub has a long history, dating back to medieval times when it was a hospice for the sick of the parish,” Steve explained. “It was known as the ‘Ospice, which gave way to the ‘Osbridge Inn’ when it became a popular resting place for travellers going to and from London. The road outside, Colnbrook High Street, is actually a part of the old Roman Road, now the A4, that runs due west to Bath. Travellers have been passing this way for close to two thousand years. Some years later the name was further corrupted to ‘The Ostrich Inn’.”
Andy, happy for the distraction, sipped his pint of beer and skimmed over the section on the pub. He stopped at the mention of the word ‘murder’.
“What’s this about murder? Does the old inn have a dark past?”
Steve brightened up: “Oh yes! This place gained an infamous reputation. During the eighteenth century, when highwaymen roamed the road from here to Reading, this was a popular stopping point for weary travellers on horseback. The landlord was a man called Jarman, and he made a good living with his wife providing a room and a hot meal for the night. They had also earned a reputation for their delicious pork pies.
“One evening, a merchant from Reading arrived, one Thomas Cole, and he handed over his pouch of coins to the landlady for safekeeping, as was the way. He was given the best and warmest room – the one above the kitchen, and tucked into his dinner of pies and ale. That night the evil and conniving couple carried out their plan. They prepared a large vat of boiling oil and then crept upstairs to see if their guest was sleeping.
“Satisfied that he was in a deep sleep, they tipped up the bed, and his body slid through an open hatch in the floor, right into the vat of boiling oil. The poor merchant was killed in an instant. They then removed his body, quartered it and cooked it in an oven, ready to be mixed with other ingredients for their delicious pork pies!”
“How ghastly!” Andy said. “To think such a horrific murder was committed here, not far from where I’m sitting.”
“Well, the local sheriff was alerted when the dead man’s horse escaped from the stable and made its way home, and an investigation into his disappearance took place. Other travellers had also mysteriously disappeared, and Jarman, fearing his discovery, fled into the Windsor woods. He was tracked down by the sheriff’s men and confessed to as many as twenty such murders of travellers with his wife, who cooked and served them up in their famously tasty pork pies!”
Andy was suitably impressed with this gruesome story: “I’ll have another pint, but I think I’ll pass on the bar food!” They both laughed and he was grateful to have his mind taken off his predicament. Was this a cautionary tale that criminals eventually get caught?
“Jarman would be given a knighthood by today’s lot for his ingenious money-making scheme. Well, goodnight.” Andy trudged back to his lodgings, imagining a wart-faced fat man and his equally corpulent wife counting their ill-gotten gains at the kitchen table. Would he be no different if he stole from his employer? He decided to sleep on it, but knew if he went ahead, there was no going back. Success or prison. He would have to make sure it was the perfect crime – and a one-off – never to be repeated.
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