Following the success of the book published in 2001 to mark the Bedale 750 celebrations, a new book about Bedale and its people through the ages is to be published.

It was our original intention to make the book available for Xmas 2005 but we are unfortunately unable to achieve this. We have been deluged with so much nice material we are unable to meet the original deadline.

Our original idea was for a book of 75 pages and retailing at £9.99. We now expect the book to be 130 pages and retailing at £14.99.

This finished book will be full of picture postcards from the late 1800's early 1900's, family stories, humorous stories, a detailed analysis of how businesses prospered and grew in the Market Place, plus many other articles. We are sure it will be well worth the wait. The book is being printed on a Limited print run of 1000.

All funds raised from the sales of the book are to be distributed to local organistaions, charities and good causes.

The book is mainly about Bedale but will also include sections on Aiskew and Leeming Bar also.

We hope to have more than enough postcards of Bedale but are looking for any other material or content on local people to mention in the book. Have you any family history, information, photos, or anecdotes you would like to share?

Open meetings held at Bedale Bowling Club in April and July 2005 turned up some interesting material.

Among people who contributed was Paul Megson, whose family have lived in Bedale since the early 1800s, he brought in material such as photos, postcards and his family history.

 
As well as people bringing in their own material, the organisers also held a small display, which included class photos from the old National School from the 1940s until the mid-1950s. Bedale resident George Bushby, a former pupil, was able to help identify most of the people on the photos.

Since the meeting, people have still been contributing material and the organisers are still looking for nice material to include in the book.

If you have anything you wish to share please contact Mike Scanlan on 01677 426262 during office hours, call in to Scanlan Insurance in the Market Place or email mike@bedale.com.

Should anyone want to pre order their copy you can do so by entering your email contact details in the box below. Once we have a release date for the book we will contact you with details of how to order the book.

We do hope you will persevere a bit longer with us.