When I was a lad I lived in a council house in Conisbrough, an industrial township in the West Riding of Yorkshire. There was nothing special about the house – except the view, because right across the valley was one of the best-preserved castles in Yorkshire. It inspired me, at ten years old, to write a book about the castle, but not knowing much about history or archaeology, I ended up copying out Thompson's guidebook (1959) with a few changes and additions. It was not until 2014 that I wrote my first novel about Conisbrough Castle, The Abduction of Lady Alice. This was followed by two more books, Crusader and The Poet and the Castle. Along the way, I wrote two articles for Yorkshire History magazine, several poems, some short stories and a novella, Allan-a-Dale and Adela. Most of those stories and poems ended with a Historical Note, which was basically a summary of the research I had done. Those historical notes are collected here, along with some photographs and extracts from the texts. The result is an alternative history of Conisbrough Castle from an author's perspective.
