Mervyn Whale

I was born in Somerset, but spent most of my life in West Yorkshire.
In late 2004, my American wife and I decided to move to Norfolk. We married in 1976.

After an injury, my father became an unemployed gardener for Eleven years, until younger men were taken into the armed forces. Most of that time, we lived in poverty, in a small hamlet a mile away from all the villages.

A nervous breakdown kept me off school a year, after which I passed a scholarship for the Grammar School. Later, further problems made me leave without any qualifications to go to agriculture and regain my health. I spent twenty-five years in farming and twenty-five in private gardening.

I always loved nature, especially birds, and still do.

My hobby of oil painting landscapes resulted in a reasonable number of sales. Writing rhyming poetry and small non-fiction booklets was also successful, and now I am testing my luck with the longer stories.

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The Boy From Harker's Bridge
by Mervyn Whale

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-84944-066-0
Paperback RRP: £9.99

UKBookland Price : £7.99 including FREE Standard UK Delivery - available here.

In a small hamlet George Briggs is the elder son of an unemployed plumber. Like others in this West Yorkshire valley they suffer severe poverty, later added to by strict wartime rationing. George passes a scholarship for the Grammar School, and walks to the train with the daughter of the mill owner. He shares with her his love of birds and all nature, and they become friends. We see neighbourly life in the small community, and those not so friendly. George goes on to university and becomes an expert linguist. Exempted from the forces, he is later called up to help rebuild W. Germany. Separation does not kill the affection of the young people, and we see George go from the poverty to success, prosperity and happiness.