ABOUT Alan Adamthwaite, creator of The Jacqal Press
Alan Adamthwaite was born in the small coal mining town of Crook, County Durham on February 25th 1947. His parents realized that there was little future in the north-eastern mining industry and before starvation came knocking on the door, moved to the more wealthy mining area of North Staffordshire.
A grammar school education at Leek High School meant that Alan did not have to go against his dad’s wishes: George Adamthwaite constantly told his son to get stuck in at school – ‘You’re not going down the pit, son – you’re too clever for that’ - and with a good education behind him, he finished his schooling with decent job prospects.
After a couple of clerical jobs in local firms, Alan became a Local Government Officer and after spells at Newcastle-under-Lyme and North Wales, he moved back to the Midlands where he met and married Jacqueline, his wife and constant companion for the past 33 years.
At the beginning of the 1990s, the demands and pressure of his work resulted in Alan suffering major health problems and at the relatively early age of forty-six, he had to give up his work. ‘It took me ten minutes to get used to it!’ says Alan.
Without the devoted help of Jacqueline it is unlikely that Alan would be in the relatively good health that he is in now. It was Jacqueline, ably and abetted by grand-daughter Fuchsia, who was endlessly supportive when Alan started writing. That support continued when he began painting in water colours and oils to such a standard that people began to buy his work.
Now, with a published work behind him, Alan is on the book trail again with ‘Never Again’, the biography of the mercurial amateur footballer, Bob Hardisty, who after a brilliant career in football – he could have played for any professional club in the country if he had wanted to – died in rather unfortunate circumstances.
As well as the new book, Alan is having his paintings exhibited at Bishop Auckland Town Hall from Monday April 26th 2010 until Saturday May 15th, when examples of his work will be on sale to the public.