Peter pens first book on 'Boggarts in Burnley'

Retired miner and delivery driver Mr Peter Booth (62) has penned two books during lockdown after being inspired by poker partner, friend and prolific Burnley author John Cowell.

Peter, of Fenwick Street, said he always believed he had a book in him and lockdown provided the perfect opportunity to put pen to paper - with the result being "Boggarts in Burnley", a part fact and fiction tale of his grandfather John Leaver, a tenant farmer from Worsthorne, and his battle against the evil Lancastrian 'dwarfs'.

Peter said: "My good friend John Cowell said that as I was isolated due to Covid-19, I should write a book as he has done. I am retired now due to having lymphoma cancer and Type 2 diabetes. So I did, and 'Boggarts in Burnley' was born.

"It is the story of a family on the run, through three generations they ran from the fearsome and nasty leader of the Boggarts – Owd Hob was his name and the bane of our family. He leads the Boggarts through fear and vengeance, he is a cold and vicious killer and will stop at nothing to get to the people that cross him, and when he does, shows mercy to none.

"Jack Leaver was a simple tenant farmer, up on the tops of Burnley near Blackshaw Head and Widdop. He wasn't anything special but he was a good man and father. One day he almost killed a Boggart he found on his property who was threatening him, and from that day on our family was pursued by the worst Boggart of all known to man, Owd Hob."

Peter's second book, yet to be titled, is a family history and he says he is in the process of writing a further two.

Boggarts in Burnley is available on Amazon.