THE AUTHOR of the city’s four top-selling local histories will be signing copies of his books at the Tourist Information Centre this Saturday.
Bob Blandford – aka Bob Backenforth, the nom-de-pub first used for an occasionally notorious local pub guide he started in 1981 – has topped the local Christmas best-seller lists for the past four years in a row.
The latest addition, ‘Bob Backenforth’s Worcester Pubs Then and Now – Vol III’ is on course to rival the three-week break-even date clocked-up by the first volume, published in 2013.
In addition to the three Worcester pubs books, copies of last year’s release ‘The Spike’ telling the sometimes shocking tale of Worcester City Police during the Victorian years, and the two-volume limited-edition boxed set ‘Victoria’s Worcester. The People. The Press. The pubs’ will also be available.
TIC manager Ruth Smith said despite covering Worcester’s complete social and anti-social histories, the books appeal both to locals and to tourists alike.
“Advance orders for the books has never been higher. Just a week after the latest launch we already had to re-order, and a high number of buyers have either putoff buying so as to get their books signed, while others are planning to return to get theirs personalised.
“A similar event for ‘The Spike’ last year meant that we ended-up re-ordering several times!”
For ex-journalist and former newspaper editor Bob, the past four years have been hectic – resulting in four books and a fifth as yet unpublished, two thousand lavishly-illustrated pages, and more than one million words.
Bob will be at the Guildhall-based TIC between 11am and 2pm this Saturday.
