CUMBRIAN PUBLISHER
HANDSTAND
PRESS
Welcome to Handstand Press, a small-press publisher celebrating the culture and landscape of Cumbria.
About Us
Handstand Press was founded in Ulverston in 2005. We have published one or two titles each year on subjects ranging from Cumbria’s industrial past to its famous country houses and towns; from memoirs to poetry and children’s fiction.
There is something on our list to satisfy anyone interested in discovering more about Cumbria’s unique culture, history and landscape. We go to a lot of trouble to produce books of a high standard that you will want to keep and continually refer to for interest and enjoyment. Handstand Press books make excellent gifts.
Handstand Press & The Lakeland Book of the Year
Handstand Press has been the proud winner of a Lakeland Book of the Year award and been long-listed on a number of occasions.
- 2019: This Place I Know – A New Anthology of Cumbrian Poetry. Runner up, Lakeland Book of the Year and winner of the Bookends Prize for Poetry and Literature.
- 2017: Ulverston – An English Market Town Through History, by Helen Shacklady was long-listed for the Lakeland Book of the Year Award.
- 2013: The Paradise of Furness, The Story of Conishead Priory and Its People by Sarah Holmes was long-listed for the Lakeland Book of the Year Award
- 2007: June Whitehead was a runner-up in the Lakeland Book of the Year Awards with Lost Children: the Ulverston Workhouse in the 19th Century.
Our Catalogue of Cumbrian Books
To purchase any of the books on our site contact Handstand Press directly via the email link below.
Or, if you prefer, you can order from your local bookshop or online booksellers worldwide.
The Language of the Landscape
‘An engaging and inspiring journey through a Cumbria valley in time and space, with insights that reach far beyond’. Diana Whaley.
Author of A Dictionary of Place Names.
This Place I Know
An anthology of contemporary poetry from Cumbria’s finest poets. Winner of the Bookends Prize for Poetry and Literature and runner-up of the Lakeland Book of the Year. 2019.
The Drover’s Boy
An adventure story for 9 years and up, set in the days of goose driving when up to 1000 geese were herded to market from Silloth to Carlisle.
The Ghost Show
The sequel to The Drover’s Boy in which Henry Hodgkin, the book’s hero, joins a travelling fairground and finds himself in trouble.
Cumbria Quiz Book Vol I
A best-seller since its publication in 2013. 300 questions on subjects ranging from Cumbrian Dialect to Famous Folk.
Cumbria Quiz Book Vol II
More questions and fascinating facts to satisfy the Cumbrian quiz lover. Ranging from famous Cumbrians to Lake District filming locations.
History of Ulverston
The story of a small English town told again a backdrop of events in British history written with affection for a town with an identity all its own.
Lost Children
An account of the Ulverston Workhouse in the 19th Century, complete with a register of workhouse apprentices 1863-1879.
Lakeland Bobbin Makers
A first-hand account of bobbin-making in the Lake District in the last century. A vivid portrayal of a busy bobbin mill in its heyday.
If you are looking for any of our older selection of publications please get in touch.
We still have copies of some and can point you in the right direction to obtain copies we don’t hold in stock.
You can find out more about our authors on the NEWS page