A Booktown is Born

[Madhatter]

On September the 5th the business 'Atherstone Booktown Ltd' was officially dissolved marking the official start of Atherstone Booktown and freedom from the Booktown man, James Hanna.
Hanna who closed his 'Atherstone Bookshop' back at the beginning of June and handed it over to the 'Atherstone Heritage Centre' who are currently stocking it with books to provide funds for the running of the heritage centre. This was due to James Hanna requiring a hip operation.

Atherstone Herald story follows...

MYSTERY TALE OF BOOK MAN


10:30 - 07 September 2006

Lindsey Smith

News Reporter

THE founder of Atherstone Booktown has left the country amid claims book sellers have paid him thousands of pounds for services he failed to provide.

But traders who claim they've been let down by James Hanna say they're optimistic that life in the book trade in Atherstone will actually get better now the man they say 'promised the earth and never delivered it' is off the scene.

Mr Hanna was last heard from at 6.22pm on Bank Holiday Monday (August 28) when he sent an email to Peter Playdon, owner of Throckmorton's Bookshop in the Market Square.

Hi Pete. Not a good way to say this so I'll make it quick, the email reads.

Jo and I have returned to the States. I will write a letter in a week or two to explain.

I am shutting down this email address as soon as I hit send. James.

While no reason has been given for the sudden departure and lack of a forwarding address, it appears that Mr Hanna has been planning to shut down his Atherstone Booktown Ltd company for some time.

Companies House, which keeps records of all limited companies, confirms that the business was officially dissolved on September 5 - a process which can take many months to complete.

"He started not being around for long periods of time earlier this year," said Mr Playdon.

"His shop was never open and at some point, he just stopped trading."

Lisa Dundas, who opened her Market Square bookshop Sit-A-While says when she agreed to join the Book Town scheme there were agreements made with James Hanna that have not been honoured.

"We have been left quite in the lurch - we paid for a service which was ongoing for up to three years - and although we've had some training and publicity it's not been anywhere near as much as we were promised."

The mystery surrounding Mr Hanna's whereabouts has also cast doubt over the future of Atherstone Heritage Centre, which shared Market Square premises with his book shop.

"Unless we can get someone to take on the other half of our premises in place of James, we run a risk we'll have to close before the end of the year," said Lorna Dirveiks who runs the centre. "We cannot afford the rent on our own."

But despite the shock of Mr Hanna's disappearance, the mood in Atherstone is surprisingly buoyant and the book shop owners feel his departure could be a blessing.

"Business is good and this could be the incentive we need to pull out all the stops and work for ourselves," Mr Playdon added.

"We're in charge now, we're very enthusiastic about the growing book trade in Atherstone and there's no reason we can't take this on and run with it - not in a formalised way but by supporting each other and encouraging more sellers to come and set up here.

"It's a great town and the fact James promised the earth and didn't deliver it is sad, but it's not the end. We're confident we can do a better job on our own."

The Herald attempted to contact James Hanna and his partner Jo Wyborn by email and telephone, but was unsuccessful.

---

I spoke to the owner of the 'Sit-a while' bookshop today in Atherstone pictures market square, and she trade has been good and they look forward to trade picking up even more so. No doubt that the early nights and books bought as Christmas presents will add to the trade. She went on to tell of a book signing on September 23rd, Christine Freeman will be signing copies of her new book Images of England - Athersone, from 11am to 1 pm.

Workmen were busy in Throckmortons fitting shiny new lighting so business can't be that bad there either.

St Giles says the last few weeks have been the busiest since they opened. As st Giles are a charity and was never part of James Hanna's 'Booktown' but part of 'Atherstone Booktown', they have no reason to say they are if they aren't. If you have visions of a second hand shop selling general bric a brac when you think of this shop then think again, it's a very nice well stocked bookshop with Cd's video's gifts and ornaments.

The town is as busy as ever if not busier, new shops and restaurants have recently opened in the town and more are getting ready to open, including Martins, Gregg's, Chestnut Antiques, Raj Mahal, The Phone shop, Viking Stationary, The Lounge Bar and Venue, which opened after a £250,000 refit, The Coffee Bean and soon to open Crystal Bar And Restaurant.

[tinfish]

sidenote: in pauls responses to this on his site he has made several veiled comments regards the popularity of his website.

It is true if you type Atherstone into Google his main site (not the forum which is two clicks away, quite a distance on the web.) is first. What he doesnt grasp is that, combined, more people search on OTHER terms related to Atherstone. atherstone.org.uk is present in the first few results for the vast majority of these terms. Pauls site IS NOT PRESENT for the vast majority of these terms. as such I believe my website receives substantially more new and unique visitors than Pauls site does. The majority of his 'hits' will be the same few people again and again returning to the forum. Hardly promoting the town to an outside audience.

examples of these terms mayb atherstone news, atherstone herald, atherstone swimming baths grey rhino event (or other convoluted terms). for obvious reasons i will not be stating the most lucrative (in terms of visitors) terms publicly, though some data, for the informed, is available online.

this is just a single, very simplistic, example that pauls assertion regarding the popularity of his website is flawed / unfounded.

[Madhatter]

Comes up if you type booktown though, you just can't find the deleted threads LOL. Not the first unrealistic internet claim that we've had either is it.
I'm limiting what I say publicly about this because people are waiting to pounce.
I don't feel that the scheme whether Hanna was right or wrong has been supported once it was started by people who should be supporting it.

Now that he's gone Atherstone can make a real go of this, as above said Atherstone is far from derelict. Anybody can come here and open a bookshop now and there are lots of people to turn to for FREE training. Any of the other booksellers that have posted would help and give advice.

The town has a positive aura about it, far from negative like is being portrayed on the other forum. The booksellers are glad he's gone, most people are glad he's gone.

One question though,
Who are Evans and Short and did he take their money or are they still opening??

[Admin]

13th September 2006


PRESS RELEASE


Atherstone’s booksellers have launched a new initiative to promote the town and region as a destination for booklovers, and also to attract new booksellers to the area.

Building on developments over the past 18 months, including the opening of three bookshops in the Market Square and the St Giles Hospice bookshop on Long Street, as well as the stocking of books in the Red Lion and the Chapel House, we are undertaking a range of marketing initiatives to promote Atherstone and the surrounding area as a booklovers’ destination.

In a crucially important step, the new booksellers in Atherstone have forged co-operative links with longer-established bookshops in the surrounding area, most notably Astley Book Farm, G&J Chesters of Polesworth and Midland Counties Publications on the Hinckley Industrial Estate.

We will shortly be issuing a promotional leaflet to all Tourist Information Centres, visitor locations and other bookshops in the region, and relaunching our website, www.atherstonebooktown.com. Organising literary events will also figure prominently in our agenda, with a poetry day currently in the planning stages.

Peter Playdon, proprietor of Throckmorton’s Bookshop, said, “The time is right for us to take charge of the Atherstone Booktown initiative. We are all very much committed to building upon our individual successes and working cooperatively for the benefit of the town as a whole, and also for the wider region.”

“We are particularly interested in talking to prospective booksellers, whether they are already established in the trade or interested in opening their first shop. Anyone interested in opening a bookshop in Atherstone is invited to contact us - we can offer practical support and advice for getting started – with no charge or strings attached.”

“Deciding to open your own business is the easy part,” said Lisa Dundas, proprietor of the Sit-A-While. “Getting started is much harder, which is why this new group is so important for would-be booksellers. We can provide valuable help with finding and fitting a shop, obtaining stock, and learning the ins and outs of bookselling. Really, it’s like a professional support group.”

Bookshops participating in the informal group include Throckmorton’s Bookshop, the Sit-A-While Bookshop & Tearoom, the Heritage Centre Bookshop, St Giles Hospice Bookshop, Astley Book Farm, G& J Chesters, Midland Counties Publications and prospective booksellers Evans & Short.

For more information, contact Throckmorton’s Bookshop on 01827 71 75 70, or the Sit-a-While on 01827 722593.

[Madhatter]

No suprise that the thread on the other forum has been locked and hidden away, just like most of the others.
Looks bad even though it's probably not. I think it says more about the admin and site than the booktown.

[mikeg]

"No suprise that the thread on the other forum has been locked and hidden away, just like most of the others."

I've copied below the email I sent to Paul this morning, and would similarly invite any of your readers to contact me direct.

Thanks, Mike
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello Paul

My interest in James Hanna is simple. There is ample evidence that he conned ordinary people out of their savings with the (at least tacit) support of two local authorities, and I want to ensure that this doesn't happen again.

I have no intention of making life difficult for the remaining booksellers in these towns, and I think my efforts in encouraging visitors to their individual shops, speak for themselves. After three years of reporting on James Hanna's activities I simply want to complete the chronicle of events, so that anyone interested can have access to all the facts.

I'm used to being threatened by those who don't like the reviews our users leave on TheBookGuide, and I defend their right to comment to the hilt. I also understand, I think, some of the difficulties in administering a live forum, which is why we don't currently have one on our site.

Could I suggest that some way be found to encourage anyone who has anything to add to this saga contact me directly, perhaps by including a message to that effect on the Moved: Booktown notice?

Mike Goodenough
Editor
TheBookGuide
www.TheBookGuide.co.uk

[tinfish]

i read the thread before it was removed. it contained some important information from Hanna's past, just like those that had been removed in the past.

would it have not been wise to have gained wisdom from those with previous experience of Hanna BEFORE the Atherstone booktown venture??

now those early doubts of the project and its leader (from both within and outside atherstone) have proved to be correct are we just going to pretend it never happened? what about the next town and lot of public money hanna goes after? surely this information should be available publicly, a) to ensure it doesn't happen again and b) bring to account and question the decisions of those who blindly backed the project to the hilt without seemingly doing a simple check into hannas previous successes (or lack of).

edited..

[Madhatter]

I think we should track him down and find out why he jumped the good ship HMS Atherstone.
I've found just the man to do it
www.jameshannainvestigations.com/

This is interesting
www.atherstone-online.co.uk/interview_jameshanna.htm

when compared to this
www.leftbankentertainment.co.uk/detail_3.asp?id=157
and that is interesting because here James Hanna says the law courts will sort it out.
www.atherstone-online.co.uk/comments_jameshanna.htm

Mike if you're wanting to keep the chronicle of events you should be aware that the herald deletes articles off line after so long and the links on inprint to past herald articles are now dead links which is why I copied the latest article to this site. Thats why i suggested linking it to here instead of the herald.

I have no intention of deleting anything unless I'm asked to do so by people involved and for good reasons, I see no reason why I should, you are all responsible for your own comments, you've written them not me. Plus Jammes Hanna has gone and had very little to do with the booktown project in reality. Most of the work was done by others, the bookshop owners, the heritage museum and other townsfolk.

I'm more concerned as to why Hanna was given the grant and then left to get on with it, (thats what appears to have happened, I don't know the details). The council did nothing else to help the booktown sucede publicity wise, if they did I've not seen it. No leaflets, no events, it's hardly mentioned that we were creating a booktown on the net, Infact there was so little on the net that one of my articles got used. I think this site has done more to promote the booktown than any hanna or the council www.atherstone.org.uk/category/atherstone-booktown/

[markb68]

Thank you for including a link to my website above. It is true I have been made out to be some sort of "nutter" by James Hanna and this has been perpetuated be comments made by him and allowed to remain on line by Mr Turner. However I have never lied about anything in regards to Mr Hanna and have always been prepared to back it up.
It is with great saddness that I find that he has done exactly what I predicted he would do in Atherstone.
However who is responsible? Well in my opinion Torfaen County Council (responsible for Blaenavon) are fully to blame. They have been aware for the last three years that Hanna was firstly ripping people off and also trading illegally. When I reported this did they act? Yes they gave Hanna more backing.
When I continued to complain, what did they do? The Chief Executive personaly blocked any investigation into Hanna by Trading Standards. As this is currently a Police Investigation, and after speaking to Detective Inspector Martin Price of the Gwent Police I am aware the file is with the CPS I have to be careful what I say publicly.
However what I can confirm is that my Solicitor is currently pursuing a Judical Review for a matter which is a direct result of Torfaen Council's refusal to investigate Mr Hanna.
I first contacted Torfaen Council about Hanna in November 2003.
If they had acted to stop him instead of continuing to back him he would never have been able to build the reputation he did and come to Atherstone.

I am guessing the reason your Council backed Hanna was based on references from Torfaen Council, I know John Roger (Blaenavon Project Manager for TCBC) was quoted in the National press backing Hanna about the time he was setting up Atherstone.

This Council has also sold a property valued at £75,000 to Jo Wyborn for £27,000 after thousands of pounds worth of work was carried out at the tax payers expense and when she was neither living there or trading from it. I believe it currently lies empty.

I could fill pages going on, for example I understand that James Hanna took stock from an elderly Gent in wales worth tens of thousand of pounds and never paid him. This is very sad in itself but even worse when you discover the money was to be used to fund the Hospice caring for his dying daughter.

Again had Torfaen Council and in particular Councilors Neil Lewis and Bob Wellington acted to stop Hanna he would never have been able to do this.

I would suggest if anybody has any evidence against Hanna and/or Wyborn they pass it direct to the Police. I assume that because Hanna was given a grant and this is public money the council will be pursuing him through the police.

In the mean time if anybody would like to view any of the files and files of evidence I have against Hanna and Torfaen let me know

[Admin]

To be honest I'm not sure that they could. He was given grant money to start a booktown, and he did start a booktown, abeit smaller than it could have been if we didn't have the hassle of his past.
BUT then we'd have ten bookshops here that were out of pocket instead of however many there are. I think I'd rather have people come here and open bookshops now, with sensible help from the existing shops and people who are willing to help that have been in the trade for years. You can find loads of forums and help through inprint.

I'm not sure what the conditions of the grant were but I doubt it would have stated that he had to give what he said he would in the packages. It would most likely just say that he had to start a booktown and stay around to give support for so long, and what is a booktown anyway.
Is it 4 shops and saying there are ten or is it ten, fourteen, twenty?

I know something though, the people here are 100% behind the existing shops and will continue to support them, promote them, and the town through publicity,the internet and our excellent events program which is soon to be even better and more well organised through a central publicity pool.

[Admin]

That would be before d pickard town councillor, requested the thread be closed then I saw it too:).

[markb68]

If anyone has any information in regards to Hanna and shady business practice can I ask that they please pass it on to Garmon Rhys at Dragons Eye BBC Wales.

Can somebody also please tell me the best person to pass information onto Council wise, as I have ample evidence against Torfaen Council which proves they knew Hanna was not trust worthy and had been acting illegally when they were publically endorsing him in regards to the setting up of Atherstone Booktown.

I would also advise anybody who has been left out of pocket by Hanna to contact me for evidence with a veiw to getting thier money back from Torfaen Council who had they just stoped supporting him when they refused to prosecute him he would not have been able to get away with this. However this was the same council who funded a child pornographer to set a couple of radio stations where he was in constant contact with children. And guess which Councillor was his main supporter? Yep that right the same one who championed Hanna, Neil Lewis.

Also I would like to offer my support for your Hanna free Booktown by offering my remaining stock I have from my shop Free of Charge to any of the Shops that wish to come and collect them.

[markb68]

Today I recieved a telephone call from D.S. Gary Jones of Gwent police who is investigating the issue of why Hanna was able to con people for nearly the last four years. He said he had contacted the local police in Atherstone but they had recieved no complaints regarding Hanna despite the reporting in the paper that he had conned people out of thousands of pounds.

The question has been asked why he was allowed to get away with this both here and in Blaenavon. Well I know the awnser it is because people won't come forward and report it or are scared too incase there are repercusions. Well you have a perfect oppertunity to stop Hanna and Wyborn doing the same again purely by coming forward to the police and reporting them.
If what I hear is correct and they have taken money for goods and services they did not deliver when they have clearly closed the company contracted to provide those goods and services. It is a clear case of fraud.
I fought like hell to try to stop this happening to your town, and in the only posting I did make on the other forum (country to Mr Turner and Mr Hanna's claims I was neither Cherry Dale or M Fox) I stated quite clearly a booktown was a good idea but it should be properly supervised by the council. However it became clear to me early on in Blaenavon project Mr Hanna was a fantasist and was clearly ripping people off.
I will continue to fight to stop this happening again, however if just one person comes forward to the police and makes a complaint from your community it will make all the difference. You may think "ahh well I will know better next time" but what of those more vulnrable.

Eric is a nice elderly gentleman who's daughter was dying of cancer and in a Hospice. He agreed to sell his stock to Hanna so that he might use the money to give to the Hospice to make his daughters, and others like her last days on this earth more comfortable. But guess what? yep Hanna did not pay and Eric's daughter died with him knowing he could do nothing more to help. He had agreed to pay Eric £10'000 for stock and fittings I estimate to be worth at least £27'000. Why did Eric trust him? He had seen Hanna had the backing of the Council and read articles with council officials backing him.

Now imagine for a moment Eric was your father or friend wouldn't you hope someone would look out for them and stop it happening? You want to prevent this happening again, you can! Go to the police and Trading Standards. We cannot turn back time but we can prevent others suffering.

We owe others that. If you just want to tell the police what you know and provide evidence without going to your local police, you can contact DS Gary Jones at the priority Policing Unit, Gwent Police.

Thank you.