An Illustrated Guide to the Frome Valley, Past and Present by Stewart Ash

Thanks to Larkins Brewery 

Title: An Illustrated Guide to the Frome Valley, Past and Present 

Author: Stewart Ash

Publisher: not known 

Source book: The Cure of Souls by Phil Rickman (Merrily Watkins #4) 

Stewart Ash lived in Knights Frome, a little village in the valley of the little river Frome in Herefordshire. A keen amateur historian and photographer, he wrote An Illustrated Guide to the Frome Valley, Past and Present, which he illustrated with old photographs supplemented with his own photographs reproduced in sepia. He also wrote The Hop-Grower’s Year. 

The Frome valley has historically been an important hop growing area. In the past, families of gypsies visited every year to pick the hops, usually staying at the same hop garden year after year. Stewart Ash was interested in, and a friend to gypsies which makes it all the sadder that we don’t encounter him until after he has been battered to death by two gypsy teenagers intent on stealing his photographic equipment. Or possibly a manuscript for his next book which implicates a local landowner in the unsolved murder of Rebekah Smith, a beautiful young gypsy woman.

Stewart Ash leaves his house, an old hop kiln, to his niece and her (unfortunately very unpleasant) husband. The royalties from his books are left to a different niece.

NB Frome is pronounced froom not from or froam.

Thanks to Teamhomebrew