TALES from the Clay Country - Working with steam in Cornwall is the latest book from Philip E Rendle, the author of the Laira Fireman.'

A proud trainspotter from an early age he now reminisces and looks back fondly on the time when steam was king of the railway track.

Like his previous work the latest volume provides a good read, whether the reader happens to be a train 'buff' or not and the opening chapters deal with very readable tales of 'life on the footplate,' such as the relationships between driver and fireman, their wives and others who work on the railways.

As the author said in his introduction of his book: 'For a short period in my working life I was a part of that special band of men, on the footplate, but circumstances decreed that I should leave the railway to find a career elsewhere.

The memory of life on the footplate with all of the magical connotations of boyhood, has very much stayed with me, and I am grateful for the chance to document more of these stories, and especially those tales told to me by former colleagues from the engine sheds at Laira, St Blazey, Truro, Penzance and Wadebridge.'

The author has successfully interwoven personal accounts, black and white photographs with a well researched historical perspective of the role, the heyday and the decline of the railways, especially on the Cornish railways.

Published by Irwell Press, ISBN 9781906 919436, priced at £19.95.