Many visitors return time and time again to savour the memorable experience that Romney Manor and its gardens exude. The tree quietly presides over the activity of the present day Romney Manor. The saman tree …………… what a tree, 350 years old, 24 ft in diameter and covering ½ an acre. There is spirituality about Romney Manor and its grounds that visitors frequently experience. Finally however, in the 1920’s all cane processing was centralised in Basseterre. These owners have witnessed the crushing of cane by animal power, wind power and water power. Set in approximately 10 acres of grounds, Romney was established in the 17th century and since then has only known 6 family owners. Romney Estate therefore became the first estate in St.Kitts to emancipate their slaves. In 1834 contrary to the instructions of the British Parliament, Lord Romney declared his slaves free men. Its grounds have a great history there is strong evidence that they were originally the site on which Tegereman the Carib Indian Chief had his village. Once owned by Sam Jefferson II, the great great great grandfather of Thomas Jefferson (3rd President of U.S.A.) the great house was renamed Romney Manor following its acquisition in the early 17th century by the Earl of Romney. "Certainly knows how to keep you hooked." Chris Tunstall - Book reviewer and author of Guardian of the One.“ Mike Mannion has the knack of writing an engaging plot and vibrant characters, that keep you wanting to turn the page!” Amazon UK customer.Home of Caribelle Batik History of Romney Manor REVIEWS "Mike Mannion's books are well-plotted with characters that leap off the page." Colin Barnsley - Author of the musical Atlantis. The Bill Blackthorne Chronicles trilogy is a dazzling must read for all fans of dark and spooky fiction who like liberal doses of fun. This is the first book in The Bill Blackthorne Chronicles trilogy, which consists of: The Secrets of Brimstone Manor The Villainy of Victor Tainn The Fortunes of a Frightful Dragon There is also a superb anthology edition featuring all three books in one volume, together with an author’s introduction and special bonus material. In a climatic end that threatens to destroy everything they hold dear, Bill and Arthur are thrown into a desperate race to save those they love. Their dabbling sets off a catastrophic chain of events that forces Bill to remember his very bizarre past and realise his amazing destiny. The girls are secretly witch-freaks use the boys in a terrible way to dabble in powerful and ancient magic they don’t really understand. They meet two very pretty but intense and dark girls, Lilith and Ophelia, who invite then to a very unusual party to do something very unusual to the boys. Arthur goes off to study at the ancient university of Middenmere, but Bill is also taken there for his treatments and they bump into each other. He is desperate to escape the clutches of the smothering and subtly sinister Apostles, and when he befriends Arthur Small from the nearby village of Underwood, he knows he has met someone who will help him. Bill doesn’t like the sound of this at all. He is enrolled into a secret society called the Apostles, who tell Bill he is very important – that he knows a great and profound secret, vital to their cause, which they intend to extract from his clouded memories with strong tropic and ‘sixteen-volt electro-convulsive treatments’. Bill’s earliest memory is waking up in gloomily gothic Brimstone Manor, where a strangely deranged middle-age woman called Beryl tells him she is his mother. He has no recollection of his past and can see horns and yellow eyes on people who appear perfectly normal to others. Middenmere is a university town that seems like any normal place on arrival, but as you get to know it you soon realise all is not what it seems… The Secrets of Brimstone Manor Bill Blackthorne is a shy and nerdy young man with some very serious problems. There are no mobile phones, no laptops, no social media, not even a sniff of the internet, but what is there, and in spades, is mystery, magic, secret societies, witches, warlocks and the weirdest thing of all – a creature called Arddhu Og that invades the mind with her own fearful agenda. Step back in time, not too far really, to the early 1970’s, a world very different from our own. The Bill Blackthorne Chronicles is a gothic fantasy trilogy for young adults or the young at heart, full of wonderful humour, yearning romance, spooky manor houses, bikers, secret societies, creepy churches, student high-jinks, campervan travels and ancient lurking evil.
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