What's Tha Up To This Time?

Book excerpt: “Authentically capture[s] the realities of the sixties and seventies policing in Britain . . . a fascinating and endearing book, full of character and nostalgia.” —Firetrench As with his previous two volumes, the bestselling What’s Tha Up To? and What’s Tha Up To Nah?, Martyn Johnson has written this book from the heart, not so much nostalgia as a genuine feeling for the people, animals, places and history of Sheffield. From naked young ladies at Wentworth Woodhouse to suspicious scrapyards and second-hand shops, shoplifters, burglars and pickpockets, Martyn takes you on an amazing journey through an almost lost world of crime and characters. Meet George and Albert Bloggs, Sadistic Sid, Mr. Cellarman, Twirls the key man, Mr. Furnaceman, Mr. Handcuff-man; and not forgetting Big Ginge and the most glamorous of all, “Diana Dors.” Why not let Martyn tell you about his hilarious “contemporaneous” court experience and the day he became Lester Piggot and a very reluctant sea fisherman. Whether it’s the story of the dodgy unisex haircut, the mystery of the lost fingers or insights into the Dog and Partridge characters or Banners Department Store, there’s something of interest for everyone inside this book. Humor apart, Martyn’s empathy and feeling for the people of Sheffield and South Yorkshire shines through the pages, including some sad and difficult cases and times. “Sometimes the front line bobbies’ accounts of what they had to deal with during the course of their duties is more interesting than what goes on in TV adaptations of police dramas. Martyn Johnson’s second collection of memoirs is equally as entertaining as his first, and will delight anyone who reads it.” —Books Monthly