The narrative follows the evolution of a family business starting in 1860 with founder William Timpson, blending historical events with anecdotes and humor. It highlights the company's adaptability to market fluctuations, economic challenges, and shifting social trends while maintaining its core values of common sense and kindness. Through this journey, the author illustrates the enduring spirit of the business amidst significant transformations over the years.
John Timpson Book order (chronological)
A British journalist and radio presenter whose broadcasting career provided rich material for his writing. His works often explored England, with a particular fondness for East Anglia, delving into the quirks and oddities of English life. Through his books, he offered readers insights into the English countryside, its villages, and its inns. His literary output captured the unique spirit of England with a keen eye for detail and observation.






Looking After Looked After Children
- 128 pages
- 5 hours of reading
How foster carers and adoptive parents can make the most of the help they can get from teachers and support staff."As foster carers and adoptive parents my wife Alex, and I were always grateful for the help we get from teachers and all the support staff at our children's schools. The more they knew about the children the less likely they were to be surprised by some of their behaviour and they're better equipped to help them get the best results."A guide to Attachment is written by fosterer John Timpson CBE, who through simple language and easy-to-understand illustrations, helps explain the behaviour of looked after children.
Ask John
- 288 pages
- 11 hours of reading
No-nonsense business advice from John Timpson, Chairman of the eponymous high street chain, from his much-admired Daily Telegraph column.
John Timpson's quirky exploration of the ancient phenomenon of leylines. Fascinated by a chance discovery of an ancient stone marker outside a church, Timpson sets off in his inimitable way to hunt leylines (ancient routes said to be energy lines of the earth) all around the country from the Men-an-Tol standing stones in Cornwall to Hadrian's Wall. As well as exploring history and folklore, he discovers fascinating and intriguing things: a holy well, green men carved on fonts, early preaching crosses and burial mounds. Complemented with Derry Brabb's photography, this book should appeal to the armchair leyhunter as well as the enthusiast.
Timpson's Country Churches
- 224 pages
- 8 hours of reading
In this fully illustrated book, two hundred parish churches in rural hamlets and rich shires divulge their quirkier secrets. Timpson's eccentric sense of the peculiar provides a rich seam of historic lore and legend. Unexpected discoveries illuminate the curiosities, marvels and mysteries of a thousand years of country life.
Timpson's English Country Inns
- 216 pages
- 8 hours of reading
Book by Timpson, John
Every era in history has produced its own "king" of the transport network, its paths. These routes have opened up the once remote areas of Britain and caused drastic changes in the lives of the local people. John Timpson travels along eight "time paths" in different parts of Britain, picking out the more unusual aspects of the places they pass through. He follows them, where it is still possible, and discovers what has happened to them today, often looking at them through the eyes of the early travellers. The routes covered the Icknield Way (the prehistoric track) from Norfolk to the Berkshire Downs; the Fosse Way, a Roman military highway from the Devon Coast to Lincoln; the River Ouse used by the Vikings to capture and colonize York and the countryside around it; the Corpse Trail in Swaledale, the track along which bodies were carried for burial in the Middle Ages; the Welsh Road, the main drovers' route from mid-Wales to Smithfield Market; the Wey and Arun Canal which used to link Portsmouth with the Thames; the Mailcoach Run from London to Aberystwyth; and the "Mallaig Extension", built at the turn of the century to link the West Highlands of Scotland with the coast. The epilogue looks at the M40 extension, showing how it changed the landscape, and the effects of new roads and new domestic air routes.
The Aerofilms Book of England from the Air
- 160 pages
- 6 hours of reading
Hard to find
A collection of the author's anecdotes about England's lesser-known and often quirky past, including over 250 topics on tunnels, mazes, hillside figures, statues and memorials. A sequel to TIMPSON'S ENGLAND.
Timpson's English Villages
- 192 pages
- 7 hours of reading





