But retired farmer John Lea has captured farming life in Lower Peover and Toft as it was in his book, Down the Cobbled Stones - launched at Chelford Market last week.

It mixes his memories with those of his father and local characters.

"I hated history at school so I didn't want to write a history book," he said.

"For me the fascination is people."

John, 63, began to put pen to paper two years ago when ill-health forced him to retire.

He wrote about the characters, the itinerant labourers, the much-loved prisoners of war, who worked with his family, and the changes in Cheshire farming since the 1920s.

And the reaction from his friends and family has been positive.

One farmer at Chelford Market bought a copy, sat in the cab of his lorry to read a bit, then came back for two more.

"When I sat down to do it, I didn't know it would be published as such," he said. "But I wanted my children to be able to see what life was like in the past."

Down the Cobbled Stones is on sale at Lower Peover Post Office and Jardines, King Street, Knutsford.

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