A DIP into the history of a cluster of small County Durham villages is being reproduced, but the search is on for more information about the author.

Esh Leaves gives an intriguing insight into life in Hamsteels, Langley Park, Quebec and Esh Village itself up to the year it was first published, at the outbreak of the First World War, in 1914.

The four villages, lying about five miles west of Durham, between the rivers Browney and Deerness, make up the parish of Esh.

A reprint has now been arranged by Esh Parish Council, in a style as near to the original as possible, thanks to the painstaking efforts of local man Terry Chilton, a former employee of The Northern Echo.

It will be published in conjunction with the start of the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations, the 50th anniversary of the accession, in February.

Parish clerk Mike Ackroyd is keen to find out more about the author of Esh Leaves, a learned local man called William Robert Wiggen.

Mr Ackroyd knows that he lived from 1844 to 1918 and was buried in the churchyard at Esh.

"We also know he lived at some stage in an old mill down Wallnook Lane in Langley Park, and he may have relatives called Bell, as his sister married a Bell.

"But, beyond that we are struggling. We hope to do a public launch of the reprint and it would be nice to carry some information on the dust jacket, and even to have a descendant here for the occasion.

"The book itself is 90 pages long and is full of anecdotal stories of village life up to 1914.

"It is a must for the bookshelf of anyone interested in local history generally and specifically Esh parish."

Mr Ackroyd would also like to invite anyone born in the parish in 1914 to the launch of the book.

Anyone with information on descendants of William Robert Wiggen, or of anyone born locally in 1914, can contact Mr Ackroyd in the Parish Rooms, opposite the Post Office, in Front Street, Langley Park, telephone 0191-373 6687.