FRIENDS of a Hawkley author celebrated the launch of his recent book, A History of Hawkley, in the village hall and also that it is now on sale in One Tree Books in Petersfield.

Graham Johnson, late resident and local historian, has written previously about Hawkley, and devoted his retirement to a book about the village he’d lived in for 30 years.

But motor neurone disease robbed him of the opportunity to finish it. Village resident Lou Elderton promised to complete it – and she, Eleanor Tickle, and past and present village residents got it published. Graham’s niece Kate Squire, a graphic designer, has produced a beautiful hardback book with many historic and contemporary photographs, maps, drawings and artwork, telling the story of a once isolated, self-sufficient, agricultural community.