Hayballs - 1st/1st by Tinniswood Peter - 1989

London: Hutchinson, 1989. Book. Illus. by Beryl Cook. Very Fine. Hardcover. First Edition/First Printing. Here are the Hayballs, Wiltshire poachers, renegades and ne'er-do-wells to a man, led by the formidable Winston, poacher-in-chief. For all the outlandish ways of his brood, Grampie Hayballs, the ancient family head, is a friend of the local aristocrat, the Duke of Wiltshire. But the Duke's son has ambitions to redevelop the village, destroying its cricket pitch and ancient green. Enter Winston and his enthusiastic ally, Nancy Empson, a newcomer to the village of Winterleaf Gunner, but a fighter every bit as wily and pugnacious as the most disputatious member of the vast Hayballs clan. Love blossoms. Great battles are fought. The seasons drift and sweep from thin chills of winter to the plump heat of summer. This is a picture of English country life at its most rumbustious, devious and comical..