Crichton Porteous

(Leslie) Crichton Porteous (1901–1991) was an author of fiction and non-fiction - books, articles and short stories - much of it about life in the Peak District of northern England, and often set in specific Peak locations ("Toad Hole" and "Broken River", for example, are set in the Derwent Valley). Born in Leeds, he grew up near Manchester, but spent a lot of time in the Peak during holidays as a child, and later moved to live there, firstly to Combs, Derbyshire, near Chapel-en-le-Frith, and later to Darley Dale, near Matlock, where he lived until his death, aged 89.

As a boy he had a great interest in both reading and writing, and from the age of fourteen he kept a daily journal; these later proved a useful reference for his work.

After an initial period of time working on farms, he moved into newspapers, working his way up to become assistant editor of the northern Daily Mail.

As a freelance writer, his first book, "Farmer's Creed" was published in 1938. This book recounted his memoirs about his time as a farm worker on Werneth Low.

Today his work has been opened to a new audience through the show entitled "In the Footsteps of Crighton Porteous", which toured widely in England, and particularly in the north-west. The show used his books to retrace some of the locations featured.

List of published books

• 1938 Farmer's Creed
• 1939 Teamsman
• 1940 Land Truant
• 1941 The Cottage
• 1942 The Farm by the Lake
• 1944 The Snow
• 1945 The Earth Remains
• 1948 Sons of the Farm
• 1948 Pioneers of Fertility
• 1949 The Beauty and Mystery of Well Dressing
• 1950 Changing Valley
• 1950 Derbyshire
• 1951 Wild Acres
• 1951 Caves and Caverns
• 1953 Call of the Soil
• 1954 Chuckling Joe
• 1954 Peakland
• 1954 Man of the Moors
• 1955 Battle Mound
• 1956 Death in the Field
• 1956 Broken River
• 1956 Great Men of Derbyshire
• 1959 Lucky Columbel
• 1960 Toad Hole
• 1960 Pill Boxes and Bandages
• 1960 Plays: Batchelor Love & Dickies Scull
• 1962 Strike
• 1963 Portrait of Peakland
• 1965 Man of the Fields (with S. Looker)
• 1970 Pictorial Derbyshire (and 1977)
• 1985 Ancient Customs of Derbyshire (first published 1960)

References

• A biography
• A biography
• A book list

Persondata
Name	Porteous, Crighton
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1901
Place of birth
Date of death	1991
Place of death