Kate McLanachan
AUTHOR

Kate McLanachan

I am so excited to finally be finally able to introduce my debut novel set in my home town of Shrewsbury and based on my research and passion for history and very early mental health approaches. As a mental health nurse who trained in Shrewsbury back in 1989, I have seen so many changes over the years, but when the local Shelton Psychiatric Hospital shut its doors for the last time, my intrigue in it’s history grew and it sparked something. I started the Shelton Hospital Community 1845-2012 Facebook page and joined Shelton Hospital Heritage project, where I was able to explore the empty but familiar interior, accompanied by colleagues as passionate as me, including mediums and photographers.

Characters started emerging in my head, but something took me back further to the old Workhouse Asylum prior to the opening of the purpose built mental hospital. I began to write ‘The Workhouse Almanac,’ an historical, dark fantasy novel, of the late 18th and early 19th century set in the medieval market town of Shrewsbury. Located in ‘The House of Industry,’ a magnificent building in Kingsland, home to destitute paupers, lunatics and vagrants, that would one day house the prestigious Shrewsbury School. Looming impressively as it does to this day, on the south banks of the River Severn overlooking the town, with views of the castle, spires, abbey, parklands and half-timbered houses, its secrets and atrocities locked away behind closed doors.

My next book will be located in the walls and grounds of Shelton Hospital, although not in this era. I have been inspired so much by colleagues like Cheryl Pearce and local historians like Stan Stedman who did the tours of Shrewsbury streets and ‘shuts,’ and Lorraine Fletcher of ‘For the Love of Shrewsbury’ and other Facebook pages, who designed my book cover and has been a huge influence to me.
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  • The Workhouse Almanac cover image
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