A FORMER teacher from a Cheshire village has brought the early days of England to life for young readers.

The newly-published 'Young Aelfred' is the first book by Maria Waddelove who moved to Malpas in 2000 with her young family.

Writing the fictional tale of what might have happened in AD 859 to the 11-year-old future king is something that has been in the making for the last 20 years.

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This, she said, is because of the time she made for herself after a week of educating her children at home.

"I had taught in Manchester but decided to home-school my five children and wanted something interesting to do in my "me time" on Saturday mornings,” said Maria.

"The more I learned about the archaeological and historical records from the time of the early Viking raiders, the more I admired the person who became Alfred the Great.

“And the more I wanted people to know about this forgotten national hero.

"He was called 'the greatest Englishman who ever lived' by Sir Winston Churchill but he seems to be disappearing from history.”

Alfred, most famous for his mythical ‘burning of the cakes’, is credited as the first king of England, having the vision to unite the Saxon kingdoms against the invading threat of the Vikings from the east.

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Copies of "Young Aelfred" are on sale at Whitchurch's BookShrop, in Green End, where owner Dinah Anderson wants to encourage young readers and likes to support local authors.

"This is an adventure story that reads well – I hope it will prove to be popular," she said.

For more information, call into Bookshrop in Whitchurch or head to https://bookshrop.weebly.com/