FORGET JK Rowling's Harry Potter -- a new children's fantasy adventure story of a journey back in time has hit the bookshelves in time for Christmas.

Author Gerald Rigby, from Crossfield, Hutton, got the inspiration for his book, The Ring to Rebellion, from walking around Lancashire with his grandchildren, who he based some of the characters on.

In the book the children travel back nearly three centuries to the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715 when Jacobite rebels occupied Preston.

The reader is taken to the barricades in the streets of old Churchgate (now Church Street), Friargate and Fishergate, with an interesting diversion to the Unicorn Inn, the hotbed of Jacobite conspirators, at Walton-le-Dale. After fighting in the streets of Preston, in which much of the town was burnt down, the rebels were forced to surrender. Prisoners were put up at inns and the Parish Church before being beheaded, hung drawn and quartered or deported.

Mr Rigby, who taught at Ribbleton Hall High, Rushshaw and Preston Colleges, said: "We should be proud that our part of the country is steeped in history. Events here shaped the destiny of Britain. We must never forget the people and places that are part of our heritage."

The Ring to Rebellion, illustrated by Rod Hamm of Penwortham, is published by Birchwood Books, and available at the Harris Museum, Tourist Information Centre, and Waterstones, Fishergate, price £5.99.