
Tales From A Harrogate Caravan

Chapter 1 — The Cavalier Sixties on a Council Estate in Leeds
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Chapter 2 — The Catholic Primary School and the Slipper
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Chapter 3 — The Leek Street Flats & 955 Belle Isle Thoroughfare
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Chapter 4 — The Chess Board and the Doctor
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Chapter 5 — The Doctor's Gift of Reading
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Chapter 6 — The Harris Tweed Jacket
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Chapter 7 — The Black Moment
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Chapter 8 — King Lear in the Drizzle
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Chapter 9 — Dortmund and the DredgePot
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Chapter 10 — Stan and Ian
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Chapter 11 — London and the Pub Violence
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Chapter 12 — Christmas Eve in Pew
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Chapter 13 — Rob and the Security Work
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Chapter 14 — The Inner Circle and Manny Wheelman
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Chapter 15 — Bennie and the Doctor's Character
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Chapter 16 — Terry and the Betting Streak
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Chapter 17 — The Open University and Linda the Angel
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Chapter 18 — Mick's Art
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Chapter 19 — The Accusation of Plagiarism
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Chapter 20 — The Inner Circle Chess Club
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Chapter 21 — Students at 955 and the Grey Goose
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Chapter 22 — The Wrong Turn to London
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Chapter 23 — The All-Bran Catastrophe
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Chapter 24 — The Echo Tavern and the Barrister
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Chapter 25 — The Date with Joanne
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Chapter 26 — Bolter and the Ancient Mariner
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Chapter 27 — Hunger and the Mackerel
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Chapter 28 — Why the Inner Circle Was Born
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Chapter 29 — Brenda and the Access Course
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Chapter 30 — The Latin Interview
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Chapter 31 — The Zombie Year
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Chapter 32 — Meeting Anna
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Chapter 33 — The Woman from the Past
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Chapter 34 — The Drunken Night Visitors
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Chapter 35 — The Doctor's Fake Degree and a Pregnancy
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Chapter 36 — A Birth and a Death
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Chapter 37 — Teaching in Dewsbury
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Chapter 38 — The Creatures of Broadacre Secondary
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Chapter 39 — The Failure Document
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Chapter 40 — First Teaching Job
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Chapter 41 — The Death of Pubs
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Chapter 42 — Buying a House and Getting a Dog
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Chapter 43 — Alfie the Cat and Shep the Alsatian
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Chapter 44 — Stopping Smoking with Lemons
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Chapter 45 — The Vocational Unit and Rachel's Operation
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Chapter 46 — Growth of the Unit and Anna Joins
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Chapter 47 — The Porno and the Druggie Fight
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Chapter 48 — The Kitten in the Car
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Chapter 49 — Smokey's Death
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Chapter 50 — The Food Wage
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Chapter 51 — The Stolen Cats
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Chapter 52 — Holiday in Majorca
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Chapter 53 — 2011
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Chapter 54 — The Search for Answers
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Chapter 55 — The Prognosis
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Chapter 56 — The Cancer Ward
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Chapter 57 — The Dandelions
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Chapter 58 — Anna's Death
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Chapter 59 — The Holiday Disaster
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Chapter 1 — Facebook and the Dating Game
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Chapter 2 — The Old Friend's Advice
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Chapter 3 — First Date with Olivia
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Chapter 4 — Work and Grace
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Chapter 5 — The Journey to Harrogate
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Chapter 6 — The Fat Badger and the Kiss
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Chapter 7 — Closing the Unit and the Gambia Trip
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Chapter 8 — Boredom and Dating Again
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Chapter 9 — The Phone Call from Isla
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Chapter 10 — The Harrogate Arms
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Chapter 11 — The Mortgage Rejection
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Chapter 12 — The Quick Sale
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Chapter 13 — Settling at the Arms
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Chapter 14 — The Sunday Catastrophe
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Chapter 15 — Selling Another Property
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Chapter 16 — Isla's Explosion
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Chapter 17 — The End of the Harrogate Arms
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Chapter 18 — Life After the Arms
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Chapter 19 — The Court Eviction
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Chapter 20 — Giving Away Shep
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Chapter 21 — Back to Belle Isle
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About Karl Swainston
Karl Swainston is a writer and storyteller whose work is forged from a life lived across the North of England and far beyond. Growing up on a Leeds council estate in the 1960s, Karl's journey was anything but linear. By the age of thirty, he had already lived a dozen lives: from the rigors of grammar school to a degree in Latin, a stint as a fishmonger, a period of discovery living in Marseille, and a return to the hustle of London. Whether working as a postman, a builder, or competing as a county-level chess player, he was, above all, an avid reader—constantly documenting the world around him. This restless spirit continued into his professional life. Karl later taught in Bradford, where he ran a specialist unit for 244 of the most excluded students from across the region—young people whom even the local Pupil Referral Units could not accommodate. Working alongside his old friend Malcolm, Karl spent his days navigating the volatility of Bradford's most aggressive and dysfunctional teenagers. Throughout his life, Karl has been an avid runner and has always shared his home with a rotating cast of beloved dogs and cats—companions who have been constant witnesses to his work. As a writer, Karl's range is as expansive as his history. He works across a wide breadth of genres, including fiction and short stories, autobiography and memoir, biography, non-fiction, and metaphysical writing, as well as providing sharp commentary, opinion, analysis, and essays. Whether writing about his years managing the Harrogate Arms or offering insights from his current adopted home in South East India, where he lives in a simple village with his dog, Bambi, Karl's voice reflects the full, untidy, and deeply human breadth of life. He continues to draw on the rich, decades-long tapestry of his experiences to tell stories that matter, proving that no matter where you live, the human story remains the same.
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