Drawing on real voices, hidden stories and local legends, seven specially-commissioned 'High Street Tales' explore the everyday magic of England’s high streets.

In autumn 2020, eight contemporary writers in England worked with their local communities to create seven specially-commissioned modern tales. In 'Time and the Shoe Man', Celia Bryce explores North Shields high street in an evocative and otherworldly tale which follows a mysterious character on his journey down roads and through streets of the past to return a lost shoe to its home.

Other stories include 'In Between Days' by Merrie Joy Williams, who has based her tale on Woolwich High Street, 'Flying' by Maria Whatton (Wednesbury), 'Borrowed Ground' by Robin Pridy (Hastings), 'All the Secret Postcards' by Rod Duncan (Leicester), 'The Women of Number 11' by Rebecca Tantony (Weston-super-Mare) and 'Under the watchful eyes of seagulls' by Ellie McKinlay-Khojinian and Ligia Macedo (Great Yarmouth).

High Street Tales features an introduction by writer Andy Miller (author of 'The Year of Reading Books Dangerously'). The eight writers have also narrated each of their stories for a podcast series ‘High Street Tales’.