D. J. Thorp

Born in Chester, Derek Thorp lives in North Wales where he taught English at Ysgol y Berwyn in Bala. Now retired, his interests include local history, walking and writing. In addition to 'The End of the Tunnel' which tells the story of a quarryman's apprentice who enlists as a boy soldier in the First world War, he has published three other pieces of junior fiction: 'A Boy to Drive the Beasts' about a workhouse boy who runs away to join the drovers; 'Betsy', based on the early life of the well-known Welsh nurse, Betsy Cadwaladr and 'Looking for Annie',set in north Wales and Liverpool at the time of the May Blitz of 1941.

He is also author of the short bilingual (Welsh/English) biography, 'Betsi Cadwaladr, Nurse in the Crimea' as well as a collection of poetry 'Half a Welshman (original title 'Winter in Penllyn').