New book by retired PR consultant tackles bullying

A retired PR consultant from Hurstead has just released his first novel – at the age of 90.

Roy MacElwee, who has previously written about local history, published his new book on 2 November, which aims to deal with bullying and the consequences it can have on its victims.

Entitled ‘The Bullyboys’ Nemesis: Turning Fact into Fiction’, the book tells the story of a protagonist who is initially bullied at school in the Midlands, before joining the Army and, later, the Special Air Service.

His time with the SAS transforms him as an individual, but leaves him unemployed when he leaves, so decides to join a local Criminal Investigation Department, which puts him back into contact with his old bullies.

After eight years, he returns home and wreaks revenge on those who bullied him before meeting up with an old army colleague and embarking on a mission to the USA.

During this time, he is pursued by figures from his past in the army.

About the new book, Roy said: “The fact of the matter is that we associate bullying with school, but it has expanded into other areas of society, and it’s not receiving enough attention.

“The book is aimed at anyone who has experienced bullying, which many people have.”

“I’ve noticed over the past few years, there has been a growing number of stories about young people being bullied, particularly at school.”

Roy’s son was bullied at school, although he did not admit this until he was grown up and married.

‘The Bullyboys’ Nemesis’ is Roy’s first novel, but he has written two other books, ‘Celebrating a Century’ about the Whipp & Bourne manufacturing firm, and ‘Lancashire’s King of Cotton’ about Littleborough fabric company Fothergill & Harvey.

Whipp & Bourne, founded in 1903, was synonymous with high class engineering, supplying marine switchgear for giants of the high seas such as the Ark Royal, the Titanic and the Royal Yacht Britannia, and supplied many of the ships used in major battles during both world wars. Its former site in Castleton is now occupied by new build houses.

Fothergill’s was founded in 1847 by Thomas Fothergill and Alexander Harvey, which began cotton weaving the following year. From supplying the British Army with uniforms in the Boer War the company progressed to glass fibre weaving in 1945, aramid weaving in 1972 and then carbon fibre, then becoming known as Fothergill Engineered Fabrics.

Roy was born in Buenos Aires and moved to the UK in 1934, where he worked as a commercial designer and artist for various companies in Glasgow. He was conscripted into National Service aged 21 and qualified as an RAF pilot, flying Vampire and Meteor jet fighter aircrafts.

Over the last 30 years, Roy worked in the Public Relations departments of various companies, including Rolls Royce and Vickers engineering group, serving as a PR consultant and manager across the UK before settling down and moving to Manchester.

‘The Bullyboys’ Nemesis’ is available in paperback from Amazon.