In 1980 the author had written a miscellany of Circuit stories and self-published it, bequeathing the copyright to the Western Circuit on his death in 1980. He had last seen it in a small soft back orange cover and, in 1997, it was decided that the next publishing run would copy it faithfully. It has been presented to every new Circuiteer on their election night since that date. Soft-back copies are now out of print. It will shortly be available in hardback, which can be pre-ordered by contacting the Circuit Office.

It was I who fifty-two years ago proposed Antony Harwood to be a member of the Western Circuit. He was in circuit chambers and came to love the circuit - as do all those who belong to it.

Strangely enough, however, no one till now has pieced together the history of the circuit. It has seen some of the most exciting times - the Bloody Assize, the Tolpuddle Martyrs, and the like. It has produced some of the most colourful characters - Cockburn, Coleridge, Goddard, and the rest. It has witnessed the changes from horse to rail, from rail to motor, from motor to plane. It has survived all the procedural changes and all the administrative changes of the recent past. Yet through it all it has maintained its character and the character of its members. They are outstanding for their strength of mind, their power of persuasion, their steadfastness and their courage: above all for their loyalty to the circuit.

Now at last we have a book to tell us all about them. Antony Harwood, sometime Queen's Remembrancer, has become the Remembrancer of the Circuit. As you read these pages you will be fascinated by the stories which he has to tell about the heroes of the past. You will be lost in admiration for the research which he has done. You will wish to thank him for getting it all put together in this book. You will feel, as I do - "This is a book I must have - to read myself and to hand on to those who come after me."