A RETIRED clergyman and former chaplain to the hospitals in Worcester has just published his second book at the age of 87.

Michael Shiner, who lives in Great Malvern, has written a story about travelling from the town with his dog, golden retriever Fiona, to climb littleknown hills and mountains on the Welsh borders.

“It is a book about driving there, what you can see of interest on the way, places to eat and photographs and views from the top of all these hills. These places are away from the madding crowd and the walks are between 45 minutes and one-and-a-half hours long,” he said.

Mr Shiner, who was a parish priest in Dorset and Hertfordshire, went to Hillstone School in the shadow of the Worcestershire Beacon and returned to live in Malvern 13 years ago.

He always made notes and took photographs of whatever interested him when he went walking with his dog so it only took about a year to write his second book On Top Again.

His first book, a unique piece of research published 18 months ago and called the Clerkenwell Markers, took him about 10 years to write.

“I stumbled over a cast iron marker in a field behind my house and my curiosity overcame me. Nobody knew anything about the Clerkenwell markers,” he said.

He eventually discovered there had been 25 markers, just 12 are visible today, indicating the boundary of the Clerkenwell Estate in Malvern. Money from the estate was sent during the 17th century to Clerkenwell in London to support St James Church, almshouses, a hospital and people in need.

Mr Shiner is enjoying his writing so much he has plans for a third publication, but the subject matter will remain a closely guarded secret for the time being.