Former Oakwell Hall Country Park site manager plots his debut novel while down on his allotment

Eric Brown, 59, who volunteers with the Oakwell friends group, gardens and invests time in his allotment in Mirfield since retiring from his role at the Birstall park two years ago.

Pilgrimm’s Progress, a humorous tale of “seduction, murder and allotmenting” was published by Fisher King earlier this year.

It charts the travails of underachieving middle-aged local government officer Graham Pilgrimm, who hides out in the shed on his allotment after inadvertently finding himself framed for murder.

“About 13 years ago I had a shed on the allotment - it was such a great shed I thought that if you wanted to escape from the world down on the allotment you could.

“It’s farcical and far-fetched but I also wanted to make it believable, with believable characters,’’ said Eric, who warned that it is also a touch ribald in parts.

His characters are an amalgam of people he has met over the years, while the dialogue between his own mates about beer and football influenced that between Graham and his friends in the novel.

Eric, the father of grown-up daughters Ellie and Izzy, feels his love of horticulture and nature stems from his dad Dennis and his grandad, who helped out with the family garden on St Paul’s Road when he was a child.

“I used to spend ages hunting for bugs and beasties, I was like a young Chris Packham,’’ he added.

After leaving Mirfield High School, Eric completed a degree in earth and life studies at Derby University and went on to work at Riber Castle wildlife park in Matlock, and Chester Zoo.

He then joined Kirklees Council as an assistant countryside ranger in the Colne Valley, later becoming Heavy Woollen Countryside Officer and latterly head ranger, then site manager at Oakwell Hall, where he worked for 21 years.

Eric is currently working on a sequel to Pilgrimm’s Progress, which sees his unlikely hero thrust into more outlandish situations.

“Pilgrimm’s Progress won’t change anyone’s life but hopefully people can lose themselves in it for a while and have a laugh or two along the way,’’ he said.