Gladigator & the legend of Auchinlea
by
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‘Four Gladiators are gone and both chariots have taken a beating. Not surprisingly, both teams are coming in for a pit stop,’ came the commentary.
‘We are coming in! Get ready!’ shouts Harry the horse. They enter the pit and everyone goes to work. Ram sticks the hose into Harry’s mouth and he is sucking on it like a straw and talking at the same time.
‘I have lost my front two shoes,’ he shouts to Billy the kid.
‘Don’t worry, Harry, I have never lost a horseshoe throwing competition in my life.’
Harry lifts up his front two legs and Billy slings the shoes on. Meanwhile, the Peacocks have their own problems with the chariot. ‘I told you to try and avoid pressing the button. Now I need to repair the floor,’ shouts Peacock Senior.
Big Scot holds the block and tackle over the chariot and Peacock Senior hoists it up. ‘You see to the undercarriage floor, and I will change the wheel,’ he shouts to Peacock Junior.
Meanwhile, Gladigator is loading another sword and a hammer into the chariot. The Agitators arrive in the pit. ‘Nice going, Pops!’ said Agi. ‘Can we have some money to go to the hamburger stall?’
‘Not now.’ smiles Gladigator. ‘Can’t you see I am in the middle of something.
Scot releases the chariot and it crashes down. Ram removes the hose. Gladigator shouts, ‘Check?’ The crew all respond, ‘Check!’ Gladigator cracks the whip and Harry the horse shoots out of the pits at lightning speed, roared on by the crowd.
Back in the commentator’s booth, ‘It’s Gladigator who comes out first in a brilliant time of forty-four seconds. And Tyrannous follows close behind. There appears to be some friction with the Roman guards in the crowd, but it’s okay now. It was only Gladesgator jumping up to clap her hands as Gladigator came out of the pits. These Roman guards are beginning to get a bit nervous as the crowd starts to believe that Gladigator might just win this. However, there is still a long way to go, so let’s get back to the action! They are coming around the bend to begin the ninth lap. Oh! And what’s this? Tyrannous’ team has fitted their chariot with blockers on the wheels. They are moving in and out in a punching motion and will soon be punching away at Gladigator’s wheels.’
Down on the track, Harry shouts, ‘We’re coming level with those blockers!’
‘Find me a gap; you have got to find me a gap, Harry,’ shouts Gladigator.
The two chariots are side by side. Harry moves to the left and his chariot wheel is brushing the wall. But the gap opens up. Gladigator drives his battle hammer down hard from above his head, knocking the blocker clean off Tyrannous’ wheel. The two chariots come back together, and Gladigator drives the end of his hammer clean into Tyrannous’ chest, almost knocking him to the ground, as Harry starts to pull away.
‘This is it!’ shouts Harry. ‘We are coming up to the last lap; they are going to throw everything at us.’
The commentator continues, ‘Well, this is it, race fans, the moment of truth as we enter this final lap. Who will still be undefeated in a few moments time? Here we go! As we come out of the first bend, it’s Gladigator in the lead. Wait a minute! We have ten Gladiators forming a triangle with their shields up. They will try to force Gladigator to swerve and allow Tyrannous’ chariot to catch up. But wait a minute! The Gladigator is kneeling on one knee. He has his hand hanging over the edge of the chariot, with what looks like a large steel ball. Oh my god, he rolls it! Is it going to be? It is! It’s a perfect strike and the children in the crowd go berserk.
‘Tyrannous’ chariot is catching up. But wait a minute! There seem to be obstacles appearing in their path, forcing them to swerve all over the place. They are soldiers; they are definitely soldiers! Hold on, it’s Gladesgator. She is throwing Roman guards down onto the track from the stand! It’s all kicking off here now, race fans, as we pass the second bend.’
Back on the track, Gladiator says, ‘You know what to do, Harry.’
‘Yes, don’t let the wheel with the blocker get on our inside.’
‘Okay, take us home.’
Back to the commentator, ‘Okay, folks, they are coming out of the third bend. There are two archers standing cocked and ready to fire! I don’t think the Gladigator will see them until he passes the bend. Hold on a minute! Out come the Agitators to sweep the legs from under them!’
Back on the track, they are coming out of the bend. Harry shouts, as he comes out of the bend, ‘It’s the Agitators!’
‘You can’t hit them, Harry!’ Gladigator shouts.
Harry slows down and swerves in and out to avoid the Agitators, almost sending Gladigator out of the chariot.
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About the Book
Gladigator is the children’s champion of Rome. He and his family were given the gift of having their ages frozen in time by the gods of the ancient druids. His ancient rival is the dreaded Tyrannous and his Gladiators, who made a pact with the devil that allowed them to fight in all the great wars in history for two millennium. However, during this two thousand year pact, Tyrannous did not bargain on the Gladigator being around to confront him at every turn.
The Gladigator first defeated Tyrannous in the Circus Maximus, to win his freedom. However, the emperor deceived the children of Rome by ordering his men to capture Gladigator. Gladigator knew he had to get out of the Roman empire and heads for Caledonia, Scotland. He knows that the Roman empire stops a Hadrian’s Wall and that he would be safe in Caledonia.
The story focuses on Gladigator’s incredible journey from Rome all the way to Auchinlea in Glasgow, where he eventually settled down. Follow his many adventures along the way, culminating in the fantastic showdown with Tyrannous and his men in Auchinlea Park, where they reproduce the ancient Circus Maximus of Rome in the heart of Auchinlea Park, whilst the whole of the 21st century world holds its breath for the outcome of this final conflict between good and evil.
The book is also highly educational, with much historical research, ranging from the ancient fighting styles and weapons of Rome, to the many ways of life of ancient cultures, such as the Gauls, the druids, and the Caledonians. The book is also crammed full of Glasgow’s history, including the Bishoploch, Provan Hall house, and Blairtumock House, just to name a few.
It is also based on the real-life Gladiator programme of Glasgow and the real-life Gladigator mascots. This is a fantastic swash- buckling children’s adventure that allows fiction to fuse with real history, teaching history in an informative and exciting way for children.
Whether you are an adult or a child, there is much to learn and tremendous fun for all. Once you start reading this captivating, non-stop action adventure, you will not be able to put it down.
About the Author
Alex Richardson was born and raised in the tough housing estate of Easterhouse in the east end of Glasgow in 1960 . His early years like most youngsters of the area was embroiled in the gang culture and territorial disputes of the estate. He escaped the culture through the sport of weightlifting winning Scottish and British titles and founding the local weightlifting club from a coal cellar. From those humble beginnings in 1986 he has evolved the local club in to the modern day Gladiator childrens charity.The charity has won many awards such as the Queens award and the Glasgow buisness awards. Alex is now very much a major Ambassador for the local area and Glasgow. The charity is not dependant on donations and is fully self funded through delivering activites in play and sport. Gladigator is the charities mascot that engages with the children across all the charities services. The Gladiator charity delivers to locations throughout Glasgow and the Clyde valley and had over 250,000 attendances last year and growing. It has been a long term ambition of the charity to build its own indoor play area to generate regular long term income allowing the charity to sustaine its many free childrens services. It is hoped that the proceeds of the book can help raise much needed funds for the play area as well as increase awarness of the charities work, Alex commented. I had tremendous enjoyment reserching all the local areas history and when you have run a childrens charity as long as i have i had no shortage of ideas for combining the fiction with history.We had a lot of fun filming the video for the book and writing the song to go with it. However having created Gladigator many years ago i am realy excited that the book introduces his family for the first time that being Gladesgator and Agi & Tator the Agitators.