Book Review - How To Connect with Nature by Tristan Gooley

If you’re not familiar with Tristan Gooley, he is probably best known as the Natural Navigator.   He has led expeditions on five continents, spent time with the Tuareg, Bedouin and Dayak in some of the remotest places on Earth and pioneered a renaissance in the rare art of natural navigation.  He is also the only living person to have both flown solo and sailed single-handed across the Atlantic.

So, he is well qualified to write a book about connecting with nature.

But, firstly, why should we connect with nature?  In our daily life today, we don’t really need an understanding of our natural environment for everyday survival – so should we really bother?  Do we need to have these skills any more?

Well, Tristan believes any connection to nature is beneficial – no matter how small – and this book is a collection of his techniques to help enthuse our senses and re-establish that love-affair with the outdoors he knows we all have.

The book is part of a series from Macmillan exploring life’s big questions “The School of Life” which doesn't purports to have all the answers, but they know people who have ideas of how to make life better.  And Tristan certainly fits the bill here.

The book is littered with exercises to do – which I have done, and I can tell you they really will make you stop and think about your surroundings and your place within them.  And it’s full of information you think “I really should have known that – and I'm glad I now do” – for example the name “ghost orchids” was coined for that particular plant as they are one of the rarest plants in Britain and can disappear from a site for decades, before briefly reappearing – which sounds very logical.

There’s fantastic knowledge you can use in everyday life in here; finding the North Star from The Plough for instance, and some useful info about Ground Time too (you’ll have to read the book…)

I guess the only thing that lets the book down is the rendition of the photographs – several of monochrome images are difficult to clearly make out what they are all about.  You feel that a book which does reference and rely on its images should have been allowed to have better quality printing for the photographs – but I guess that’s down to the house style of “The School of Life” series and the price point.  But don't let that out you off.

Overall, a cracking read which you’ll find you’ll be mentally accessing as you go on future expeditions into the great outdoors.

How To Connect with Nature by Tristan Gooley

published by Macmillan, priced £7.99

Walks Around Britain rating 8/10

Order it now from Amazon here

Book Review – Lakeland Fellranger : The Far Eastern Fells by Mark Richards

With the gorgeous Upper Kentmere Valley inviting you on the front cover, you know there’s something special about this book.  The 332 pages also tell you this isn't a book done by halves.  Then you spot who it is written by – and you know you’re in for a good read.  And I mean that from the point of view that Mark Richards' text has a poetic flow to it which almost demands to be given more time to.  Many walking guide books only really work when you are using them on the fell – this works as well when you’re sitting at home using it to plan your next journey.  And that’s rare.  To highlight this is the inclusion of a fabric page marker – you don’t get that in a standard walking guide book.  This is a book intended to be read.

This book is the combination of an odyssey which began in 1989 when Mark Richards was still living in his native Oxfordshire.  Inspired by the great Alfred Wainwright to jump into writing, Mark launched himself into being a full-time preparer of walking guides – at the age of 40.  Strange, as in 2014 I turn that age too…  Is there something about that age…?

Anyway, as I mentioned, this book is the last in a series of eight books dedicated to walking the fells of the Lake District – with each of the eight books focusing on a different area.  After 14 years, Mark has walked the 227 fells mentioned in those books many times in all weathers and seasons – the result is a most complete set of walking guides for the Lakeland area, if you are lucky enough to possess all eight.


Now here’s where I have to tackle the inevitable comparisons to Wainwright.  Firstly, is seems wrong to call Mark “Richards” in the same way as we all use “Wainwright” so I’ll use MR and AW.  Ok.  MR has eight books in his series, whereas AW had seven (MR includes the Mid-Western Fells in a separate volume).  AW’s list of fells total the famous number of 214, whereas MR’s total 227 as I’ve mentioned.  It took MR 14 years to complete the eight books and Wainwright took 14 years to write his seven.

There are similarities too.  Like AW, MR – oh that’s enough, Mark – is quite the master at pen and ink drawings, and the products of this talent are liberally used throughout the book – both as pictorial guides to the different routes up fells, and as piece of art in their own right.  In this age of iPads and digital imagery, it’s so pleasing to see good traditional ways of illustrating in a major guide book.

The photos are from the author too – and this gives you a greater sense of trust in the words.  Here, you know that Mark has actually done these walks he is suggesting – a fact you can’t really be sure of if the photos are credited to a stock photographic library.  The photos might not be the atmospheric “I've wild camped for 3 days on this spot to get this moody sunrise” types of shots, but I can tell you I’d be proud to call any of them my own.  Especially Castle Crag on page 142 – which actually does qualify as a moody Lake District shot…

Great attention has been place in the design too.  The aforementioned line drawings and photographs are well spaced out, and indeed there isn't a page which doesn't contain a photo, a line drawing or a map.  And of the maps, there are two notable points.  Firstly, they are the Harvey versions – which provide a welcome change of style to the omni-present Ordnance Survey ones.  Secondly, the maps aren't constrained within boxes here, they are allowed to flow out and live on the page.  So much so, the maps often take over a full page – and on my favourite pages (102-103), the map almost covers the whole double page spread.  (yes I have favourite pages…  The panoramas are also well-made and very useful – laying out on a double page spread what exactly you can see from the summit of each fell.

So onto the routes and the descriptions thereof.  Well, here is Mark’s triumph with this book.  The words really describe in great detail what, where, how you can achieve your goal for reaching the summit of the fells.  To prepare this review, I followed Mark’s descriptions to 3 different fells, and found the detail to be astonishing – with a clever balance between direction and information.  I would never advocate anyone to go out walking in the Lake District without a map – but if my map was taken away from me, I’d want this book instead.  And Mark describes alternative routes to each of the summits – where possible – giving you additional walks in the future by taking the many different variations.

This book completes the eight-volume series.  So, is it possible to suggest the unthinkable?  Could this body of work become the definitive Lake District multi-volume walking guide?  Can the student topple his mentor?  Well, certainly, if a series of this quality and standing had been written about the Peak District say, it would easily be classed as the walking guide for the Peak.  The problem in the Lakes is that AW has got there before anyone else – and that makes it so tricky for anyone else to make their mark (a pun worthy of MR himself there)…

But – and I’m possibly going to lose some friends here – I think Mark’s have the edge.  Sure I enjoy reading AW’s guides and I respect and revere his writing and description – but Mark has the benefit of being around now.  He has the benefit also of the sum total of all the knowledge assembled since AW’s time too.  His guides are easier-to-read but still have an immaculate turn of phrase – which are modern and current.  And phrases will stick in your memory – just like with AW’s books.  It all leads me to prefer Mark’s books to AW’s…

Whether people will be doing the “Richards”, I’m not sure.  Again, perhaps if the series had been about a different area – yes.  But the “Wainwrights” are such a part of British walking culture now, it’s difficult to see that ever changing.  What will change, though, is people will be quoting from Mark’s books in years to come as readily as they do now from AW’s…

You mark my words… (I did it again)

 Lakeland Fellranger : The Far Eastern Fells by Mark Richards

published by Cicerone, priced £14.99

Walks Around Britain rating 9/10

Order it now online from Amazon here 

Book Review - Cardigan Bay North: Circular walks along the Wales Coast Path

Having already dispelled my original pre-conceptions of reasonably-priced pocket walking books, the next in the Top 10 Walks series from Northern Eye Books is most welcome dropping on the doormat.

“If it ain't broke, don't fix it” is that well-worn adage, and it is certainly true with the format of this books.  Bright and colourful, with a good number of excellent photographs and a modern, airy feel to the design is what the Top 10 Walks series is all about.  Have a look at my review of Pub Walks: Walks to Cumbria's Best Pubs.

This book is part of a growing sub-series focused on circular walks along different parts of the Wales Coast Path.  The Path opened in May 2012 – here’s our podcast with a feature about the opening – and stretches 870 miles from the outskirts of Chester in the north to Chepstow in the south.  Great play was made in the path’s first year of Wales being “the only country in the world with a path around its entire coast” – and indeed this book mentions this too.  The PR guys at the time seemingly forgot about the Isle of Man having the Raad ny Foillan coast path since 1986…  I’ll forgive the book including this line, as it was generally used at the time, but it’s interesting to note the official PR line now is “the longest continuous coastal path around a country.” – which is perfectly true.

This particular book is focused on the north part of Cardigan Bay and feature 10 walks which include a section along the Wales Coast Path and then via off to take in a special place, and then return back to the start.  Who better to choose 10 top walks in the area than Sioned Bannister.  Sioned hails from these parts, and has picked a collection of varied and interesting walks from the coast path, from Porthmadog in the north of the area to Borth in the south.

All of the walks have a shout to be included in the book, but I have a couple of particular favourites.

First is the Porthmadog route to summit of the hill which dominates the port – Moel-y-Gest.  Porthmadog is very familiar to me as it was one of the places we used to visit on the annual family holiday to North Wales when I was a child.  It’s also a place to go now as a mid point of two spectacular narrow gauge steam railways – so there’s lots of reasons to visit.  From the summit, the walk offers a fantastic view of the port of Porthmadog – named after William Alexander Madocks and his attempt to command the route between the newly joined capital cities of London and Dublin in the early 1800s.

The second of my favourite walks in the book is actually from Porthmadog again… but this time to the Italianate village of Portmeirion, the brainchild of Welsh architect Clough Williams-Ellis.

Beautiful images are liberally sprinkled throughout the book.

My last favourite from the book is the walk from Borth and along the Cardigan Bay part of the coast path and back into farmland for a contrast.  This is particular of interest as at low tide the remains of an ancient submerged forest is revealed.  This is from the ancient kingdom known locally as Cantre’r Gwaelod – which some of your “Coast” fanatics will remember for the 4th programme of the very first series.

10 walks in a bright, colourful and detailed book – complete with proper OS mapping which means you don't really need a separate map – all for £4.99.  It’s a real bargain, and although you can buy apps for your smartphone for less, they don't really have the detailed route descriptions or the beautiful photography this book does.

If you're in the market for 10 short walks in the Cardigan Bay area, then this is the book for you.

Cardigan Bay North: Circular walks along the Wales Coast Path by Sioned Bannister

published by Northern Eye Books.

Walks Around Britain rating 9/10

Order it now online from Amazon here or from the Northern Eye website here.

Book Review - the Lakeland Pack 2 by walkingbooks.com

 The phrase “book review” is possibly a slight misnomer, as this isn’t really a book at all.  Perhaps “pack review” would be more relevant – as this is one of the range published by Walking-books.com.

So what is it?  Well, it is a box which opens up to show a map on the left side of the region covered – the Lake District in this case – and on the right is the collection of walks.  These are on loose cards which are laminated and contain all the info about the route on one side and the route shown on an Ordnance Survey map on the reverse.


Walkingbooks.com originated this style of publication, and, as with any major innovation, found it copied by several other larger publishers.  However, generally speaking, the rivals have re-used walks they already had published in other books, whereas Walkingbooks.com's versions have been written from scratch.  The other major difference are the size of the pack – Walkingbooks.com (herein WB!) originated the style using an A5 sized pack, and the rivals have generally used a smaller format.

This is the second series of the packs published by WB and they've had a complete make-over from the first outings – which date way back to 1999.  Times and designs have moved on a lot since then, and fortunately WB have taken the opportunity to radically bring the layout and style into the 21st Century.

Firstly, the main difference is in the style of the pack; the original series of WB packs were made from a fairly lightweight cardboard - which damaged easily – and had a difficult opening flap - as seen on the left. That’s gone now, in favour of the much more sturdy box which opens easily to the left – like a book.





But that’s not as much of a difference compared to the design of the cards themselves… they have had a complete make-over.  The originals were a mass of plain text on one side, and the OS map on the flip side.  As I’m mentioned, WB have kept this style for the new packs, but a designer has given the layout a fresh feel.

These new cards have an info bar to the left of the card and another at the top, which give similar details to the “Essential Info” box on our own Walks Around Britain website.  The walking route itself is split into 4 or 5 numbered stages, which are highlighted on the OS map on the reverse of the card.

These numbered stages have type in two colours, with the black text describing the route and the blue text providing interesting information – such as historical details, stories and such like.  This method works very well, the helps you distinguish between the route and the additional details.
Another handy feature is the correct Ordnance Survey map number is shown at the bottom left hand corner for each card – along with contact details for the relevant Tourist Information Centre for that walk.

OS Maps on The Lakeland Pack 2

Turning the card over shows the Ordnance Survey map for the walk – and this is really WB’s major selling point, as almost all the competitor packs of a similar style don’t have full-blown 1:25,000 Explorer mapping on their cards.  But here is my first, and really only, note of disappointment.

OS Maps on the older packs

The quality of the maps are a bit of a let-down; they tend to be a fuzzy and not very sharp.  Some are better than others, but I do feel perhaps the OS hadn’t supplied high enough quality mapping to WB for the printing process.  Ironically, this is the only point in which the original series of packs are better – as the quality of the OS maps in those are excellent and pin sharp.

Accompanying the pack is a booklet which at first glance only details how to use the walking cards.  But the booklet actually is a tiny treasure, with information about walking safety, suitable clothing & equipment and much more.  And finally, hiding underneath all the walking sheets is a clear plastic wallet which you can pop a card into, keeping it safe and dry from the Lake District weather.


What are the walking routes?  Well, in this pack there is a great mix of easy, moderate, difficult and strenuous, and there’s also a nice spread across the whole of the Lakeland area – not just sticking to the honey pot of the Central Lakes.  Heck, there’s even a walk in Barrow-in-Furness – part of the area not often covered by walking books.




My favourite is perhaps number 12 – a 4 ½ mile wander from Waterhead through Troutbeck to the Lake District Visitors Centre at Brokehole – a lovely walk.  But then, so are the other 24.  Jim Rubery and Michael Law have selected some crackers, and you won’t be disappointed with any of them.

So, is this new series of walking packs from WB an improvement on the originals?  Definitely.  The box is stronger and won’t get squashed in your backpack; the cards are laminated and won’t get damaged on route; they have a fresh, clean design which is easy to follow and get the info you need – and the 25 walks offered are top routes too.  It’s just a shame about the fuzziness of the OS maps…



What’s good
The 25 walks are stunning and well worth trekking out on
Walking cards are laminated and should be safe to use in most weather
Clean, fresh inviting design of the walking cards
Sturdy box which won’t get squashed easily
Extremely helpfully booklet

What’s bad
Quality of the OS maps – a few are fuzzy and not too sharp.
Perhaps slightly expensive for fair weather walkers

 The Lakeland Pack 2 by walkingbooks.com - Rough Price - £14.99

Walks Around Britain rating  8/10

Order it online from Amazon here.