BOOK REVIEWS / ROLY SMITH
Circuit covers 58 miles.
As the author says, the
Cotswold region is “utterly
distinctive.” But I do wish his
villages wouldn’t “nestle” quite so
much.
by the numerous references to
the notorious steel-bonneted
reivers, who waged uncontrolled
internecine warfare over this area
for over 400 years.
Modest ascents and descents
make this an easygoing circuit
which can be accomplished
in five or six days either
clockwise or anticlockwise from
Melrose, although clockwise is
recommended as it generally
provides the best views.
HEART OF THE COTSWOLDS
Christopher Knowles
Rucksack Readers, £14.99 (pb)
W
aterproof paper, clear
1:50,000 mapping,
excellent photography
and a knowledgeable text.
The latest production from Jetta
Megarry’s Edinburgh publishing
house has everything you would
want from a practical, rucksack-
friendly guidebook.
As the author says, the
Cotswold region is “utterly
distinctive.”
The author has been organising
walking holidays in the Cotswolds
for over twenty years, so he should
know his stuff. He has devised
three new walking routes in this
new guide to the delectable
Cotswold country, whose
honeystone oolitic limestones,
according to JB Priestley, “knew
the trick of keeping the lost
sunlight of centuries glimmering
about them.”
The eight-day Grand Circuit,
as described, covers 94 miles
from Cheltenham via Broadway,
Moreton, Bourton and Cirencester;
while the 45-mile Winchcombe
Circuit goes to Broadway, Moreton
and Bourton, and the Cheltenham
12 Outdoor focus | autumn 2017
BORDERS ABBEYS WAY
Neil Mackay
Rucksack Readers, £12.99 (pb)
T
his is another “way” from
Rucksack by another
experienced author, who
in this case used to be the
Access Officer for the Scottish
Borders Council, which developed
the route which was opened in
2006.
Modest ascents and
descents make this an
easygoing circuit
Apart from the rather clumsy title
(too many plurals!), the new route
is an easy, 67-mile circuit of the
Borders, visiting the romantic 12th
century ruined abbeys of Melrose,
Dryburgh, Kelso and Jedburgh,
and also taking in the historic
towns of Hawick and Selkirk and
Sir Walter Scott’s Gothic baronial
mansion of Abbotsford House.
You are left in no doubt that
this is indeed Border country
WALKING THE HEBRIDEAN WAY
Richard Barrett
Cicerone, £14.95 (pb)
T
his is a tempting guide to the
latest long-distance route
in Scotland: the 155-mile
Hebridean Way, which runs
the length of the Outer Hebrides
from Vatersay on the southernmost
tip of Barra, through the Uists to
Stornoway, in the north of Lewis.
Purists will undoubtedly want
to add the dramatic extra sixteen
miles to the Stevenson lighthouse
at the northernmost Butt of Lewis
which, because of lack of funding,
is still not officially part of the
Hebridean Way. Further future
options might include routes
running up both the east and west
coasts of Lewis.