Book Reviews Roly Smith
Walking St Oswald ’ s Way and Northumberland Coast Path
Rudolf Abraham Cicerone , £ 16.95 ( pb )
Ionce dubbed Northumberland
“ England ’ s Empty Quarter ” and it remains one of the least visited of our National Parks , with its glorious coastline equally and strangely unfrequented . So this new ( and , it must be said , rather expensive ) 136-page guide , which links St Oswald ’ s Way to the Northumberland Coast Path northwards across the Border to Berwick-upon-Tweed , is to be welcomed as a glorious temptation to explore this fascinating region . ( Although as a Northumbrian a�icionado myself , I admit I ’ d rather it was kept quiet !). Abraham ’ s somewhat arbitrary 111-mile route follows St Oswald ’ s Way from Heaven�ield on Hadrian ’ s Wall to Warkworth and then on to Lindisfarne and Cresswell on the coast , with an
/ optional 11-mile extension to Berwick . The use of OS ’ s reliable 1:25,000 Explorer mapping , makes this an essential guide . The author admits there are no technical dif�iculties to be encountered on the route , but wisely warns that the crossing of the highest points on the Simonside Hills could cause navigation problems in poor weather or high winds .
15 Short Walks in Nidderdale
Jon Fallis Cicerone , £ 9.95 ( pb )
Why Nidderdale wasn ’ t included in the 2016 extension to the Yorkshire Dales National Park remains a mystery known only to the Whitehall bureaucrats who drew up the revised borders . The reason usually given why it was not originally included in the Yorkshire Dales park when it was designated in 1954 was that the three reservoirs which �lood its upper reaches had somehow industrialised its landscape . This was a decision which makes the 50-odd reservoirs included within the �irst national park in the Peak District , for example , seem somewhat incongruous . However , for those who know the 600 sq km Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty between the Yorkshire Dales and the Vale of York , Nidderdale has an abundance of attractions which can often be enjoyed without the crowds which can congregate at better-known beauty spots . So this latest in Cicerone ’ s Short Walks series is to be welcomed and our Ripon-based guide obviously knows the area like the proverbial back of his hand . All the favourites are there among these 15 walks , divided between Nidderdale itself , Lower Swaledale and the Washburn valley which feeds into the River Wharfe – which in an unaccountable proof-reading error , is spelt throughout without its �inal ‘ e ’. The monochrome cover of the book also appears to show the Ribblehead Viaduct , which is miles to the north in the Yorkshire Dales National Park . But we have 15 easy , fairly nonstrenuous walks around Brimham Rocks , Jervaulx Abbey , the How Stean Gorge , Studley Royal ( excluding Fountains Abbey ) and the Nidd Gorge from Knaresborough among some other lesser-known gems such as a river walk at Pateley Bridge and a Ripley circular .
14 outdoor focus / summer 2023