Book Reviews Roly Smith
The View from the Hill
Christopher Somerville Haus Publishing , £ 16.99 ( hb )
Being a rambling correspondent , as Christopher Somerville has been for The Times for many years , can sometimes raise a few sniggers in the newsroom , as I can con�irm during my own journalistic career .
Of course , the newshounds and subs erroneously relate the title not to the activity but to your style of writing . However , Somerville ’ s meticulous prose could never be described as rambling , and his latest offering , culled from the 450 notebooks he ’ d kept during a lifetime of walking , might better be described as a miscellany of magical memories .
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Faced with the enforced hibernation of lockdown , Somerville turned to the dogeared , battered notebooks he ’ d made during 40 years of wandering the British countryside , to revive and re-live the best and most memorable moments .
The result , in nearly 150 pithy , engaging and erudite essays , is a literary tour de force , an enchanting voyage of discovery and wonder through some of the most beautiful and fascinating landscapes of Britain . And all this in the jovial company of one of Britain ’ s most popular countryside writers . The View from the Hill follows the cycle of the seasons from a January snowhole on the Fiacaill Ridge in the Arctic Cairngorms to a spectacular Christmas sunrise viewed from a Neolithic long barrow near his Bristol home . In between are recollections of walks that take in everything from the vagaries of weather to geological and wildlife wonders and ancient traditions and folklore . All are narrated with moving and often humorous delight , particularly when local experts are his guide .
But Somerville also reveals himself as the world ’ s worst backpacker . In an hilarious chapter entitled I got 99 problems and a tent ain ’ t one , he recounts an uncomfortable night of incessant rain , thistles under bare feet , a missing tent pole and spent torches endured on the island of
Lundy in the Bristol Channel . This is a book you can dip into at any page and be transported to a place and time where the wonders of these sceptred isles are revealed in clear , concise – never rambling – prose by a worthy successor to one of the author ’ s personal heroes , the eminent walker / naturalist John Hillaby . No praise can be higher than that .
Westering : Footways and folkways from Norfolk to the Welsh Coast
Laurence Mitchell Saraband , £ 9.99 ( pb )
This book describes a quite different , more southerly coast-to-coast walk , starting at Great Yarmouth on the Norfolk coast , wending through the Fens , the Midlands and central Wales and ending in the ancient market town of Aberystwyth on Cardigan Bay .
The author freely admits his route goes against the grain of the land , but by taking this slightly contrary route , he visits places which are often overlooked by most walking guides . These include John Clare ’ s hated enclosed Northamptonshire �ields ; the haunted deserted medieval villages of the Midlands ; ancient , long-forgotten battle�ields , and valleys drowned by reservoirs for the surrounding thirsty cities , like those in the Elan Valley of mid-Wales . This is not your usual
14 outdoor focus / spring 2022