foundation of the National Trust in 1895 ; Potter ’ s extensive land acquisitions later donated to the Trust in the Lake District ; Dower ’ s behind-the-scenes dogged diplomacy in the creation of our National Parks and later the Countryside Commission , and Sylvia Sayer ’ s redoubtable defence of her beloved Dartmoor , Kelly faithfully relates the essential and pioneering roles they played in giving us the priceless protected areas we all treasure and enjoy today .
Ring of Stone Circles
Stan L Abbott Saraband , £ 9.99 ( pb )
In this beguiling travelogue
OWPG chairman Abbott admits from the outset that he is no archaeologist as he embarks on an ambitious odyssey to visit the majority of Neolithic and Bronze Age stone circles in Cumbria .
Originally envisaged as a walking route , Abbott eventually accomplished the feat with the essential assistance of what he affectionately dubs “ The Beast ” – an 18-speed electric hybrid bicycle .
Quoting extensively from archaeologists and their excavation reports , the author sheds new light on the importance and function of these enigmatic rings of stone , from the better-known sites such as Castlerigg and Long Meg , to many barely distinguishable circles which may have been prehistoric ritual sites or just as easily , the remains of cairns or hut circles .
And he agrees with archaeologist Paul Frodsham , who believes that Cumbria and in particular the Long Meg circles lay at the very heart of Neolithic
Britain , exactly midway between the better-known complexes of Stonehenge and Avebury in the south and Neolithic Orkney in the far north of these islands .
A common thread throughout the book is journalist Abbott ’ s abiding interest in the communities and people he meets along the way . These include the entrants to Jane Hasell-McCosh ’ s World Marmalade Championships at Dalemain ; the World Gurning ( face-pulling ) Championships at Egremont , and the World ’ s Biggest Liar contest , originally held at the Wasdale Head Hotel and now at the Santon Bridge Inn , Santon . Abbott gamely entered all of these , but unfortunately failed to win any .
The mystery of how and most importantly why these mysterious circles of stone were built remains unresolved , but the author concludes , as many have before , that they must have held a vital and overarching importance to the prehistoric populations of Cumbria which we have long since lost . And he asks himself the question : “ Does the tingle I myself feel at the heart of a stone circle represent the ephemeral vestiges of some long-lost gift ?”
Friends Way 1
Martin Budgett & Jacquetta Megarry Rucksack Readers , £ 14.99 ( pb )
The “ friends ” of the title are the
Society of Friends , otherwise known as Quakers , and this 62- mile route follows the journey of founder George Fox from Barley , Lancashire at the foot of Pendle Hill , to Sedburgh , a town rich in Quaker heritage , in Cumbria .
Witch-haunted Pendle Hill is where Fox was “ moved by the Lord to go atop of it ” and where he had his vision of “ a great people to be gathered ” in 1652 . Later a crowd of 1,000 gathered at the crag known as Fox ’ s Pulpit on Firbank Fell , and the Society of Friends was inaugurated . The latter part of the route between Sedburgh and Swarthmoor Hall , Ulverston , his wife Margaret ’ s family home , will be the subject of
8 outdoor focus / summer 2022