Book Reviews Roly Smith
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But it ’ s not all doom and gloom , as the author walks past clumps of yews that are older than Christianity , the scant remains of Roman forts , and even has a standoff with a herd of alpacas . And his journey unexpectedly ends when he is arrested and put in a police cell during an Extinction Rebellion protest in Parliament Square in September 2020 . This is a beautifully written travelogue which is charmingly illustrated with cover and chapter headings by Jackie Morris , of The Lost Words fame .
Sarn Helen : A Journey through Wales , Past , Present and Future
Tom Bullough Granta , £ 16.99 ( hb )
Don ’ t be fooled into thinking , as I was , that this is a walking guide to Sarn Helen , the 160-mile route based on the Roman road running through central and west Wales between Aberconwy in the north and Carmarthen in the west . Anyway , that was already adequately covered by John Cantrell and Arthur Rylance ’ s Cicerone guide of 1992 . This is more of a journey of discovery for Bullough , a Breconbased novelist looking for something constructive to do during the �irst Covid lockdown of 2020 . It turned into a heartfelt cri de coeur over what is happening to our embattled countryside , as global warming takes its inexorable course . The author speaks to a series of academic environmental scientists along the way , one of whom warns of inevitable severe food shortages resulting from crop failures due to increasingly wet summers and winters .
15 Short Walks Hadrian ’ s
Wall Mark Richards
15 Short Walks in Arnside &
Silverdale David Jordan
15 Short Walks in
Nidderdale Jon Fallis All Cicerone , £ 9.95 ( pb )
These are three of the latest titles in Cicerone ’ s new , slimmed-down and marginallycheaper Short Walks series , although at just short of a tenner each , the price still seems a bit steep for what are compact , 96- page paperbacks . However , the walker can rest easy in the expert boots of Mark ( now surely deserving to be dubbed Marcus ?) Richards for the Hadrian ’ s Wall book . All the expected popular sites are covered , including the muchphotographed Sewingshields Crags , Sycamore Gap and , slightly “ off the Wall ”, Vindolanda and Barcombe Hill . But there are also interesting and less frequented excursions to places like the Nine Nicks of Thirlwall and Birdoswald and Gilsland Spa . As usual , Richards proves a reliable , knowledgeable and entertaining guide .
Short Walks in Arnside and Silverdale also covers well-known destinations in this tiny AONB , such as Arnside Knott , Silverdale and Jenny Brown ’ s Point , in that southeast corner of the Lake District which is sometimes known as Cumbria over the Water . Local resident David Jordan obviously knows his patch like the back of his hand , and he includes places a little further a�ield , as such the RSPB ’ s famous nature reserve of Leighton Moss , with its bitterns and bearded tits , and even further south , the peregrine-haunted former quarry which is now the local nature reserve of Warton Crag . The Short Walks in Nidderdale admirably covers that oftenoverlooked and disregarded area of the Yorkshire Dales . Lovely Nidderdale surely merited inclusion in the National Park when it was designated in 1954 , and again when the Park was extended to include the Howgill Fells in 2016 . But it remains a 600 sq km AONB , including such scenic and historical gems as Brimham Rocks , Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal , Jervaulx Abbey
10 outdoor focus / summer 2023