WHAT THE JUDGES SAID ... The writing stands out for its authoritative tone , never losing its enthusiasm and respect for the landscape that inspires it … Effective use of maps and photographs that contribute to a strong sense of place , which characterises an effective guidebook .
JUDGES Sue Viccars , author and owner / editor of Dartmoor Magazine and Chris Bagshaw , editor , writer and former OWPG member .
HIGHLY COMMENDED Lisa Drewe for South West England Paddleboarding
The Guidebook Award is sponsored by Aquapac , manufacturer of 100 % waterproof cases , bags and pouches . Aquapac is headquartered in London , and sells all over the world .
( Top ) Stac Polly from the Coigach Grahams ( Left ) The cover of Scottish Wild Country Backpacking ( Right ) Coigach Capers - the last route I contributed attempts to navigate what ‘ wild ’ means in the context of a landscape forcibly cleared of its inhabitants . It also meant we sought out routes that might shed light on the cultural history of the landscape , rather than portray it as yet more terra nullius to be exploited for thoughtless recreation . Is this quite heavy material for a guidebook ? I don ’ t think so . I think a guidebook should set the stage , contextualise , and then step back to let the reader appreciate . And it ’ s a part of the bigger picture , not the whole thing .
Then , the pandemic hit . We couldn ’ t recce routes , and my other work went into meltdown – feast then complete famine . The publisher was of course understanding , and we all grew quite adept at getting out in-between various states of lockdown !
Towards the end of the field research , both the title and the format of the project were revisited . To the publisher ’ s credit , they considered our reservations about the ‘ W ’ word carefully , and despite an apparent loss of marketing cache opted for ‘ Wild Country ’ instead . It doesn ’ t seem to have harmed the book - it ’ s on its second imprint . It may even have helped it stand out from the competition .
Partly on the strength of the photographs , and partly because some of the routes demanded more in-depth mapping , Cicerone also saw wisdom in a medium format book . Again , we made the case that people increasingly use guidebooks as inspiration , downloading GPX files and photographing pages , often leaving the heavy tome at home or in the van . Cicerone really are fantastic listeners – I can ’ t thank them enough for being open to our thoughts and ideas as they developed .
Of course , this is only part of the story . Several months of editing followed , some of it difficult as many of our routes were away from paths and needed to be mapped very carefully .
Overall , I am pleased with the project . Together and under sometimes testing circumstance , we made something we would not have made on our own , something contemporary and relevant , and something that I hope sets a decent standard for the genre . It may be my name on the Award but that ’ s purely an accident of OWPG membership – the gong belongs equally to Peter , Stefan , and the entire team at Cicerone also . It was hard work occasionally , but mostly it was fun !
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