Roly Smith book reviews
Head changed Wainwright ’ s . When I climbed Todd Crag from Clappersgate in my winklepickers and Pac-a-Mac on my first-ever visit to the Lake District in the 1960s , the all-encompassing view of the Central Fells from the summit instilled in me a lifelong love of the mountains .
Jones ’ s lovingly curated book includes contributions from orienteers , fell runners , natural historians , farmers , local residents , academics & artists , all of whom have also fallen under Loughrigg ’ s beguiling spell .
The journalist author lived in Loughrigg ’ s shadow at Ambleside for 13 years and got to know it intimately in all seasons and weathers . She claims : “ Within Loughrigg ’ s spread lies possibly more variety and complexity of landscape and terrain in a small space than anywhere in the Lake District .” A view she shares with the Lakeland writer A Harry Griffin , who described it as “ Lakeland in miniature .”
One of the most intriguing features of Loughrigg , alongside its confusing number of paths and rocky little summits , is the beautiful but at times elusive Lily Tarn . As Jones admits : “ Several times I ’ ve been convinced that pixies have moved Lily Tarn , and experienced orienteers … will agree that the footpath network has a certain complexity .”
Interestingly , the author concludes each chapter of this charming love letter to her favourite fell with a soundtrack of a suggested piece of music , from Vaughan Williams ’ ‘ The Lark Ascending ’ to ‘ Pictures of Lily ’ by The Who .
You are Here
David Nicholls Sceptre , £ 10 ( hb )
My library of classic mountain literature has a continuing tradition of walk stories : from Laurie Lee and Patrick Leigh Fermor in the 1930s , through Nicholas Crane and Bill Bryson , up to former poet laureate Simon Armitage walking the Pennine Way in 2012 and Raynor Winn in 2013 along the South West Coast Path .
But what about fiction ? Where are the dramatic novels and major motion pictures set in the worlds of hillwalking and hiking ? Within my own core sport of multi-day treks carrying a big rucksack – nothing .
Nothing , that is , until March 2012 , when Rachel Joyce ’ s The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry completed its long hike from Devon up to Berwick upon Tweed – released as a major motion picture last summer , with Jim Broadbent as the unlikely Harold Fry .
And now , barely ten years later , comes : You Are Here : The Instant No 1 Sunday Times Bestseller , from the author of ONE DAY .
Don ’ t you just hate those spurious subtitles on the Kindle Reader these days ? Us authors do have to keep up with the times , though . Which is why my next guidebook ’ s coming out as Short Walks in the Scottish Borders : the Searing Million-Seller That Everyone With Feet Must Read ‘ Much Better Than Me ’ ( Alfred Wainwright ).
The Sunday Times itself describes ‘ You Are Here ’ as “ The Remains of the Day crossed with Michael Winterbottom ’ s The Trip , only with more Gore-Tex ”. And it ’ s currently striding along at no . 8 in ‘ clean and wholesome romance ’. The Amazon vetters clearly having missed the serious peat-slop daubed all over Day Six .
Michael the divorced and rather lonely geography teacher , is about to set off along Wainwright ’ s Coast to Coast : “ He felt sure that if he were to complete the journey he would feel … what ?”
Meanwhile Marnie , the rather lonely freelance copy-editor , is confronting her compass : “ It seemed inconceivable that this device could help her find her way , but imagine the embarrassment of being rescued without one . Carrying a compass on a walk was a way of saying , ‘ Look , I ’ m trying , all right ? I ’ m doing my best .’ “
And the geology-based meet-cute , as they compare the ritual pebbles picked up at St Bees for dropping off again at Robin Hood ’ s Bay at the other end . “ Nothing flash . Understated , classic . It ’ s called a rounded dolerite .”
The essential element of every Rom-Com is the Force that Drives the Two Apart . Here it ’ s provided by the C-to-C walk itself . “ There was something powerfully antiaphrodisiac about the English countryside . The smell of wet wool and an unwashed Thermos flask , the taste of boiled sweets … no , sex belonged in cities .”
I wasn ’ t altogether convinced by the way inexperienced , unfit Marnie doubles up the stages from Rosthwaite to Patterdale while aided along the way by three ( three !) pints of Lakeland ale . But then , this is romantic comedy . And anyway , I checked . David Nicholl is a proper long-distance walker , and he did indeed walk the Wainwright Coast to Coast .
So long-distance walking still awaits its Tolstoyan epic , 4000 miles across Siberia . Its Virginia Woolf stream of consciousness leaped over with the aid of a sturdy walking pole . Its Bronte-esque tale of peat and forbidden passion along the length of the Pennine Way .
But when it comes to early 21st century sentimental story – Chick Lit But For Blokes As Well . Long distance walking , in fiction , has at last wrung out its socks , given a wry smile , and strolled forward into the gentle green pastures of the Heart-warming Story . And yet : while I was charmed by Marnie and her geographyteacher guy , I was even more caught up in the lively description of the Coast to Coast Path itself .
Reviewed by Ronald Turnbull
Winter 2024 – 25 OUTDOOR FOCUS 27