Britain and Ireland's Best Wild Places: 500 Ways to Discover the Wild by Christopher Somerville (2008-05-03) - Hardcover

Christopher Somerville

3.72

39 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0713999675 ISBN 13: 9780713999679

Publisher: Allen Lane / Penguin Books, 2008

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Christopher Somerville takes us a journey of discovery through Britain and Ireland, spanning their length and breadth as he seeks out 500 of his favourite Wild Places in fields and green lanes, in forests and mountains and on lonely coasts, in all of nature's moods and every kind of weather. "Britain and Ireland's Best Wild Places" is the key to discovering Scottish mountainsides covered in rare Ice Age flowers, Cornish standing stones and holy wells, Midlands wildflower meadows, storm-battered Welsh headlands and seabird islands, hill ranges and boglands in Ireland where only hares and skylarks go. But this adventurous book roams far beyond conventional landscapes. Among its wild treasures are medieval Green Men spewing mouthfuls of leaves, the ruins of haunted chapels deep in forgotten woods, old mines and quarries being recaptured by nature, villages where pagan rituals are still enthusiastically observed, rusting sea-forts tottering on sandbanks.Each Wild Place is enhanced with mapping and travel instructions, suggestions about walks and other useful information. Britain and Ireland are crammed full of wild places, often astonishingly close to home. Here is one man's poetical yet practical account of the state of the Wild in Britain and Ireland, how it is being both threatened and nurtured, and how - whether you are heading out for a Sunday stroll or planning your next holiday - you can go out and discover it in all its extraordinary vigour and variety.

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About the Author:

Christopher Somerville has spent twenty-five years walking the country lanes, back hills and wildernesses of Britain and Ireland, and believes he has learnt most things of importance while outdoors. He is the author of Coast and Coast: The Journey Continues, which accompanied the BBC2 series. He writes regularly on country walks, for publications including the Daily Telegraph and Saga.

Review:

An excellent survey ... Somerville belongs to the fine tradition of British nature writers that [is] at once informative and poetic -- Colin Tudge * Financial Times * A wonderful tome for anyone seeking wilderness on their doorstep * Country Walking * Brilliant and heartfelt ... magnificent ... an extraordinary work which looks set to reconfigure our relationship with the great outdoors * Sunday Telegraph * A true compendium of the wild coast and countryside ... you are left with the impression that here is a writer with whom you would like to spend time * Country Life * Utterly charming ... a wonderful book and elegant reference guide * Irish Times *

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