Alfred Wainwright, the legendary fell walker & author of the incomparable & unique Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells was also a fluent, eloquent & diligent correspondent. Writing to old friends & to the many new ones gained through his books, & to his love, & later second wife, Betty, his letters display a much warmer, more sensitive & emotional character than his gruff popular image would suggest. Hunter Davies, Wainwright's biographer, has here collected a selection of letters that range from his early years in Blackburn to his established position as Borough Treasurer in Kendal, & cover all aspects of his professional & personal life, as well as the voluminous correspondence that was a consequence of writing & publishing the Pictorial Guides. The latter vividly illuminate many aspects of that turbulent but ultimately triumphant process, while the former present a picture of a dedicated public servant whose personal life had been deeply unhappy until late in life he found unexpected but transcendent love & happiness. In turn business-like & comic, wonderfully well informed & remarkably innocent, deeply moving & yet tough-minded, the letters present a vivid & unforgettable picture of one of the great but eccentric creative geniuses of the twentieth century. ...

The Wainwrights Pocket Log is a very small & classy note book which has been customised for Lakeland Fell-Walkers. The texture of the cover & the gold trimmings give it a stylish retro feel. The contents are in black & white, with the fells arranged alphabetically within the seven sections of the 214 Wainwrights. Its size is its charm but also its advantage. Full size log books expect a lot more to be written than is helpful to most people, take up space & can`t be easily carried. Wall charts don`t allow for notes & aren`t mobile either. Smartphone apps are efficient but, well, we don`t think AW would have approved... So this is it! All you need to carry with you for the next week/year/retirement. ...

` As if The Remains of the Day had been written by Kingsley Amis... brilliantly exquisite... This book is a meal you won`t want to finish.` J. Ryan Stradal Welcome to The Hills, Oslo`s most esteemed restaurant, an institution stewed in tradition & clinging to the faded grandeur of old Europe. A neurotic waiter tends to the desires of his regular
- & irregular
- clientele. Aristocrats & artistes, wealthy widows & roguish entrepreneurs, he observes all their dramas with a wit as sharp as a filleting knife. At table ten sits the impeccable Mr Graham, the most demanding of them all, impatiently awaiting a special guest. When at last she arrives
- young, beautiful, mysterious
- she will prove a challenging new flavour, throwing into disarray our waiter`s nerves, & the delicately balanced ingredients of the room. Exquisitely observed & wickedly playful, The Waiter is a novel for lovers of food, wine, & of European sensibilities, but also for anyone who spends time in restaurants, on either side of the service.



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In ” The Waiting Land” (first published in 1967) Dervla Murphy affectionately portrays the people of Nepal`s different tribes, the customs of an ancient, complex civilization & the country`s natural grandeur & beauty. This is the third of Dervla Murphy`s early travel books: an exploration of Nepal by a feisty, generous-hearted young Irish woman. Yet it can also be seen as the completion of a trilogy of books concerned with her experience of self- sufficient mountain cultures, first tasted in crossing Persia & Afghanistan in ” Full Tilt”, & deepened with her experience of working with Tibetan refugees in the frontiers of Northern India, as told in ” Tibetan Foothold”. Having settled in a village in the Pokhara Valley to work at a Tibetan refugee camp, she makes her home in a tiny, vermin-infested room over a stall in the bazaar. In diary form, she describes her various journeys by air, by bicycle & on foot into the remote & mountainous Lantang region on the border of Tibet. Murphy`s charm & sensitivity as a writer & traveller reveal not only the vitality of an age-old civilization facing the challenge of Westernisation, but the wonder & excitement of her own remarkable adventures. ...

A field, a perfect morning, a family destroyed in a single moment. Every night, before he cuts the engine & lets the boat drift, Guy writes the diary of the man he should have been
- of a husband with his wife & their young daughter; of a new family that may not have been perfect but who were, at least, together. & every morning, as he`s rocked in his berth by the waves all around, he wakes to the memory of that fateful day & the knowledge that things can never be the same. Embarking on a moving & eventful journey from the calm estuaries of East Anglia to the southern states of America & the storm-filled waters of the North Sea, Guy meets Marta & her daughter Rhona, who are on a life-affirming journey of their own.
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The only guide to its full 896 mile route, The Wales Coast Path
- A Practical Guide for Walkers is an essential companion for
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The latest ” New York Times” bestseller from one of today`s most inspiring writers. What would you do if you lost everything
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The orchestra have an important concert to play... but all the musicians have gone walkabout! Can you help the Maestro & his faithful assistant to track them down using clues from their postcards? Take a trip from Reykjavik to Rio, through Greek islands, Venetian canals & Egyptian pyramids in this search-&-find tour of the world & learn all the instruments of the orchestra as you work your way through this spotting extravaganza. ...

Almost every author who has ever written has had something to say on the subject of walking. In this anthology, Deborah Manley has drawn on the writings of more than 50 literary figures from around the world
- Bill Bryson, Agatha Christie, Charles Dickens, Daniel Defoe, Peter Fleming, Rudyard Kipling, Patrick Leigh Fermor, Eric Newby, George Orwell, JB Priestley, Bayard Taylor, Robert Louis Stevenson, HD Thoreau, Colin Thubron & Mark Twain among many others. The book is divided into 10 themed chapters
- Setting Out, Through Countryside, Processions & Marches, Pilgrimages & Walking for Work, Walking in Winter, On Hills & Mountains, Walking in Parks & Gardens, Walking by Water, Walking in Towns & Cities & Walking at Night. Brief biographies of all the writers"ed are included plus a complete bibliography for all the books"ed.

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Following the success of The Walker s Anthology, The Railway Anthology, & The Cyclist`s Anthology we re continuing this series with further short excerpts from the writings of famous literary figures on the subject of hiking, trekking & climbing around the world. In this fascinating anthology, Bryn Thomas has drawn on writings of more than 50 literary figures Bill Bryson, Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, William Dalrymple, Daniel Defoe, EM Forster, Amitav Ghosh, Graham Greene, Ernest Hemingway, Rudyard Kipling, Eric Newby, JB Priestley, Bayard Taylor, Paul Theroux, Henry David Thoreau, Colin Thubron, Mark Twain & H.G. Wells among many others. This entertaining hardback anthology will appeal to hikers & armchair travelers alike & make the perfect gift.” ...