Not having done any Chaucer at school, reading The Canterbury Tales is one of those things I promised myself I would find time for and am pleased to have done at last! Although some parts are rather tedious six centuries … Continue reading →
This is the first of Alexander McCall Smith’s books in this series, set in Botswana, in which he introduces his principal character Mma Precious Ramotswe. The book combines a fictional biography of Mma Ramotswe with a series of short-story style … Continue reading →
Despite the titles of Mears’ popular TV series “Extreme Survival” and “World of Survival”, this is not a survival handbook. If I understand Mears correctly, he draws a distinction between “bushcraft” and “survival”. Bushcraft is an end in itself, a … Continue reading →
Elizabeth Main was one of the early pioneers of Alpine mountaineering, and especially, it follows, of women’s mountaineering. She was also an accomplished self-taught photographer. This book is based on a collection of her early photographs now housed in the … Continue reading →
October 2003 Introduction This week I was based on the north shore of Loch Leven, leading a “Munro Bagging” holiday for HF Holidays. The week was badly affected by gales: wind speeds on the summits and high ridges never fell … Continue reading →
Flims – Elm, 6 September 2003 This post is part of the story of a three-day walk in south-east Switzerland. See this article for the main story. The Segnas Hut (Camona da Segnas) We started by getting the bus from … Continue reading →
The Big Walk Across Switzerland On 31 August 2003 our son Jonathan arrived in Val Müstair in the east of Switzerland, close to the Italian border. This was the start of a walk across Switzerland which took him via Zurich, … Continue reading →
I guess this book was produced to support the National Mountaineering Exhibition at Rheged, near Penrith (there’s no price on it and no ISBN), and it came free when I renewed my subscription to the BMC! It’s a soft-back coffee-table … Continue reading →
July 2003 Introduction When no other plans emerged for a summer mountain trip, with some misgivings I booked a week’s hillwalking with a guided group. The trip was organised by North-West Frontiers in Ullapool. We were to be based in … Continue reading →
This is an account of an eccentric journey by an eccentric Englishman. Nicholas Crane is the man who, a few weeks after getting married, left his wife at home while he spent 18 months walking along the watershed of Europe … Continue reading →