A self-confessed grumpy old git walks and cycles from Land’s End to John O’Groats with a mixture of good humour and bad temper. Interesting enough for a quick read, but the book needs something more to stand out from the … 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 →
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 →
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 →
An elderly friend of the family, hearing that my wife was going to classes on the Philosophy of Mind, once advised “It doesn’t do to go into things too deeply”. That’s the problem I have with this book. On one … Continue reading →
Phew! Finished it at last! You’d have to be seriously dedicated to work through the 24 chapters in this book at the rate of one hour each, even averaging over the whole thing. But it is good, and by the … Continue reading →
This book will help you take the step from the standard first-aid course to simple expedition medicine. As the author says, read it at least once at home before throwing it in the bottom of your pack, where hopefully it … Continue reading →
This is really two books in one, part separate and part interwoven. The main book – about three quarters of the whole – recounts the author’s travels up the north-west coast of Scotland. The other book is a handbook of … Continue reading →
After reading the book I’m certainly looking forward to my visit, but I don’t think I’ll be in the queue to buy the farm next door. Stewart is careful not to give away the exact location of their farm – … Continue reading →