Wild Britain: A Traveller's Guide (Wild Guides) - Softcover

Botting, Douglas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1873329318 ISBN 13: 9781873329313

Publisher: Sheldrake Press, 1999

Synopsis

The New Forest is hardly the sort of wild or remote place where you would expect to get lost, especially if you are an experienced traveller, but Douglas Botting managed it. `There were no sounds of civilization to give us a bearing on the outside world, no distinguishable landmarks, just trees, and more trees, and clearings, thickets, groves, gullies leading nowhere in particular, and trees again.' As he explains in this warm and lyrical book, it does not do to underestimate wild Britain. He makes a wonderful job of showing you around, taking you from the broad-leaf woodlands of southern England to the wind-lashed basalt and granite cliffs of the Outer Hebrides. Whether he is celebrating the rolling Yorkshire Dales of his childhood, where the lapwings cried and the bluebottles huzzahed in the cowpats, or engaging with the earth-shattering intricacies of plate tectonics, Douglas Botting is always readable and entertaining. The book also describes in detail where to go fishing, climbing, cycling, caving, riding, camping and even ballooning, and offers some unusual ideas for where to stay, including the time capsule of Kinloch Castle on the Isle of Rhum, intact in every detail down to the scoreboard of its Edwardian billiard room.

About this title

About the Author

Douglas Botting is co-founder and General Editor of the Wild Guides series. He has travelled on numerous scientific and filming expeditions to wildernesses around the world and has circumnavigated the 6,000-mile coast of the British mainland twice on assignment for the BBC and The Times. He has won acclaim for his recent biography of Gerald Durrell, the conservationist and author of My Family and Other Animals.

From Library Journal

These two volumes, soon to be followed by Wild France, provide comprehensive, region-by-region descriptions of each country's unspoiled wild lands and isolated natural getaways--mountains, plains, woods, sea coasts, and remote islands. Beautiful photographs, detailed maps, line drawings of plants and animals, and descriptions complement information on the landforms, flora, fauna, and physical activities; directions are given, as are all the necessary names, addresses, telephone numbers, and e-mail and web addresses of recommended accommodations and further information. The books also rate areas to indicate degree of wildness and the level of fitness and experience travelers will need to enjoy themselves. Both have excellent glossaries and indexes. The Britain edition covers England, Scotland, and Wales. Botting is the series editor, and Grunfeld, now deceased, was a travel writer who was nominated for a Pulitzer for his book on Auguste Rodin. For travelers who like to spend their time in the ever-endangered open spaces and wildernesses, or for those who would like to mix their cultural, historical trips with activities in nature, this series is a helpful and resourceful addition to the current travel literature.
-Melinda Stivers Leach, Precision Editorial Svcs., Wondervu, CO
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Sheldrake Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 1873329318
• ISBN 13: 9781873329313
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 224