Roland Tarr

Roland Tarr has written four National Coast Path Trail guides covering Minehead to Padstow, Falmouth to Exmouth, Exmouth to Poole and the Northumberland Coast Path.

The tidal waters of ancient Northumberland extend up the River Tyne by Newcastle and northwards via famous seaside resorts, ancient abbeys and castles, walled towns, spectacular cliffs and miles of sandy beaches to the Scottish Borders.

It is a very closely guarded secret that National Cycleway number 1 includes a walkway following old railways and the coast from the Quayside at Newcastle to St Marys Lighthouse at Whitley Bay and as far as Blyth and Cresswell. Here the unique coast path is waymarked all the way to Scotland. This guide describes the whole route, part of the North Sea Trail, with advice on everything from planning to how to negotiate the more challenging sections.

As with all Britain's coastal paths there is a bit of road walking, but roads with pavements for pedestrians are described for all these sections and its worth it for the sheer beauty of the seaside experience, over 100 miles of clifftops,sandy beaches, loads of historic interest and breathtaking views.

There is something there if you fancy a series of leisurely holiday walks, a long distance challenge for sponsorship, or something in between.

The Minehead to Padstow Guide includes the coast of the Exmoor National Park, the North Devon Biosphere Reserve, Lundy Island and the whole of North Cornwall.

The Exmouth to Poole Guide covers the whole of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site plus the beautiful Brownsea Island to make a relaxing and beautiful finish to your walk.

Roland is a modern linguist and outdoors enthusiast, has served as Assistant Countryside officer in Cheshire, Heritage Coast Officer in Dorset and has worked as a consultant in informal countryside recreation. He has always used photography to promote conservation and countryside recreation causes, and in these three books uses it to show the reader just how outstanding the scenery of these three coasts is.

His hobbies in retirement are walking,cycling,photography and travel. He is a very frequent visitor to all parts of the South West Coast Path, camera and notebook in hand, and takes every opportunity to visit the tidal boundaries of Northumberland.

He was born in West Somerset, has close family connections to the north east and has spent many happy days wandering the Northumbrian coast for over 50 years.

He was the key player in the establishment of the 'Dorset Heritage Coast' between 1974 and 1988. This coast won the Diploma of the Council of Europe in 1984 in recognition of management by all parties involved in reconciling wildlife and geological conservation with the interests of local communities,tourism and agriculture. This has subsequently become, along with East Devon, England's sole Natural World Heritage Site and is known as the Jurassic Coast.

Each of the four books gives the practical information to enable the reader to enjoy the routes to the full.