THE WALKER’S BOOKSHELF

Three fine reads for your bedside table or rucksack this month…

THE WILD ISLES

Patrick

Barkham

(editor), £25,

Head of Zeus

TOP LINE:

A beautiful anthology of

British nature writing, featuring wise words from Dorothy Wordsworth,

Nan Shepherd, Chris Packham, Robert Macfarlane, George Monbiot, Laurie Lee, Virginia Woolf and many more.

A GEM FROM WITHIN: Rocksavage was a fine place for a dream-wanderer. The whins grew ten feet high, and in between them were magical countries where cowslips and banshees’ thimbles grew. The banshee’s thimble was a wild foxglove. I once put the thimbles on my fingers and was told that the Banshee would call for me before a year. (From

The Green Fool by Patrick Kavanagh)

PARK RANGERS’ FAVOURITE WALKS

Various authors,

£7, Collins

(15th April)

TOP LINE:

Three guidebooks

(South

Downs,

Yorkshire

Dales and

Snowdonia) in which national park rangers have clubbed together to choose the 20 finest walks in each national park. They’re part of a range of books released in partnership with National Parks UK, which also includes pocket map books of those three parks and five more too (£4 each). A GEM FROM WITHIN: The landscape painter John Constable described the panorama from Devil’s Dyke as ‘the grandest view in the world’.

(From The South Downs)

100 GREAT WALKS WITH KIDS

Jen and Sim

Benson, £17

TOP LINE:

Written by CW route writers

Jen and Sim, this book features family-friendly walks of all kinds, from buggy-friendly routes to little mountain adventures. It’s also packed with practical tips on how to turn every walk into an adventure.

A GEM FROM WITHIN: Forcing kids to go on walks does little besides creating tension, and you’ll end up never wanting to do it again. It’s all about how you pitch it to them. Is there anywhere they’d really like to go? What are they learning about at school that could be enhanced by seeing it in real life? And is there a café at the finish where you can all enjoy a hot chocolate together?