A pleasant land

Alexandra Henton discovers the joys of jam making, wildflowers, England’s verse and our sporting past

FAVOURITE POEMS OF ENGLAND

The summer is the time of year when you can be like Ratty and Mole: feast and have fun. It is when the glorious English landscape grants the outdoor enthusiast the perfect backdrop to foster a bit of lyricism.

Waxing lyrical about meadows, hedgerows and sublime English countryside is made all the easier with

Jane Mcmorland Hunter’s edited selection of English poems. Delve into one of the 10 sections and you will be transported through this realm, via the shires, lords and ladies, hushed country houses, picnic spots and poems on our favourite sports.

The pick of the poets, whether it be Kipling or Plath, Shelley or Housman, are included and those rhymes you were taught by rote sit easily alongside less familiar work. The poems are presented alongside delightful vintage illustrations and the pleasing typography ensures that this book of favourites is favoured. Edited by Jane Mcmorland Hunter Batsford, £10