Westering
Published by Saraband £9.99
LINEAR JOURNEYS across the UK, on foot from A to B, have become a bit of a genre in recent years. Such walks have often tended to follow the lie of the land, but Laurence Mitchell has broken the mould with his (almost) straight-line wander from east to west, cutting across the grain from Great Yarmouth to Aberystwyth.
His route slices through ancient geology and historical bedrock, and his narrative blends a geographer’s store of knowledge with perceptive observations of our natural and man-made environments.
But this wasn’t a continuous stride through the countryside and the author often shuttled back and forth, on public transport, between home, friends’ houses and a scattering of pubs and B&Bs. His perseverance proves that, with a bit of forward planning, buses and trains can be used to good effect. Progress sometimes appears slow and Mitchell seems to take an age getting out of Norfolk, but since this is his local stomping ground he shares all sorts of local treats that might well tempt you to take a different view of a county so often dismissed as ‘flat and boring’.
Perseverance was also needed as he wriggled his way through the edgelands of the Midlands. Footpaths weren’t always obvious and sometimes he had to consult Google Earth to find a suitable way ahead. On one occasion a hand-painted notice that screamed ‘THIS IS NOT A PUBLIC FOOTPATH’ was accompanied – and contradicted – by a pair of official County Council footpath arrows. He comments: “This was not natural territory for pedestrianism of any kind.”
The philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau once declared that his mind only worked with his legs, and the speed and rhythm of the walk encouraged reflection and clarity of thought. The author muses about the processes of unstoppable change but there are bucketloads of fascinating history and topography: deserted medieval villages, battlefield sites, ancient forests and hidden canals. And there are many choice nuggets that reflect our more recent cultural heritage.
His passage into Wales passes through the blue remembered hills around Clun and crosses the prehistoric Kerry Ridgeway en route to the wild hills around Llanidloes. Dank forestry was reminiscent of the Siberian Plateau but everything became much greener as he neared Aberystwyth, where he wandered down to the harbour and then rushed off to buy some dressings for his blisters. I felt like I’d been with him every step of the way.
Roger Butler