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Alfred Wainwright, the legendary fell walker and author of the incomparable and unique Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells was also a fluent, eloquent and diligent correspondent. Writing to old friends and to the many new ones gained through his books, and to his love, and later second wife, Betty, his letters display a much warmer, more sensitive and emotional character than his gruff popular image would suggest. Hunter Davies, Wainwright's biographer, has here collected a selection of letters that range from his early years in Blackburn to his established position as Borough Treasurer in Kendal, and cover all aspects of his professional and personal life, as well as the voluminous correspondence that was a consequence of writing and publishing the Pictorial Guides. The latter vividly illuminate many aspects of that turbulent but ultimately triumphant process, while the former present a picture of a dedicated public servant whose personal life had been deeply unhappy until late in life he found unexpected but transcendent love and happiness. In turn business-like and comic, wonderfully well informed and remarkably innocent, deeply moving and yet tough-minded, the letters present a vivid and unforgettable picture of one of the great but eccentric creative geniuses of the twentieth century.

'Mapping London' is a compelling anthology that explores over six centuries of maps. The book is a cartographic journey through the city, tracing its fascinating evolution and exploring the hopes and fears of its inhabitants as events unfold.

Taking us on a tour of Lake District, this book presents a view of the mountains, valleys, lakes, towns and villages of this region.

This book celebrates the most picturesque countryside that this country has to offer through 20 of its finest long distance walks.

Step back in time with this book containing over 100 walks, each with an historical theme. Each walk, ranging from between three and eight miles, focuses on a particular feature, person or event in history.

Davie Baxter is a link with a lost world he's one of the last shepherds working the hills of England. But after 40 years, he'll soon retire and a lifetime on the land will be over. Shepherds are virtually a thing of the past. Once, the UK's farmers employed thousands, but a slump in sheep farming has cut a swathe through their ranks and many of the traditional arts are disappearing. Most flocks nowadays are herded by farmers on quad bikes. The Last Shepherds follows Davie through the cycle of hill farming - lambing in spring, haymaking, showing sheep in the summer, then autumn lamb sales and winter feeding. What's particularly special about him is his close relationship with the dogs he works with, and alongside the seasonal narrative, the book offers a fascinating account of Davie breaking in the last collie of his working life - turning a cute puppy into an intelligent sheepdog finely tuned to his master's commands. Davie is humorous, forthright and sharp. He doesn't suffer fools gladly. He's a great character and one of the last of his kind. This engrossing book is an extraordinary record of a way of life that's almost gone forever.

Illustrated with contemporary colour photography, archive images and artworks from leading wildlife illustrator Bryn Edwards, Waterways takes stock of the state of our streams, rivers and canals in the early 2000s and looks forward to a time when we might embrace a deeper cultural, spiritual and environmental understanding of this life-giving force.

"This photographic essay, the fourth Lake District volume in Bill Birkett's prize-winning and widely praised valley portraits, captures all the facets of the delightful Buttermere Valley throughout the seasons, from the ever-changing mood of its lakes and tarns to its inspirational high fells. The pure influences of lake and mountain are dominant, and the changing combinations of light magnify form and scale here as nowhere else. The narrow valley of Buttermere, the 'secret valley', lies squeezed deep in the mountains towards the north-west fringes of Cumbria. With its lakes - Buttermere, Crummock Water and Loweswater - and high surround of peaks it is rightly regarded as one of the most awe-inspiring and dramatic of the Lakeland dales. Steeped in myth and legend, protected by the high mountain passes of Honister, Newlands Hause and Whinlatter, it remains an intriguing oasis of quiet and calm. Its many fine waterfalls include Scale Force, which has the longest vertical drop in the region; there is wonderful walking over the tops and by the lake shore, and an array of magnificent crags invites climbers to seek their thrills and challenges. Mary Robinson, the 'Maid of Buttermere' and reputedly the beauty of the late eighteenth century, may be long gone, but there is more than enough natural beauty on which to feast the eye. Of all the Lakeland places he knew so well, Buttermere was especially dear to the great fell-walker Alfred Wainwright his ashes are scattered there, beside the shore of Innominate Tarn high on the rugged top of Haystacks, and he is commemorated in a plaque in the blood-red granite church of St James above Buttermere village."

Arthur Ransome's delightful adventure series of children's books, Swallows and Amazons , has captured the imagination of children and adults alike ever since they were first published in the 1930s. Even today, eighty years after the very first book was published, the series remains as popular and enduring as ever. Ransome once described writing books for children as like reliving the best part of childhood, but this was far from the whole truth. His genius as a storyteller stemmed from an almost infinite capacity for painstaking perfectionism. Once Ransome had completed the first draft, he would then settle down to write a complete revision and the most difficult chapters were written over and over again. Unhappy with the illustrations produced for the first book, Ransome persuaded the publishers to go to print with none at all, save for the cover image and by book three, he'd taken the decision to do all his own illustrations. Using primary written sources, including letters, diary entries and Ransome's own working notes, Roger Wardale expertly pieces together the fascinating story of how the twelve Swallows & Amazons books came to be written against the odds. Wardale observes how the stories evolved from the point of view of all those who were closely involved - Ransome's publisher, his mother, his wife, his friends and fans - as well as Ransome himself. It is an amazing story of a dedicated writer battling against the problems of ill health, a critical and argumentative wife, his own perceived shortcoming and an expectant publisher. Wardale's account provides a new fresh look at the enduring Swallows and Amazons series and how and why they came into being - a must-read for any Ransome fan.

Stretching from the Solway Firth to the estuary of the River Tyne, Hadrian's Wall runs for 74 miles through some of the most scenic landscape in Britain. It disregards hills and valleys, at times choosing what seems to be the most difficult route. It is a spectacular monument to the ambition and skill of the Romans, who built the wall almost two thousand years ago to mark and protect the northernmost boundary of their Empire.

"This unique photographic volume presents the greatest landscape views in England, including a host of secret treasure viewpoints. They range from the famous - Roseberry Topping, Derwentwater, Durham Cathedral across the river, the Gateshead Millennium Bridge - to the lesser known. All the views are shown in full panorama. Unlike conventional formats, panoramic photography is uniquely able to reproduce the full field-of-view, the expansive sense of vision that makes these vistas such a dizzying experience. Shot entirely with a classic panoramic camera, Mark Denton's distinctive photography is thus as close as it's possible to get to being there. The majority of the panoramic images featured are taken at the magic hours of dusk and dawn, offering richly saturated new interpretations of England's most breathtaking scenery. Complete list includes The North Bamburgh; Blencathra from Low Rigg; Place Fell and Ullswater; Border Hills at Yetholm; Crag Lough; Rydal Water; Catbells; Castlerigg; Langdon Common, Teesdale; Dunstanburgh; Tarn How; Skiddaw from Catbells; St Mary's Lighthouse; Hadrian's Wall; Wetherlam; High Cup; Alnwick Castle; Millennium Bridge, Newcastle; Catbells; Dawdon Beach. The West Golitha; Stourhead; Clifton Suspension Bridge; Bedruthan Steps; Foreland Point, Lynmouth; Salcombe; Hameldown, Dartmoor; Corfe Castle; Mupe Bay; Royal Crescent, Bath; Burton Bradstock; Avebury; Gold Hill, Shaftesbury; Lyme Regis; Mullion Cove; Mousehole; Botallack Head; Porlock Hill; Durdle Door; Brent Tor; St Andrew's, Corton Denham. The Heart of England Bolton Abbey; All Saints; River Avon; Ironbridge; Gordale Scar; Arlington; Curbar Edge; Hazleton Clump; Clumber Chapel; Long Mynd; Ribblehead Viaduct; River Avon and Hereford Cathedral; Lower Slaughter; Brimham; Dyneley Farm; Wycoller, Lancashire; Blackpool Black Hill, Herefordshire; Warwick Castle; Malvern Hills; Oxford; Beezley Falls. The East Selwicks Bay; Whorl Hill, Swainby; Humber Bridge; Drax Power Station; Burghley House; Londesborough; Southwold; Fairy Dale; Thorpeness; Bishop Burton; Lincoln Cathedral; Hunstanton; Brancaster; Ely; Nurnburnholme; Whitby Harbour; Robin Hood's Bay; Cambridge; Roseberry Topping; York. The South Beachy Head; Scotney Castle; Denge; Virginia Water; Arundel; Lancing College; New Forest; Bodiam Castle; Hurst Point; Rochester Cathedral; Camber; Jubilee Bridge, London; Duncton Hill; Bury Hill; West Pier, Brighton; Canterbury; The Needles, Isle of Wight Praise for Mark Denton's The Lake District - The Panoramas 'If ever a book was to reawaken a sense of delight and pride in the places on our doorstep, then this is it.' Wanderlust."

Villages are the very embodiment of Englishness. The village inn and the local farm, great houses, humble cottages and beautiful country gardens speak of a way of life that has developed peacefully since Anglo-Saxon times. A few days spent in England's idyllic villages offers urban dwellers and foreign visitors a revitalizing glimpse of a more tranquil existence, full of history, legend, literature and artistic heritage. The beauty and diversity of the English village are recorded in this book in absorbing commentary and magnificent photography by James Bentley and Hugh Palmer.

This book contains paintings from the original book, each of which has been rescanned and enlarged, presenting them as they have not been seen for a hundred years. Opposite each painting is a page containing full-colour images relating to the painting, from period maps and postcards to paintings and railway tickets, together with a text placing the painting in its contemporary context. The new introduction sets the historical scene for the bustling university and market city that was Oxford a hundred years ago. The introduction is written by Tim Healey, a well-known author, columnist and expert on Oxford history. The main text is by Su Box, Oxford author and editor.

Heart of the Country juxtaposes extracts from Condry's columns with spectacular photographs of those places that Moore sees as encapsulating the essence of the beautiful and bold Welsh countryside, and the essence of a great Chronicler and Lover of Wales.

Candida Lycett Green has been writing the 'Unwrecked England' column in The Oldie magazine since its launch in 1992. In her column she takes the reader on a journey through every county and reveals, often in little-known backwaters, just how wonderful England still is. Unwrecked England gathers together one hundred of her favourite places.

"Bristol-born John Wheeley Gough Gutch originally trained as a surgeon before eventually becoming a photographer. A contemporary of Fox Talbot, he was experimenting with photography as early as 1841, making him one of the earliest known photographers working in the West of England. His work, influenced by the poets and painters of the period, has remained virtually undiscovered for more than 150 years. Like many educated men of the period Gutch was interested in all things scientific, literary and artistic and wrote a series of articles for Thomas Sutton's Photographic Notes. His personal albums dating from 1856-1860 are a fascinating collection of work featuring the people and places of Cornwall and Devon, Malvern in Worcestershire, Somerset, Bristol and the Lake District. Partially paralyzed and using a cumbersome wet-plate camera that doubled as a darkroom, Gutch had to traverse miles of muddy rural tracks by horse and carriage. This selection of more than 100 images from his five albums, now published for the first time, provides a remarkable historic record of the places and people working in what are now often rare or extinct industries - pilchard fishermen or tin miners, as well as portraits of family groups or working children, landscapes, villages and geological studies."

In keeping with the highest standards of Scotland's most renowned photographer, this is Scotland at its best, an evocative new collection.

This is a beautifully produced collection of over 80 panoramic views of the Lake District, including many unique shots taken from little-known vantage points. Mark Denton's distinctive photography reveals some of the finest-ever wide-lens images of the Lakes, a landscape of great scenic beauty and one of the UK's most popular holiday destinations. His panoramic views, from rare angles and often taken at the magic hours of dusk and dawn, capture the atmosphere of wilderness that attracts so many visitors. Here are undulating valleys, clear lakes, tarns and rivers and, on the heights, the steep, sharp ridges and peaks, including Scafell Pike, Helvellyn and Skiddaw. The photographs offer a richly saturated new interpretation of the region's most recognizable landmarks in a highly desirable souvenir volume.

Nach Fasti Limpurgenses. Das ist ein wohlbeschrieben Fragment einer Chronick von der Stadt und den Herren zu Limpurg auff der Lohne. 1617.

Mary Wesley, through images and text, looks back over her life in England's wild and mysterious south-west peninsula. The book captures her memories from her early visits to Polzeath in Cornwall in 1914 to the present day living and working in Totnes.

When Richard Benson was growing up he felt like 'the village idiot with O'levels' - glowing school reports aren't much help when you're trying to help a sow give birth, or drive a power harrow in a straight line without getting half the hedgerow stuck in the tines. He left Yorkshire to work as a journalist in London, but returned when his dad called with the news that they were going to have to sell the family farm, and, in so doing, leave the home and livelihood that the Bensons had worked for generations. This is not only a moving personal account, but also one that reflects a profound change in rural life.

"Scotland has a new Parliament and it has North Sea oil, but is it yet an independent, self-sustaining democracy? Is it a true nation? In Stone Voices, Neal Ascherson launches what he calls an imaginative invasion of his native land, searching for the relationships, themes, and fantasies that make up ""Scotland."" Beginning with a breathtaking portrait of the country's landscape, and of the way humanity has indelibly marked even its rockiest contours, Ascherson takes us on a journey through Scotland's past, interweaving his historical accounts with a rollicking report on a back-country bus expedition he joined during the 1997 referendum campaign that led to Scotland's first modern Parliament. He asked voters then what kind of country they hoped for, what they feared, and what they expected—questions that animate his book as well. In his search for a nation, Acherson explores many themes the slow, hybrid formation of the Scottish people over centuries of successive immigrations; the way their most renowned intellectuals and writers came to hate the national church; the peculiar nature of their diaspora; the coexistence of their search for an ""authentic"" Scotland with the myths others create; and the Scots' proud sense of true independence. Stone Voices enlightens us about Scotland, about Europe, and about the conditions for freedom that we must all seek today."

Records the four seasons of the working year of the shepherds from Snowdonia, North Wales. This book provides an introduction to Welsh sheep-farming techniques, illustrating month by month how the stocks are bred, grazed, sheared and sold. It boasts many colour pastel and charcoal drawings depicting the farms, sheep and shepherds.

Devon has more than its share of exceptional buildings, from the ancient longhouses of Dartmoor to the elegant town houses of Topsham.

One man's response to North Devon's unique atmosphere.

An illustrated regional guide to the places in Britain which have inspired writers through the centuries.

In Peak District Panoramas, award-winning photographer Simon Kirwan brings this dramatic region to life in a series of stunning panoramic photographs. These wide-angle views display the classic scenery of the Peaks to its best effect throughout the seasons.

This lavishly photographed book will reflect the character of Oxford and make a lasting souvenir of your visit. Look out for more Pitkin Guides on the very best of British history, heritage and travel as well as other books in the Groundcover series.

An account of Catherine Cookson's harsh upbringing in the industrial North East, and the effect that its poverty, exploitation and bigotry had on her life and her writing. The book is a tribute by Cookson to the land of her birth, which provided the inspiration for all her novels.

This title is a beautiful exploration of the popular county of Cornwall. It features over 250 carefully selected full-color photographs taken by the creator of the best-seller, Cornwall from Above . It appeals to both tourists and residents alike. Cornwall Landscapes takes us on a photographic journey to a land of hidden beauty and Celtic myth. Through over 250 carefully selected full-color photographs, explore the glorious surfing beaches on the north coast and the sheltered beaches and delightful coves on the south coast. Bask in subtropical gardens and waters warmed by the gulf stream, and gaze across great expanses of open moorland, hidden valleys and woodland. Cornwall Landscapes includes a varied mix of images showing the beauty, lifestyle, history and quirks that make Cornwall the unique place that it is. Whether you're a visitor to the county, a newcomer or Cornish born and bred, Cornwall Landscapes will show you the places of true beauty in this colorful county.

In his verse, Dylan Thomas returned time and again to Wales, particularly the area around Laugharne. It was the topography and character of the town that gave rise to his most famous verse play, Under Milk Wood . Armed with Thomas's memoirs, verse and sketches, Hilary Laurie revisits his haunts and together with specially taken photographs has created a strong evocation of both the poet and his sense of place.