Author Archives

Jools

UK backpacker, striving for lightweight while body gets increasingly heavyweight. Completed all of the UK national trails while fitting in local day hikes and other multi-day trails both in the UK and overseas. Walked across mainland UK on five month 2500 mile 'Three Points of the Compass' hike in 2018

A library for botanists…

Those ‘special’ flowers “There can be little doubt that of all European wild flowers few species can rival the indigenous orchids in beauty and variety of form and colour. These […]

A library for ornithologists…

The Bird Collectors Barbara and Richard Mearns This is an engrossing and fascinating book, detailing the early ornithologists from the late eighteenth century to the present. Many of these collectors, […]

Trail talk: Playing with numbers

The Fibonacci Sequence- useful maths for hiking The Fibonacci Sequence is the series of numbers where the next number is found by adding up the two numbers before it. A simple […]

A library for those who hike in the shadow of giants…

As I walked out one Midsummer Morning Laurie Lee “I […]

A library for historians…

The British Landscape “to care about a place, you must know its story” Nicholas Crane I could just have easily posted these books under my section- ‘a library for geologists…‘, but […]

A library for geologists…

The Geology of Britain an introduction by Peter Toghill “Visitors to Britain are always struck by the great variety of scenery in what is a relatively small geographical area. The […]

A library for naturalists…

Odonata ‘Horse-stingers‘ and ‘Devil’s Darning Needles‘, the old names for Dragonflies and Damselflies, are frequently encountered on my walks in the summer months. Be it the Common Hawker over reedy […]

A library for botanists…

Trees Who doesn’t love a tree? You can climb it, sit in its shade, even burn it once it is dead. Or simply admire it. A dark forest, particularity if […]

A library for ornithologists…

Waders I have spent countless hundreds, probably thousands, of hours peering at mud. The tide comes in, the tide goes out, the mud is covered, the mud is revealed. Muddy […]

Lunch on the trail (OK, at home)

‘Perfect Mash’ from Idahoan There are a number of simple staple carbs to be cooked up (or simply soaked) on the trail- Noodles are probably the most used, rice and […]

A library for those who hike in the shadow of giants…

Ffyona Campbell “… the question of motive came up again […]

A library for historians…

Castles and Hillforts If there is one thing the United Kingdom abounds in, it is castles and hillforts. While they may not be encountered on most walks, many a long […]

A library for naturalists…

AIDGAP guides The AIDGAP guides, or Aid to Identification in Difficult Groups of Animals and Plants, are produced by the Field Studies Council specifically for use by non-specialists. They are […]

A library for geologists…

British Regional Geology The Wealden District by British Geological Survey A personal library is just that, personal. I live in the South East of England so make a point of […]

Sign of the month- Inishowen Head

Sign at Inishowen Head, Co. Donegal, Republic of Ireland. Saint Columba (Irish- Colm Cille) is one of the three chief saints of Ireland and patron saint of the city of […]

A library for botanists…

Specialist groups Some plants can be pretty difficult to pin down their identification and a specialist book can prove useful. For many groups there are few choices and the ones […]

A library for ornithologists…

Raptors When I used to go regular ‘Birding’ in the 1980s and 90s, there were few specialist guides generally available on one of the most exciting groups of birds to […]

Gear talk: Looking at my Z Packs Duplex tent

Three Points of the Compass had just a couple of hours over this weekend to put up the newly purchased Z Packs Duplex tent. As number one daughter was […]

A library for those who hike in the shadow of giants…

Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know The autobiography Ranulph Fiennes […]

A library for historians…

Traditional Buildings of the English Countryside An Illustrated Guide by Geoffrey R. Sharpe Wander the paths and tracks of this crowded country for any length of time and you will […]

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