Three books

I was looking for Tom Hutton’s new book and found these three books on the Halsgrove site. Haven’t read them, so this is just for your info really.

 

 

A Boot Up The Brecon Beacons

A Boot up the Brecon Beacons is a collection of ten easy to moderate walks in and around the glorious Brecon Beacons National Park. They are especially written with families and groups of friends in mind looking for an active and interesting day out. Local expert,Tom Hutton, takes you from the tops of the highest mountains to the floors of the most spectacular valleys, highlighting plenty of fascinating points of interest along the way.

Enjoying the Brecon Beacons

The marketing slogan chosen for the Welsh National Parks of “Britain’s breathing spaces” was never more appropriate than in the Brecon Beacons. The vast majority of the seven million annual visitors to the National Park come from the valleys of South Wales, for whom it has been a vital lung and escape route for generations.

Since before the rapid growth and later decline of the coal mining industry, the Beacons had beckoned the people of the Rhondda and the other South Wales valleys by the striking contrast provided by their clean, fresh air and wonderful vistas to their grim everyday working conditions.

It was the proximity to the populations of these dark, industrial landscapes which was one of the major reasons for the designation of the National Park. Even today only 32,000 people actually live within the National Park, but its catchment area for potential day visitors runs into millions.

This practical visitor guide, published in partnership with the Brecon Beacons Park authority to mark the Park’s 50th anniversary, gives you everything you need for an enjoyable visit to the Brecon Beacons. After a regional breakdown in geographical areas, the guide looks at the Park’s history, human and natural, and lists things to do and places to visit, ending with a useful gazetteer of towns and villages.

Portrait of the Brecon Beacons

From the majesty of the Beacons themselves to the intimate detail of remote mountain llyns, cwms and the elusive wildlife and flora of the area, Tom Hutton’s portrait of the area is unlike anything seen before. It will become a must on the bookshelves of Beacon lovers everywhere.

A pile of old magazines anyone?

I have a 2 foot pile of Trail, TGO and Backpacker magazines if anyone in the Swansea area would like them before they go to recycling heaven. It would be sad to see all that hard work from the likes of Cameron, Graham and Chris getting shredded to make cereal boxes.

Dates range from 2003 to 2008. Be a good read for someone just getting into the outdoors scene :)

Let me know in the blog comments if you are nearby and would like to give them a home.

Happy birthday Dr Seuss

The best Google header EVER!

I’m a big fan, I grew up with Dr Seuss books and my three sons have a pretty vast collection.

Nothing like filling kids heads with a bit of lunacy during a bedtime story. Makes for interesting dreaming.

New books

After reading The Thousand Mile Summer by Colin Fletcher, I had a hunt around for similar books depicting backpacking journeys.

 

'High Summer - backpacking in the Canadian Rockies' and 'The Great Backpacking Adventure' by our own Chris Townsend came up in searches , but they were not available through Amazon (out of print). A quick hunt around found Chris's website - he has some left and sells them online. A quick email to Chris and within two days, they had arrived, despite the horrible storms he was suffering 'up there'.

I am in the middle of The Wild Places by Robert Macfarlane at the moment, but I have quickly dipped into the Pennine Way chapter of 'The Great Backpacking Adventure' and it is everything I had hoped it would be - a blow by blow account of his adventures.

Get 'em while you still can, thanks Chris!

Backpacker magazine

I recieved my first issue of the US Backpacker magazine yesterday. I subscribed after I decided not to renew my 'Trail' subscription for all sorts of reasons - not that it's a bad mag, it's just not for me.

Not a bad read although this issue is a 'tip's special '- lot's of useful and not so useful little snippets. A bit like reading Trail. Let's see what a 'real' issue brings.

This month the Gregory Z55 gets a 'rare' 5 out of 5 in a review of weekend sized packs. I have just done a weekend out with it and I am still very happy (more on that soon).

One thing that suprised me was the number of 4x4 adverts in the magazine. It's just strange to see, rather like seeing someone smoking in a pub here in Wales. I remember an emailed conversation with Guy Proctor (ex Trail Ed.) a year or two ago about 4x4's, and cars in general, in his magazine and he said the readership wouldn't tolerate it. Do they all catch buses?

One of my vehicles is a 4x4 - it's a seven seater Mitsu' Delica and gets a load of us into the hills instead of taking two cars. But let's not get into that - I look after the planet in other ways.

Anyway, if you fancy a change and want the US persepective on the sport, check out the magazine. It's worth it just to see how spoilt our US friends are for varied terrain to explore.

Beyond Backpacking

I have finally managed to get hold of a copy of Ray Jardines book, Beyond Backpacking. After months of looking, a great guy called Adam from the US offered to sell me a copy via the Backpackinglight.com forums.

I am hoping to try a few of his sewing projects now I have my machine. I have made a few stuffsacks so far, so I am looking for something to challenge my new found 'skills' ;)

I understand that Ray has some pretty crazy ideas on several aspects of backpacking - for those who have not read it, I'll let you know soon!

Thanks Adam!