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Books > Sport & Leisure > Natural history, country life & pets > The countryside, country life

The Deer Camp - A Memoir of a Father, a Family, and the Land that Healed Them (Hardcover): Dean Kuipers The Deer Camp - A Memoir of a Father, a Family, and the Land that Healed Them (Hardcover)
Dean Kuipers
R591 R498 Discovery Miles 4 980 Save R93 (16%) Ships in 12 - 17 working days

For readers of The Stranger in the Woods and H Is For Hawk, a beautifully written and emotionally rewarding memoir about a father, his three sons, and a scrappy 100-acre piece of land in Upper Michigan.

Bruce Kuipers had never been much of a father or husband. Distant, angry, and a serial cheater, he shoved away his three sons--journalist Dean, forester Brett, and troubled Joe--and alienated his wife. But Bruce did succeed in imparting to his sons his love of the outdoors and the fishing and hunting skills involved in that passion.

In 1989, Bruce purchased a 100-acre property as a way to lure his sons back after a divorce that had done further damage to an already damaged family. The land was the perfect bait, but the moment the sons arrived, conflicts arose over whether the land--which had been degraded and reduced to a few stands of pine and blowing sand--should be left alone or be actively restored. After an impasse of years, Bruce acquiesced, and his sons proceeded with their restoration plan. What happened next was a miracle of nature.

Dean Kuipers weaves a beautiful and surprising story about the restorative power of land and of his own family, which so desperately needed healing. Heartwarming and profound, The Deer Camp is the perfect story of fathers, sons, and the beauty of the natural world.

Men and the Fields (Paperback, 70th Revised edition): Adrian Bell Men and the Fields (Paperback, 70th Revised edition)
Adrian Bell
R424 R344 Discovery Miles 3 440 Save R80 (19%) Ships in 9 - 15 working days

Adrian Bell's travels through East Anglia and lowland Britain reflect a world on the brink of change. Published in 1939, on the eve of the Second World War, his down-to-earth descriptions of the countryside were shaped by his own life working the land. Whether it be hedgerow flowers, a livestock auction, traditional farmyard, village forge, wheelwright's shop, the arrival of the tractor in the harvest field, the work of the ploughman, shepherd or woodman, Men and the Fields captures the character of rural life before modern agriculture altered the landscape and changed forever the way we eat and live.This new edition restores the original colour lithographs and black and white line drawings by John Nash that appeared in the first edition.

A Perfect Cornish Escape (Paperback): Phillipa Ashley A Perfect Cornish Escape (Paperback)
Phillipa Ashley 1
R191 Discovery Miles 1 910 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Escape to Cornwall... 'Wonderful. A love story with a mystery at its heart, it will make you laugh, cry and yearn for Cornwall. I loved it!' Miranda Dickinson Summer in Cornwall is the perfect time for a fresh start... Seven years ago, Marina Hudson's husband was lost at sea. She vowed to love him forever - but when kind-hearted Lachlan arrives in Porthmellow, should she deny herself another chance at happiness? Tiff Trescott was living life to the full as a journalist in London - until her boyfriend's betrayal brought it all crashing down. Fleeing to her cousin Marina's cottage, Tiff feels like a fish out of water. And when brooding local Dirk wins a day with her in a charity auction, she's thrown headfirst into Cornish life. This summer promises new beginnings for both Tiff and Marina. But are they too good to be true? Escape to Cornwall with this emotional, uplifting read from the bestselling author of A Perfect Cornish Summer and A Perfect Cornish Christmas. Perfect for fans of Sarah Morgan and Trisha Ashley. 'A slice of Cornish sunshine. Gorgeously romantic, with plenty of twists to keep me turning the pages. Absolutely loved it' Holly Martin 'Escapist and uplifting' Woman & Home

Icons of England (Paperback): Bill Bryson Icons of England (Paperback)
Bill Bryson 1
R337 R275 Discovery Miles 2 750 Save R62 (18%) Ships in 9 - 15 working days

This celebration of the English countryside does not only focus on the rolling green landscapes and magnificent monuments that set England apart from the rest of the world. Many of the contributors bring their own special touch, presenting a refreshingly eclectic variety of personal icons, from pub signs to seaside piers, from cattle grids to canal boats, and from village cricket to nimbies. First published as a lavish colour coffeetable book, this new expanded paperback edition has double the original number of contributions from many celebrities including Bill Bryson, Michael Palin, Eric Clapton, Bryan Ferry, Sebastian Faulks, Kate Adie, Kevin Spacey, Gavin Pretor-Pinney, Richard Mabey , Simon Jenkins, John Sergeant, Benjamin Zephaniah, Joan Bakewell, Antony Beevor, Libby Purves, Jonathan Dimbleby, and many more: and a new preface by HRH Prince Charles.

The Soaring Life of the Lark (Hardcover): John Lewis-Stempel The Soaring Life of the Lark (Hardcover)
John Lewis-Stempel
R304 R247 Discovery Miles 2 470 Save R57 (19%) Ships in 9 - 15 working days

"How to describe the ecstatic song of larks? How the writers and poets have tried..." Skylarks are the heralds of our countryside. Their music is the quintessential sound of spring. The spirit of English pastoralism, they inspire poets, composers and farmers alike. In the trenches of World War I they were a reminder of the chattering meadows of home. Perhaps you were up with the lark, or as happy as one. History has seen us poeticise and musicise the bird, but also capture and eat them. We watch as they climb the sky, delight in their joyful singing, and yet we harm them too. The Soaring life of the Lark explores the music and poetry; the breath-taking heights and struggle to survive of one of Britain's most iconic songbirds. PRAISE FOR JOHN LEWIS-STEMPEL 'Britain's finest living nature writer' - The Times 'Lewis-Stempel is a fourth-generation farmer gifted with an extraordinary ability to write prose that soars and sings' - Daily Mail

How the Pershore Plum Won the Great War (Paperback): Maggie Andrews, Jenni Waugh How the Pershore Plum Won the Great War (Paperback)
Maggie Andrews, Jenni Waugh
R397 R326 Discovery Miles 3 260 Save R71 (18%) Ships in 12 - 17 working days

The First World War was won not just on the battlefields but on the Home Front, by the men, women and children left behind. This book explores the lives of the people of Pershore and the surrounding district in wartime, drawing on their memories, letters, postcards, photographs, leaflets and recipes to demonstrate how their hard work in cultivating and preserving fruit and vegetables helped to win the Great War. Pershore plums were used to make jam for the troops; but ensuring these and other fruits and vegetables were grown and harvested required the labour of land girls, Boy Scouts, schoolchildren, Irish labourers and Belgian refugees. When submarine warfare intensified, food shortages occurred and it became vital for Britain to grow more and eat less food. Housewives faced many challenges in feeding their families and so in 1916 the Pershore Women's Institute was formed, providing many women with practical help and companionship during some of Britain's darkest hours in history.

Mr Finchley Goes to Paris (Paperback): Victor Canning Mr Finchley Goes to Paris (Paperback)
Victor Canning
R287 R226 Discovery Miles 2 260 Save R61 (21%) Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Book 2 of the classic trilogy of humorous adventures An ebullient Mr Finchley is about to propose marriage to a lady he had rescued from mishap, when he is sent to Paris by his firm. There he manages to upset a boat, adopt a stray orphan and get himself kidnapped. The fine tangle he gets into takes some unravelling! Only when eventually back in London does he complete the proposal of marriage that was interrupted at the start. This gentle comedy trilogy was a runaway bestseller on first publication in the 1930s and retains a timeless appeal today. It has been dramatized twice for BBC Radio, with the 1990 series regularly repeated. What people are saying about the Mr Finchley series: 'Wonderful character from a kinder slower England between the wars.' 'An overlooked gem. An innocent picaresque novel set in an arcadian version of mid 20th century England. The literary equivalent of naive painting, it narrates the adventures of a respectable upper middle-aged man who takes retirement.' 'An antidote to the rush of the early 21st century.' 'A thoroughly enjoyable stroll through a vanished England with some lovable characters. Don't expect modern, fashionable agonisings, here there is good, evil, and understanding. A lovely reminiscent wallow of a read.' 'Gentle well told simple story, full of pleasant surprises, and a mild mannered believable hero. Loved it to bits.' 'So gentle, it hurts.' 'There is a freshness about the writing which is charming and that disarms criticism. Don't expect any great profundities, a gripping plot or inter-character tensions - these books are of the world of Billy Bunter and William Brown - but do expect a very well-written and enjoyable romp through early twentieth-century England in the company of an engaging protagonist.' 'A delightful story of a man who finds himself jolted out of his comfort zone and taken on a journey beyond his wildest imaginings.' 'Another lovely book detailing the adventures of Mr Finchley in altogether far too short a series. Full of humour and a book I was sorry to finish as I wanted it to go on and on.' 'Highly recommended for anyone seeking an entertaining amusing read.' 'A delight to be transported to an England I never knew despite growing up in the 1950s and to experience the countryside through the sharp eyes of the author who obviously had a great love of all things rural.' Editorial reviews: 'Quite delightful, with an atmosphere of quiet contentment and humour that cannot fail to charm ... The longer we travel with Mr Finchley, the better we come to love him. He makes us share his bread and cheese, and beer and pipe. His delight at the beauties of the countryside and his mild astonishment at the strange ways of men are infectious.' Daily Telegraph 'His gift of story-telling is obviously innate. Rarely does one come on so satisfying an amalgam of plot, characterisation and good writing.' Punch 'A paean to the beauties of the English countryside and the lovable oddities of the English character... [Mr Finchley] runs into one astonishing situation after another, sticking gamely to his resolve that he must take things as they come and accept them.' New York Times 'What counts for most in the story, as it did for Mr Finchley, is his mounting pleasure in vagabondage and the English scene.' The Times 'There is such a gentle humour in the book ... Mr Finchley is the ideal Englishman.' Daily Sketch

The East Country - Almanac Tales of Valley and Shore (Paperback): Jules Pretty The East Country - Almanac Tales of Valley and Shore (Paperback)
Jules Pretty
R467 R386 Discovery Miles 3 860 Save R81 (17%) Ships in 10 - 15 working days

The East Country is a work of creative nonfiction in which the acclaimed nature writer Jules Pretty integrates memoir, natural history, cultural critique, and spiritual reflection into a single compelling narrative. Pretty frames his book around Aldo Leopold and his classic A Sand County Almanac, bringing Leopold's ethic-that some could live without nature but most should not-into the twenty-first century. In The East Country, Pretty follows the seasons through seventy-four tales set in a variety of landscapes from valley to salty shore. Pretty convinces us that we should all develop long attachments to the local, observing that the land can change us for the better.

Mushrooms - The natural and human world of British fungi (Hardcover): Peter Marren Mushrooms - The natural and human world of British fungi (Hardcover)
Peter Marren
R1,078 R880 Discovery Miles 8 800 Save R198 (18%) Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Mushrooms, the first of a major new series of books on British natural history, provides a remarkable insight into the natural and human world of fungi. Peter Marren, in his inimitable, relaxed style, guides the reader through the extraordinary riches of this often overlooked group, from the amazing diversity of forms and lifestyles that populate the fungal landscape, to the pursuit of edible fungi for the pot, and the complexities of identification thrown up by our modern understanding of DNA. Throughout the book, the author tells a story rich in detail about how we have come to appreciate and, in some cases, fear the mushrooms and toadstools that are such an integral part of the changing seasons. Marren also provides a refreshingly candid view of our attempts to name species, the role of fungi in ecosystems, and our recent efforts to record and conserve them.

How to See Nature (Hardcover): Paul Evans How to See Nature (Hardcover)
Paul Evans 1
R525 R401 Discovery Miles 4 010 Save R124 (24%) Ships in 12 - 17 working days

A beautifully lyrical collection of essays on the natural world in Britain by the Guardian's country diary writer Paul Evans.

With a title taken from the 1940 Batsford book, this is nature writing for the modern reader. It is a book both for those that live in the country and those that don't, but experience nature every day through brownfield edge lands, transport corridors, urban greenspace, industrialised agriculture and fragments of ancient countryside. Evans weaves historical, cultural and literary references into his writing, ranging from TS Eliot to Bridget Riley, from Hieronymus Bosch to Napoleon.

The essays include the The Weedling Wild, on the wildlife of the wasteland: ragwort, rosebay willowherb, giant hogweed and the cinnabar moth; Gardens of Light, about the creatures to be found under moonlight: pipistrelle bats, lacewings and orb-weaver spider; The Flow, with tales from the riverbank, estuaries and seas, including kingfisher, minnow, otter and heron. The Commons looks at meadowland with a human footprint, with the Adonis blue butterfly, horseshoe vetch, skylark, black knapweed and the six-belted clearwing moth. Other chapters look at the wildlife returned to Britain, such as wild boar and polecats, and finds nature in and around landscapes as varied as a domestic garden or a wild moor. The book ends with an alphabetical bestiary, an idiosyncratic selection of British wildlife based on the author's personal encounters.

I Am An Island - The Sunday Times bestselling memoir of one woman's search for belonging (Paperback): Tamsin Calidas I Am An Island - The Sunday Times bestselling memoir of one woman's search for belonging (Paperback)
Tamsin Calidas
R306 R249 Discovery Miles 2 490 Save R57 (19%) Ships in 9 - 15 working days

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'Memoir of the year' - Vogue 'A wondrous, sensuous memoir of salt-stung survival . . . clear-eyed and poetic prose' Sunday Times 'A fascinating memoir' - Daily Mail When Tamsin Calidas first arrives on a remote island in the Scottish Hebrides, it feels like coming home. Disenchanted by London, she and her husband left the city and high-flying careers to move the 500 miles north, despite having absolutely no experience of crofting, or of island life. It was idyllic, for a while. But as the months wear on, the children she'd longed for fail to materialise, and her marriage breaks down, Tamsin finds herself in ever-increasing isolation. Injured, ill, without money or friend she is pared right back, stripped to becoming simply a raw element of the often harsh landscape. But with that immersion in her surroundings comes the possibility of rebirth and renewal. Tamsin begins the slow journey back from the brink. Startling, raw and extremely moving, I Am An Island is a story about the incredible ability of the natural world to provide when everything else has fallen away - a stunning book about solitude, friendship, resilience and self-discovery.

The Countryman - Through the Seasons (Paperback): Johnny Scott The Countryman - Through the Seasons (Paperback)
Johnny Scott
R520 R471 Discovery Miles 4 710 Save R49 (9%) Ships in 9 - 15 working days

There is something for everyone in The Countryman. Whether you are a country dweller, an urban nature lover, an amateur historian, or a budding naturalist, the variety of subjects covered is a real treasure trove. From the toad to the bumblebee, the cuckoo to the pheasant, the life cycle of the dragonfly, the attractions of the nightjar and the dove, the development of sheep breeds and the value of the cottager's pig - these are just some of the characters of the natural world as described by Johnny Scott. What are the origins of Oak Apple Day and when and where is it still celebrated? What do you know about Morecambe Bay shrimps or gulls' eggs - how do they make the journey from harvest to plate? What is a hag stone and what is its connection to a horse brass? Do you know what marl is and where would you find it? Answers to these questions and so many others are to be found within these pages. The author's acute powers of observation and fluent style enable him to convey his lifelong experiences and knowledge of the natural world in an informative but accessible way. His understanding of the origins of country customs and celebratory festivals is extensive, and his affection for them and all that the countryside has to offer shines through. Be prepared to be enlightened, amazed or amused - or probably all three!

Cowboy is a Verb - Notes from a Modern-day Rancher (Paperback): Richard Collins Cowboy is a Verb - Notes from a Modern-day Rancher (Paperback)
Richard Collins
R773 Discovery Miles 7 730 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

From the big picture to the smallest detail, Richard Collins fashions a rousing memoir about the modern-day lives of cowboys and ranchers. However, Cowboy is a Verb is much more than wild horse rides and cattle chases. While Collins recounts stories of quirky ranch horses, cranky cow critters, cow dogs, and the people who use and care for them, he also paints a rural West struggling to survive the onslaught of relentless suburbanization. A born story-teller with a flair for words, Collins breathes life into the geology, history, and interdependency of land, water, and native and introduced plants and animals. He conjures indelible portraits of the hardworking, dedicated people he comes to know. With both humor and humility, he recounts the day-to-day challenges of ranch life from how to build a productive herd, distribute your cattle evenly across a rough and rocky landscape, and how to establish a grazing system that allows pastures enough time to recover. He also intimately recounts a battle over the endangered Gila Topminnow and how he and his neighbors worked with university range scientists, forest service conservationists, and funding agencies to improve their ranches as well as the ecological health of the Redrock Canyon watershed. A rancher who wants to stay in the game doesn't dominate the landscape; instead, they have to continually study the land and the animals it supports. Collins is a keen observer of both. He demonstrates that patience, resilience, and a common sense approach to conservation and range management are what counts, combined with an enduring affection for nature, its animals, and the land. Cowboy is a Verb is not a romanticized story of cowboy life on the range, rather it is a complex story of the complicated work involved with being a rancher in the twenty-first-century West.

The Kerracher Man (Paperback, 2nd Revised Ed.): Eric MacLeod The Kerracher Man (Paperback, 2nd Revised Ed.)
Eric MacLeod 1
R281 R230 Discovery Miles 2 300 Save R51 (18%) Ships in 9 - 15 working days

Ever since its publication in 2007, Eric MacLeod's memoir of his young family's years reconstructing and living in one of the most remote crofthouses in Scotland has remained one of our most popular titles, selling mostly in Scotland but travelling far and worldwide thanks to the area's many visitors. Sandstone Press is now happy and proud to present a second edition, complete with an additional chapter bringing the story of the family and the house bang up to date.

Down in the Valley - A Writer's Landscape (Paperback): Laurie Lee Down in the Valley - A Writer's Landscape (Paperback)
Laurie Lee
R267 R215 Discovery Miles 2 150 Save R52 (19%) Ships in 9 - 15 working days

A moving portrait of the landscape that shaped the life of Laurie Lee, the beloved author of Cider With Rosie 'Before I left the valley I thought everywhere was like this. Then I went away for 40 years and when I came back I realized that nowhere was like this.' Laurie Lee walked out of his childhood village one summer morning to travel the world, but he was always drawn back to his beloved Slad Valley, eventually returning to make it his home. In this portrait of his Cotswold home, Laurie Lee guides us through its landscapes, and shares memories of his village youth - from his favourite pub to winter skating on the pond, the church through the seasons, local legends, learning the violin and playing jazz records in the privy on a wind-up gramophone. Filled with wry humour and a love of place, Down in the Valley is a writer's tribute to the landscape that shaped him, and where he found peace.

Johnny Kingdom's West Country Tales (Paperback): Johnny Kingdom Johnny Kingdom's West Country Tales (Paperback)
Johnny Kingdom 1
R335 R273 Discovery Miles 2 730 Save R62 (19%) Ships in 9 - 15 working days

There are few people better acquainted with the West Country than Johnny Kingdom. His knowledge of local wildlife is second to none, but he's also a fount of knowledge when it comes to all the old stories that get passed down from generation to generation. West Country Tales is a charming collection of these local myths and legends, interwoven with many more anecdotes from Johnny himself and his forbears and friends. The atmospheric West Country landscape lends itself perfectly to dramatic tales of eerie hauntings and ghostly happenings, daring smugglers and dashing highwaymen, and many have heard of - or might even have seen - the modern-day legend that is the Beast of Exmoor. But what about the Flying Fish of Exmoor, a slippery catch of Johnny's that sailed up and over a bridge into the back seat of a passing open-top car, never to be seen again? Gently humorous and wonderfully evocative, it's only a matter of time before some of Johnny's own tales weave their way into West Country lore.

Best Recipes from the Farmer's Wife Cookbook - Over 250 Blue-Ribbon Recipes (Paperback): Beverly Hudson, Kari Cornell,... Best Recipes from the Farmer's Wife Cookbook - Over 250 Blue-Ribbon Recipes (Paperback)
Beverly Hudson, Kari Cornell, Melinda Keefe; Edited by Jeff McLaughlin
R610 R506 Discovery Miles 5 060 Save R104 (17%) Ships in 9 - 15 working days
The Way Of The Hare (Paperback): Marianne Taylor The Way Of The Hare (Paperback)
Marianne Taylor 1
R362 R294 Discovery Miles 2 940 Save R68 (19%) Ships in 9 - 15 working days

To the people of rural Britain, hares are deeply beloved, perhaps above all other animals. They thrive in abundance in imagery but can be maddeningly elusive in reality. In our stories - ancient and modern - they are magical, uncanny and illogical beings which commune with the moon, vanish at will, and lose their minds when spring arrives. Yet despite the breadth and depth of its legends, the brown hare of the lowlands is a relative newcomer to our islands, and our `real' ancient hare is the mountain hare of the most unforgiving high mountainsides.

Hares of myth have godly powers, but real, earthbound hares walk a dangerous line - they are small animals with many predators but have no burrow or tunnel to shelter them from danger. They survive by a combination of two skills honed to unimaginable extremes - hiding in plain sight, and running faster than anything and anyone. The need to excel as hiders and runners ultimately directs every aspect of hare biology and behaviour, as well as inspiring our own wild ideas about hare-kind. This book explores hares as they are and as we imagine them, and the long and often bloody history of our association with these enigmatic animals. Elegant studies of molecular biology and biomechanical physics help us understand how hares are put together, while centuries of game estate records reveal how humans have commodified and exploited them.

But it is ultimately the moments spent in the company of wild hares that allow us to bring together myth and reality to celebrate the magic of the living animal.

Ash before Oak (Paperback): Jeremy Cooper Ash before Oak (Paperback)
Jeremy Cooper 1
R413 R341 Discovery Miles 3 410 Save R72 (17%) Ships in 9 - 15 working days

Ash before Oak is a novel in the form of a fictional journal written by a solitary man on a secluded Somerset estate. Ostensibly a nature diary, chronicling the narrator's interest in the local flora and fauna and the passing of the seasons, Ash before Oak is also the story of a breakdown told slantwise, and of the narrator's subsequent recovery through his reengagement with the world around him. Written in prose that is as precise as it is beautiful, winner of the 2018 Fitzcarraldo Editions Novel Prize, Jeremy Cooper's first novel in over a decade is a stunning investigation of the fragility, beauty and strangeness of life.

Bristol & Bath Year Round Walks (Paperback): Nigel Vile Bristol & Bath Year Round Walks (Paperback)
Nigel Vile
R180 R163 Discovery Miles 1 630 Save R17 (9%) Ships in 9 - 15 working days

This walking guide contains 20 circular routes, covering the very best of Bristol and Bath's wide-ranging landscape - from high in the Mendip Hills down to the Somerset Levels; through stunning Cotswold villages and along meandering waterways right out to the shoreline of the Severn Estuary and the Bristol Channel. Walks range in length from 3 to 6 miles, with recommendations for autumn, winter, spring and summer. Highlights include: Spring: A carpet of bluebells in Leigh Woods and Hawkesbury Upton in the Cotswolds; Summer: A seaside stroll at Sand Bay; Autumn: Dramatic colours at Westonbirt Arboretum and the deer park at Ashton Court; Winter: Wintering wildfowl along the banks of the River Severn and the starling murmuration over the Somerset Levels

The Pick of Wild Essex (Paperback): Tony Gunton The Pick of Wild Essex (Paperback)
Tony Gunton
R377 Discovery Miles 3 770 Ships in 9 - 15 working days
Notes from Walnut Tree Farm (Paperback): Roger Deakin Notes from Walnut Tree Farm (Paperback)
Roger Deakin; Edited by Alison Hastie, Terence Blacker 1
R334 R272 Discovery Miles 2 720 Save R62 (19%) Ships in 9 - 15 working days

Calming, thought-provoking, poetic and honest, Notes from Walnut Tree Farm is a collection of writing and musing by documentary-maker, environmentalist and author of Waterlog, Roger Deakin. 'Gentle, straight, honest, inquisitive, funny, melancholic' Spectator 'A lovely book that is a poignant epitaph to a remarkable individual' Amazon Review ________________ For the last six years of his life, Roger Deakinkept notebooks. In them, he wrote his daily thoughts, impressions, feelings and observations about and around his Suffolk home, Walnut Tree Farm. Collected here are the very best of these writings, capturing his extraordinary, restless curiosity about nature as well as his impressions of our changing world. Perfect for fans of Robert Macfarlane and Colin Tudge, this is a book that fills readers with a desire to explore the world around them. ________________ 'A secular saint' The Times 'Marvellous, wonderful, lovely, remarkable . . . to be read and reread and treasured' Elizabeth Jane Howard, Daily Mail 'Very funny, sharp-eyed. To look at the world through Deakin's eyes was to see somewhere that was more wonderful than it often appears' Sunday Telegraph 'Thoughtful and invigorating, full of humour, timeless . . . will take its place among the classics of Nature diaries . . . to be read alongside Frances Kilvert, Gilbert White, and Dorothy Wordsworth' Mail on Sunday 'So busy and bustling with life' Observer

The Decline of an English Village (Hardcover): Robin Page The Decline of an English Village (Hardcover)
Robin Page
R584 R530 Discovery Miles 5 300 Save R54 (9%) Ships in 9 - 15 working days

This is the 45th Anniversary Edition of The Decline of an English Village. When The Decline of an English Village was first published in 1974, its appearance was greeted with immediate critical acclaim. As a young writer, born into declining village life, Robin Page's message simultaneously struck a chord and sounded a warning. Now, after forty-five years, it reappears with a new and updated introduction, in which political activist Robin Page exposes greed, political ineptitude, and social and environmental indifference as the driving forces behind the deterioration of village life and the communities around it. Robin Page transports readers back to a time when villages were founded on the value of community, and when people still worked the land in the traditional sense. He reflects and ruminates on his own experiences of rural life, raising sensitive topics, such as the intensification of farming, over-population, and environmental degradation in some of England's most beloved places. Robin shares his concern for the alarming loss of wildlife in England, and offers his own perspective on what he perceives to be the most pressing issues. His passion for English tradition, reflected through his involvement with the Countryside Restoration Trust, radiates from within the pages of this book, along with his enthusiasm for preserving the countryside and its wildlife. Throughout his life, Robin has observed dramatic changes in the way people live their lives. It's in this book that he reiterates the tragedy behind a countryside increasingly misused and abused in the name of urbanisation and industrialisation.

Jack's World - Farming on the Sheep's Head Peninsula, 1920-2003 (Hardcover, New): Sean Sheehan Jack's World - Farming on the Sheep's Head Peninsula, 1920-2003 (Hardcover, New)
Sean Sheehan; Illustrated by Ciaran Watson, Danny Gralton
R1,086 Discovery Miles 10 860 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Jack Sheehan was one of eleven children born into an impoverished farming family on the Sheep's Head peninsula in southwest Ireland. Growing up in hungry times, he stayed on the farm all his eighty-three years, taking it over when his father died and steadfastly caring for its fields through the dormant 1950s and the better times that came in the decades that followed. He lived to see the eclipse of his farming world and to view with dismay the way encroaching property speculators and consumerism were changing the nature of his landscape. Jack Sheehan was born just as the Irish state was coming into existence and his life is as revealing of that country's history as the more familiar accounts of national figures. "Jack's World's" is illustrated in colour with specially commissioned photographs taken by three people, Danny Gralton, Ciaran Watson and Danny Levy Sheehan, who all knew Jack and know his farm. The book is also illustrated with maps, including one showing the farm's fields and their Irish names that were preserved by Jack, and photographs of early documents relating to his farm's history. The book's unique sources, in addition to the memories of friends and family who knew Jack and shared aspects of his world, include diaries kept by Jack from the early 1930s onwards.

The Country Dance Book - Part VI - Containing Forty-Three Country Dances from The English Dancing Master (1650 - 1728)... The Country Dance Book - Part VI - Containing Forty-Three Country Dances from The English Dancing Master (1650 - 1728) (Paperback)
Cecil J. Sharp, George Butterworth
R520 Discovery Miles 5 200 Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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