A treasure trove of fascinating stories, little-known places and hidden gems of history, Westering is a coast-to-coast British journey from Norfolk to the Welsh coast, by an established travel writer.
From Great Yarmouth to Aberystwyth, Westering takes us across England from the Fens, Leicester, the Black Country and central Wales. It connects landscape, place and memory to evoke a narrative unravelling the deep topography, and following a westerly route that runs against the grain of the land, its geology, culture and historical bedrock.
With the industrial Midlands sandwiched between bucolic landscapes in East Anglia and Wales, here we explore places too often overlooked. Along the way we encounter deserted medieval villages, battlefield sites, the ghosts of Roman soldiers, valleys drowned for reservoirs, ancient forests, John Clare's beloved fields, and the urban edgelands. Notions of home and belonging, landscapes of loss and absence, birds and the resilience of nature, the psychology of walking, and the psychogeography of liminal places all frame the story.
This new, thoroughly updated, third edition of Bradt's Norfolk, part of Bradt's award-winning 'Slow travel' series of guides to UK regions, turns the spotlight on this county of contrasts, from the fine city of Norwich to the watery wilderness of the Broads and the sweeping beaches of the superlative north coast. As well as featuring all the main sights, experienced travel writer and local resident Laurence Mitchell ensures that Bradt's Norfolk covers places and aspects not detailed by other guidebooks and offers a special emphasis on car-free travel, walking (including along several long-distance footpaths), accommodation, local food and pubs. Written in an entertaining style combining personal narrative with authoritative information, this guide brings the county to life through anecdotes and the views of local people.
Making a virtue of being selective, the guide points visitors to the cream of the area, but includes the whole of Norfolk from Great Yarmouth and the Broads in the east to the Fens of the far west, from the iconic North Norfolk coast to the Breckland region to the south. Places to eat and drink are selected by the author based upon long-standing knowledge of the area, in particular delving into aspects of regional distinctiveness and character.
Characterful market towns, medieval churches and Seahenge (a 4,000-year-old timber circle) feature alongside culturally vibrant Norwich, England's first UNESCO City of Literature, which hosts the acclaimed Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts and the highly rated Norwich and Norfolk Festival. Flora and fauna are also celebrated, the guidebook detailing the many wildlife sites within the county that are home to rare species, including the iconic swallowtail butterfly, while there is new detail on rewilding projects such as Wild Ken Hill, featured on BBC Springwatch and Autumnwatch programmes, seal colonies and the 'Snettisham spectacular' of shorebirds and geese.
Hiking and biking, literary and artistic connections, canoeing and water-based activities, local food and drink (including prize-winning vineyards and independent breweries), and all the practical, up-to-date information you could need are included, helping make Bradt's Norfolk the must-have guide for all visitors to this beguiling county.
This new, expanded and thoroughly updated third edition of Suffolk (Slow Travel), part of Bradt's award-winning series of Slow travel guides to UK regions, remains the only full-blown standalone guide to this gentle but beguiling county within easy reach of London and Cambridge. Expert local author Laurence Mitchell helps visitors discover what makes Suffolk tick, combining personal insights, enjoyable anecdotes and up-to-date information on the best places to visit, stay and eat. Covering both popular sights and places beyond the usual tourist trail, he caters for walkers, cyclists, families, foodies, culture vultures and wildlife lovers alike.
Suffolk is a popular holiday destination, with events such as the Latitude festival and the Aldeburgh Music Festival at Britten's Snape Maltings helping keep its profile buoyant. Despite being comparatively low-lying, Suffolk boasts varied landscapes, from undulating farmland and sandy heaths to extensive forests, important nature reserves and soft, dreamy coastal landscapes comprising river estuaries, remote marshes, reed-beds, shingle beaches (notably Shingle Street, with its myth of World War II invasions) and dunes.
Suffolk's coastal towns and villages - Southwold with its old-fashioned pier and colourful beach huts, but also Aldeburgh, Orford, Walberswick and Dunwich - are steeped in art heritage, with links to artists including Maggi Hambling, John Piper, Philip Wilson Steer and Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Venturing inland, you can make for 'Constable Country' and the Stour valley, Bury St Edmunds, Framlingham, Bungay, Beccles or Halesworth. Alternatively, you can visit some of Suffolk's wealth of medieval churches, learn of Rendlesham's UFOs or revere Suffolk's Anglo-Saxon heritage, notably the medieval ceremonial burial site at Sutton Hoo (whose discovery is reimagined in the 2021 Netflix film The Dig) and the reconstructed Anglo-Saxon village at West Stow.
This guide makes a virtue of being selective, pointing readers to the cream of the area. It is organised into locales to encourage 'stay put' tourism and thorough exploration. It suggests options for car-free travel: walking, cycling, river boats, buses and trains. Written in an entertaining yet authoritative style, Bradt's Suffolk (Slow Travel) is the ideal companion with which to discover this county.
This book will reveal what it is like to live with Asperger's, with an Aspie in your life - someone who thinks differently to everyone else - and is thus in a vulnerable place. Throughout a life of abuse, bullying, tragic loss and social exclusion, the main character, Hartley, has to fight an almost ceaseless battle, with what he calls his 'demon' mind, which is his Aspie.
Aspie and Me follows this confused and tortured man throughout the development of his successful business in London's antiques trade, his global travels in search of rare
pieces, his marriage and the birth of his three children; and his lifelong search for love and appreciation.
The book tells the gripping story of Hartley looking back at his life and relationship with Aspie, who decides that the only way to achieve recognition is to commit a murder.
The author intends that his first book will reach out to help many people and give hope to those people who are challenged with similar conditions or have been labelled unnecessarily.