13 Dec 2009

A Lifetime of Mountains - a short review

I have been up to very little on the outdoor front over the last few weeks. It is only 12 weeks until the Grizzly so I had better step things up soon.

I have been reading A Lifetime of Mountains a wonderful collection of pictures of the Lake District from 1951 to 2004 when A. Harry Giffin was the Country Diarist for The Guardian.

The columns cover his experiences climbing and walking, stories of rural life and the natural history of the Lakes. The book is edited by Martin Wainwright who ties together various parts of Harry's life and writing. What I enjoyed was the way the short and precise columns carry you on to the hills. Harry was a founder member of the Coniston Tigers from a time when you could tell who else was out on the hill from the nail pattern left by their boots.