Tops of the North
by Graham Wilson, illustrated by Gerry Dale
Don’t mothball those walking boots yet. In Tops of the North Graham Wilson has devised a new high-level circular route based on the county tops (old and new) of northern England. Volume I, out July 2008, covers the western reaches, starting at Three Shire Head (where Cheshire, Staffordshire and Derbyshire meet) and finishing at Carlisle. On the way, it climbs, among others, Kinder Scout, Black Hill, Pendle Hill, Arnside Knot and the Old Man of Coniston, culminating in a continuous traverse of the Lakes Threethousanders; travels across the South Lancs moors, the Forest of Bowland, Leighton Moss nature reserve, Morecambe Bay, Arthur Ransome country and a variety of national parks; encounters (briefly or otherwise) Pendle witches, the noble art of shin kicking, Rossendale bonesetters, Carnforth Station, Lakeland smugglers, a Victorian pepperpot, and much more — plus the odd inn or two.
[Click here to read an extract from the chapter on Slaidburn to Wray]
This is a book of the North, its people and places, but most of all the moors and fells and the sound of the curlew calling. Enjoy the experience — even if you never get out of your armchair and on to the Wilson Way.
(Volume II of Tops of the North, taking in Cheviot, Burnhope Seat, Mickle Fell, Gragareth, Whernside and the hills of Margery and Cheeks (via Hadrian’s Wall, the Northumberland coast and a plague village) will be published in 2009.)
| cover | hardback | |
| dimensions | 170x120mm, 176 pp, route drawings | |
| price | £14.95 (list) | £13.50 (website) |
| ISBN | 978 1902173 269 | |