Trailguides Publications

This book is published by a North East company by the name of Trail Guides. The aim of the company is to produce guides that are user friendly, informative and in an easily readable format. On the evidence of this book, they have hit the nail firmly on the head.

First of all, for anyone looking for a guide containing OS mapping, look elsewhere; this book has route diagrams based on old OS maps. It has however, been updated by numerous field trips and site visits by the author. The lack of mapping is not really an issue to my eyes, as the diagrams are clear, well drawn, and contain as much detail as is necessary. My view on this is that it encourages a little research on the reader’s part.

The introduction contains useful information, with sections devoted to access rights, weather, maps and accommodation within the area. Each walk is then introduced with some background information, such as local history. This is followed by a rough guide to the route, including time, distance, terrain and grid references to notable features on each leg.

The walks are then described in detail, with great clarity, and have clearly been well researched by the author, who guides the reader step by step, from start to finish. In fact, the routes are so well described, that I found myself building up an accurate picture of exactly what to expect.

Numerous photographs are also included, not only of the landscape variety, but also of interesting features you will encounter on the walk.

All in all, I found this to be a great little guide to a wonderful area, and a very useful addition to the bookshelf. I look forward to reading many more of Trail Guides publications.