The shortlist for the Thwaites Wainwright Prize for Nature and Travel Writing 2014 has been revealed today at London Book Fair.

About the prize:

The Thwaites Wainwright Prize can be narrative or illustrative non-fiction and is open to writers from all over the world, but their resulting books must be focused on the British Countryside. The prize will be awarded to the work which best reflects The Wainwright Society’s core values of inspiring people to explore the outdoors, whilst engendering a love of landscape and respect for nature. A £5,000 prize fund will be presented to the winning book.  

We look forward to welcoming the authors to our Long Acre store this evening for the launch party! 

The Shortlist for the Thwaites Wainwright Prize is as follows:

The Green Road Into the Trees by Hugh Thomson 

Hugh Thomson takes a 400-mile journey across England from coast to coast – one that takes in ancient landscapes, abandoned tracks and drovers’ roads. Some are overgrown and almost completely obscured by brambles and weeds, but these old trails can still be found and navigated by locals who know where to look. In The Green Road Into The Trees, Hugh reveals how older, almost-forgotten cultures have more of an influence than we may have otherwise thought – with intriguing discoveries about the Vikings, Saxons and Celts yet to receive nationwide attention. Continue reading Thwaites Wainwright Prize

Joseph Dunmore recently created the Gromit we have in our Bristol store, Nezahualcoyotl. He shares with us his experience and the inspiration behind his colourful Aztec design.

When i heard about the Gromit Unleashed project i was finishing a 2m x 3m oil painting for a film project i’ve been working on over the last two years. I was painting a small element in the painting that i had nicknamed the Aztec Space Invader, because, well, it looked like a space invader and i was putting a Aztec inspired design and patterning on it. So, when i heard about the Gromit project, i immediately thought i’d like to create a funky colourful Aztec one.

In my formative years as a budding artist i drew great inspiration from ancient and indigenous art from all over world, and one my favourites was the pre-Colombian art of Latin America, from the graphic textiles and adornments of the Mapuches, the enigmatic creations and magical architecture of the Incas, the giant mysterious sculpted heads of the Olmecs ,the organic, strangely modern art of the Mayas, and the glorious, sometimes dark and always beautifully aesthetic epic creations of the Aztecs. So, i thought Gromit Unleashed would a great opportunity to pay homage to the art that had literally stolen my heart. Continue reading Gromit Unleashed – The Inspiration behind the Design

Artist Joseph Dunmore created the wonderfully colourful Gromit that is now in our Bristol store. Watch the process of creating Nezahualcoyotl on the film below.

For more information on the Gromit Trail go to http://www.gromitunleashed.org.uk/trail/ 

 

We are very excited to announce our participation in ‘Gromit Unleashed’, a public art exhibition going on this summer in Bristol. Stanfords’ Bristol store will be home to one of the individually designed 5ft tall recreations of the beloved character Gromit during the exhibition from 1^st of July until 8^th of September 2013.

This Gromit will be one of eighty pieces that make up the trail celebrating landmarks in Bristol. All proceeds from the event will go to Wallace and Gromit’s Grand Appeal to benefit the Bristol Children’s Hospital.

We will be revealing the Stanfords Gromit in just a few weeks time – be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook for all our latest Gromit news! Continue reading Gromit Unleashed in Bristol!

We caught up with author Travis Elborough, whose latest book tells the tale of the old London Bridge’s extraordinary trans-Atlantic journey.

The London Bridges of old were famous for involuntarily falling down, but in 1968 the one built in 1831 – a far sturdier structure than its predecessors – was voluntarily dismantled, brick by brick, and transported to the Arizonan desert, where it was rebuilt for the benefit of holidaying Americans.

It’s among the most bizarre stories of the 20th century, and one that author Travis Elborough has breathed new life into with his latest book, London Bridge in America: The Tall Story of a Transatlantic Crossing – a title that promises to reveal as much about Anglo-American relations as it does the 3,000-mile journey of a London landmark. Continue reading Travis Elborough on London Bridge in America: The Tall Story of a Transatlantic Crossing