New DK Eyewitness Travel Guides launched

2018 marks the 25th anniversary of DK Eyewitness Travel Guides and the most in-depth redesign since the series launched in 1993; based on extensive global consumer research, these beautifully practical new books have been designed with the consumer in mind. Continue reading New DK Eyewitness Travel Guides launched

Seashaken Houses – a journey around Britain’s most remote lighthouses

Ushered upwards by labourers clinging to scaffolds or dangling in harnesses, they are feats of engineering, imagination and bravery, built at great financial and human cost. Waves frequently confiscated tools, dismantled masonry and swept workmen away. Although shaped to resist the sea, these unique buildings share something of its mystery and power, and bear witness to the history of our maritime past.

Offshore lighthouses are not like ordinary lighthouses. Over a period spanning four centuries, with Britain’s booming sea trade dogged by shipwrecks and drownings, we undertook to build in the sea itself. Beyond the apparent finality of Britain and Ireland’s coastlines these 170-foot high towers still stand today, raised perilously on underwater reefs and rising mirage-like out of the water. Although no longer inhabited, their chambers still bear signs of the people who once lived in them. But apart from discreet mapping, or the occasional glimpse from a distant ferry, the existence of these isolated sentinels remains unknown to most.

Ahead of his event at Stanfords on Tuesday 16th October, the author of Seashaken Houses: A Lighthouse History from Eddystone to Fastnet, Tom Nancollas takes us to some of the most emblematic surviving offshore lighthouses.  Continue reading Seashaken Houses – a journey around Britain’s most remote lighthouses

THIS MAP ROCKS!

The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Stone Roses, The Clash, Oasis, Tom Jones Chaz and Dave……the list goes on… and on. Great Britain has raised a few musical greats over the years and it’s also given them lots of great places to play including amazing music festivals and live music venues. This Strumpshaw, Tincleton & Giggleswick’s Great British Music Map covers a lot of music history from the well known to the slightly obscure. Continue reading THIS MAP ROCKS!

Apply for the Journey of a Lifetime Award

For anyone who loves travelling and sharing their experiences with others, the Journey of a Lifetime Award offers a unique opportunity.

Established in 2001, the Journey of a Lifetime Award is run by the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) in partnership with BBC Radio 4, and offers an annual grant of £5,000 to make a unique and inspiring journey anywhere in the world and record your adventures for a BBC Radio 4 documentary. The winning traveller will receive training in field recording from the BBC and will work with a documentary producer at the BBC in London to shape the finished programme. Your journey could take you literally anywhere in world; it might be a journey that is deeply meaningful to you, or it might take the listener somewhere unusual and unexpected. Whatever your destination might be, you’ve got to have flair for storytelling and capturing the feel of a place through sound. Continue reading Apply for the Journey of a Lifetime Award

The Armata Re-enactment by Alev Scott

 

Alev Scott’s new book Ottoman Odyssey: Travels through a Lost Empire takes us through 12 countries of the former Ottoman Empire and examines 800 years of Ottoman rule that brought them together, the 20th Century events that tore them apart and what is coming next. Ahead of Alev’s Migration and identity at the edge of Europe and beyond event here at Stanfords with Daniel Trilling on the 2nd October, she has written about her experience at the annual re-enactment of the Armata off the Peloponnesian coast: Continue reading The Armata Re-enactment by Alev Scott

National GetOutside Day Recommended Reading

Sunday 30th September 2018 is the first ever National GetOutside Day.
Organised by Ordnance Survey with the aim of getting 1 million people active outdoors across the UK , it sees a huge range of events taking place across the country in a bid to improve the health of the nation by getting more people, more active, more often. You can join an event near you, or create your own adventure outside with family and friends.

Ben Fogle, GetOutside Champion, broadcaster, traveller and adventurer said, “We want to get everyone moving and people should spend more time outside. You’ll feel better for it. When I’m outside I smile more, and it’s the one place that’s repeatedly proven to be good for both body and mind.”

To help you get inspired ahead of the big day, we’ve put together a list of recommended reads by Ordnance Survey’s very own GetOutside Champions. Continue reading National GetOutside Day Recommended Reading

Robin A. Crawford’s guide to mapping the peatlands

In his book Into The Peatlands, Robin A. Crawford explores the peatlands of the Outer Hebrides over the course of the year, explaining how they have come to be and examining how peat has been used from the Bronze Age onwards. In describing the seasonal processes of cutting, drying, stacking, storing and burning he reveals one of the key rhythms of island life, but his study goes well beyond this to include many other aspects, including the wildlife and folklore associated with these lonely, watery places. Continue reading Robin A. Crawford’s guide to mapping the peatlands

The Seabird’s Cry by Adam Nicolson wins Wainwright Prize

Adam Nicolson has won the Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize with his book The Seabird’s Cry.

The announcement and presentation of the award of £5000 was made yesterday afternoon by Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Michael Gove MP and BBC Countryfile presenter Ellie Harrison at the National Trust Theatre at BBC Countryfile Live in Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, at the end of a public event celebrating nature writing and the Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize shortlist.  Continue reading The Seabird’s Cry by Adam Nicolson wins Wainwright Prize

Top five places to go birdwatching in London

With its mix of people and culture, our capital is an amazing place, but normally the wildlife gets missed completely. Generally we think we need to be in a rural setting for that. But it’s possible to see snakes, butterflies, deer and an array of different birds in London. Where do you start? David Darrell-Lambert, author of Birdwatching London tell us about five places to visit, all easy to get to on public transport. Continue reading Top five places to go birdwatching in London