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BOOK REVIEWS
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Great British Ridge Walks
by Bill Birkett.
Published by David and Charles. Paperback.192 pages. ISBN 0-7153-1621-4.
At the outset I should state that I am not a fan of walking and scrambling guidebooks. They can contribute to a “honey pot” effect with hoards of followers trudging up well-worn “paths”. Also, importantly, guides dull the inspiration to plan one's own route from maps using one's own experience and judgement, thereby eliminating delightful discoveries and pleasures. Having got all that off my chest, I have to say this is a splendid book and well worth inclusion in your mountaineering library. It is essentially a reference book but the quality of the photography and prose are such that you will always be tempted to browse at length.
Fifty quality ridge walks in Scotland, England and Wales are described in an evocative and enthusiastic manner. I cannot claim to vouch for the precision of all the routes but the Scottish ones are spot on.
Ridge walking offers some of the most aesthetic opportunities for challenging, interesting and diverse excursions and this book is bound to whet your appetite. Each route includes information on length, height gain, estimated time to be taken and level of difficulty. There are comments on seasonal variations [rather superfluous], restrictions [deerstalking], relevant OS map, start and finish points. Even the local tourist offices and accommodation available in the vicinity are briefly mentioned.
Route comments summarise the merits and nature of the outing - again concise but well considered and appropriate. The extremely detailed route descriptions are beautifully and expressively written and peppered with advice on sections requiring careful progress, the best lines to take, unique features to note, and encouragement over the more difficult or tiring stretches. Each walk is accompanied by a box that lists the tops to be encountered, their heights, names and their meanings.
A particularly delightful feature is the rather delicate ridge profiles by Martin Bagness, depicted as line drawings, for each route. These are annotated with the main named tops and other features and I suppose they force the reader to at least refer to a map while reading the text!
If you need a guide book covering this type of outing, you won't do better than this one. But you would perhaps be advised to buy the 1999 hardback edition, as inevitably you will find your copy will get a lot of wear and tear through frequent enjoyment.
Beryl Leatherland
Mountains of the Mind - A History of a Fascination
by Robert MacFarlane
Published by Granta Books 2003. Price £20. ISBN 1-86207-561-1.
 This is a truly outstanding book - in fact so good that after reading the review copy, I bought my own hard-back to return to and ponder over.
Mountains of the Mind is a blend of cultural history, meditation and personal memoir. Robert MacFarlane traces the development of our attitudes to mountains, our obsession with them and the history of our attempts to climb them, interspersed with accounts of his own mountain experiences.
It is rather hard to decide what Mountains of the Mind is about. It is certainly not a traditional climbing autobiography in the "there-I-was-dangling-from-one-wobbly-piton" genre. Robert Macfarlane does interject some of his own mountain experiences, but these are rather descriptions of specific moments of experience than an account of climbs. On the other hand, it is also more than a learned historical account of man's fascination with climbing high and dangerous mountains that culminates in the account of George Mallory's determination to climb Everest on his third attempt or die trying.
It is an extremely well-written book, scholarly but highly readable and indeed hard to put down, handling very large themes in our cultural history but at the same time being a very personal memoir. In trying to review Mountains of the Mind, it might sound a somewhat dry and philosophical work - it's not, it's brilliant. Read it.
Richard White
A Guide to Walks and Scrambles in the Julian Alps,
Based on Kranjska Gora by Mike Newbury
Published by Zlatrog Publications. Paperback. Price £9.99. 68 pages. 9 Maps, 49 colour photos. ISBN 0-9545227-0-2.
The area of this guidebook covers the most spectacular section of the Julian Alps in the north west corner of Slovenia, bordering Italy and Austria. These jagged limestone mountains rise above deep forested valleys with the mighty Triglav sitting at their heart. The author has detailed over 24 main routes including ascents of all the major peaks, based on over 18 personal visits. They range from mainly downhill routes (a novelty I like the sound of!) to climbs of moderate difficulty on huge crags, using fixed rungs and cables - almost Via Faretta. Other books are becoming available for the area, but none are as useful for the English speaking world and none give quite the same amount of detail that British walkers and scramblers are used to for such things as huts, food, transport and route details. I like the 'notes' following each chapter, which bring to life the local meaning of names and give insight into local history. This would be an excellent guide for the first time visitor.
Further details and orders are only available from Zlatrog Publications, C/o The Old Granary, West Mill Street, Perth PH1 5QP. Please send a cheque payable to 'Mike Newbury' (Add £1 p&p for UK & £2 outside UK) with your name and address details and copies will be despatched as soon as possible.
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