Wild Guide - Devon, Cornwall & The South West
4th Oct 2016
I'm loving the fact that Wild Things Publishing are producing a series of these Wild Guides. Having started off with wild swimming guides they have broadened their horizons and begun this series of guides to all manner of bite sized wild experiences, reminding us that despite the fact that we live in a very densely populated part of the planet, there are plenty of thing to do if you go looking for them.
As per usual it is packed with stunning images, each one with a reference number linking it to the relevant section (though as usual the reference number is missing from the half dozen or so images at the start of the book which is mildly frustrating). There are beaches, plunge pools, waterfalls ad caves, castles, estuaries, zawns and canoe journeys. There's a level of abandon in many of the photos that, to my mind, perfectly illustrates why we seek out these gems of wilderness.
The book is split into four chapters, one for each featured country: Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset. There are further sub-divisions on the best places for: secret beaches, canoe adventures, lost ruins and ancient stones, night walks and sunsets, caves, caverns and grottoes, ancient woodlands, meadows and seasons, wild camping and food and foraging. There's basically plenty to go at! Last but not least on the reference front there is a basic colour code, defined inside the back cover, to help you look at a map and quickly identify the nearest water, land and wildlife, food, sleeping or general category wild spots.
My one criticism would be the maps, which are a bit on the small scale, with an appendix of grid references listed at the back (though each spot has its own GPS coordinates too which is obviously helpful if you are technically inclined).
Retails at £14.99. That's less than the cost of many entrance tickets to holiday attractions. With virtually every spot in the book being free to access there's absolutely no argument not to buy it.
You can buy it directly from Wild Things Publishing.
Other books from Wild Things Publishing reviewed by Heason Events:
Wild Swimming - Hidden Beaches
Wild Guide - Southern & South West England
Wild Swimming - Second Edition