Walks for each Season

Walks for each Season, by Julia Smith (Corncockle Publishing, 2021)

At the back end of 2021, a book called Walks for each Season (Julia Smith — 9781739986704) was published: I fell upon it in the spring of 2022. Twenty-six walks starting and finishing at a station easily accessible from London, matching the routes with seasonal interest.

Thus far, I declare the book to be a winner. Clear descriptions, background interest well written, Ordnance maps (no spidery hand-drawn rubbish here!) and concise but sufficient transport information — the only minor caveat is that the two-page-spread maps disappear into the spine, where they are difficult to read. Also, some will be disappointed that the book is bigger than the bum-pocket-friendly Wainwright or Cicerone guides (I transferred the routes manually to my OS online subscription and carry the route on A4 folded to A7), so there will be the annoyance of digging the book out of the backpack every time you want to check details.

I had never been to Eridge (Walk 1) and its delightful wood anemones, nor had I been in the Chess Valley at celandine time (Walk 2 — pictured above). The Ivinghoe/Ashridge circuit (Walk 3) retraced steps I last made 35 years ago, while the apple blossom near Canterbury (Walk 4) leavened a rather hot morning’s walk (hello again, North Downs Way).

As Flann O’Brien almost said, “Don’t just buy this book — buy it today”.

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