John Hillaby (1917–1996)

Having recently read a lot of bad travel writing I have come back to revise my opinion of Hillaby´s walk through Britain. My first impression was that it was very slow, it took me longer to read it than he to walk it. This isn´t adventure so much as an experience of the few remaining wild parts of Britain (and how it is being encroached upon by modern life). There are beautiful snapshots; gypsy ponies and Hillaby trespassing on a military airfield, startling each other during the night. Hillaby´s love of nature, of walking and of Britain comes through strongly in this book. I will read Hillaby again, and set my clock on slow next time - walking pace. Books like this make Google Earth make sense; together it is the next best thing to being there.… (meer)

John Hillaby walked from the bottom of England to the top of Scotland, averaging twenty miles per day. This book tells of his encounters with people along the way, with policemen and hostile dogs, with flora and fauna, with good and bad weather. It is about blisters and lost toenails. It is about suspicious locals and "heart-warming hospitality." It is about deserted villages and getting lost in the "sterilized grandeur" of "the dead vast." Rich with social commentary, subtle humor, and interesting digressions into local history, folklore, linguistics, and geology.… (meer)