Dennis R. Kelsall

You know how it is: you're going on a country walk and you want to have a vague idea as to the things at which you looking. "Don't worry." Says the wizz kid, with the fancy new mobile phone, but when you get into an open space, the signal disappears faster than a fifty pound note from a collection plate. The more pragmatic member of your walking group is taking books but, after two hundred yards, lugging the Encyclopaedia Britannica, he's too exhausted to take another step.

How can we resolve this tricky situation? Step forward 'the Countryside Companion', a book genuinely small enough to slip into a pocket, packed with clear colour pictures of the things that you are likely to see and containing enough information for all but the group's nerd: (it is a legal requirement that every group contains at least one). OK. let's be honest; if you are going on a fortnight's walking holiday, there are likely to be items, animals and weather types that are not covered by this tome but, if you're attempting to keep Sunday lunch from turning a lorry's spare tyre into a tractor's, around your middle (sorry, must stop projecting my manly physique onto others), then this book will contain all the information that you are likely to need to appreciate the great British countryside, without your developing the biceps of a weightlifter.… (meer)