Outdoors

100 Scotsman Walks
From hill to glen and river
by Robin Howie

Hillwalking is a way of life for Robin Howie, whose name is very well-known in Scottish hillwalking circles and whose knowledge of the Scottish high tops is second to none. For over ten years his popular weekly hillwalking column has appeared in The Scotsman where his pleasure of walking in the hill... more...

349 Views of Scotland
by David Squires

Anyone who has walked or climbed in Scotland will sooner or later come across a view indicator – one of the discs or plates which identify surrounding features in the landscape. This is the first full-length work devoted to these devices. Since the first indicator appeared in 1890 at Ladies&rs... more...

4000m
Climbing the Highest Mountains of the Alps
by Dave Wynne-Jones

This is the engrossing story of the seasons the author spent climbing 4000m mountains in the different regions of the Alps. It is also about the people with whom he climbed who found time out of their day-to-day routine for this extraordinary activity. He explains the reason for this fascination whi... more...

A Countryside Camera
The photography of Roger Redfern
by Christopher Nicholson

Roger Redfern – author, writer and photographer – had been writing about his travels and exploration of different areas of Britain and abroad for over 50 years, most notably as a regular contributor to The Guardian newspaper’s Country Diary feature. He is the author of over 30 book... more...

A High and Lonely Place
2nd Edition
by Jim Crumley

In the nine years since it was first published, A High and Lonely Place has become a classic of Scottish nature writing and of the literature of our mountains. It has also become a much-quoted source of inspiration to those who champion the cause of our wild places in general and the Cairngorms in p... more...

A Year in a Ditch
by J C Jeremy Hobson

Rivers, canals and Britain’s glorious waterways are championed and admired at every opportunity. They are the subject of countless photos, television programmes and books – and are places to visit and enjoy whenever considering a walk in the countryside. Sadly, not so the humble ditch; y... more...

Alone in the Wilderness
by Mike  Tomkies

This is the story of a man who achieved what thousands only dream of. He shed the pressures of urban life as an international journalist and exchanged it for solitude, self-sufficiency and new purpose. He emigrated to Canada, found a plot of rock, trees and cliffs in a remote part of the British Col... more...

At the Very End of the Road
by Phillip Edwards

At the very end of the road is a seven-bar metal gate. It is chained and padlocked and marks the exact line where the tarmac stops. Beyond that is a track, twelve pasture and hay fields, and an area of saltmarsh, bounded on one side by a river and on the other by vast tidal mudflats. Deep in the wes... more...

Between Earth and Paradise
by Mike  Tomkies

After giving up a hectic life as a journalist in Europe and Hollywood in the late 1960s to return to his boyhood love of nature, Mike Tomkies found Eilean Shona, a remote island 'between earth and paradise' off the west coast of Scotland. There he rebuilt a rotting wooden crofthouse which sh... more...

Brother Nature
by Jim Crumley

Acclaimed nature writer Jim Crumley turns his poet's instinct, his naturalist's eye, and occasionally his camera on his core territory in Highland Perthshire to produce a book of rare intimacy. Brother Nature is based on thirty years of exploring and thinking about the country on his door... more...

Eating Diamonds
by Loren Cruden

The richness and necessity of living in harmony with a natural environment. Extract from the Foreword by Jim Crumley '...There is a certain gentle charm at work in these pages. The participatory relationship with nature is compassionate rather than confrontational. ...Its simplicity says more... more...

Hadrian's Wildlife
by John Miles

Built in the years AD122-30 by order of the Emperor Hadrian ‘to separate Romans from Barbarians’, Hadrian's Wall was 73 miles long, running from Wallsend-on-Tyne to Bowness on the Solway Firth. It was originally almost 5 metres high with 16 large forts along its length and is the lar... more...

Horse Welfare, Use not Abuse
by Christopher Hall

This book is dedicated to the protection of horses, ponies and donkeys and is based on first-hand international experience from a lifetime spent with horses – hunting, racing and welfare – whether with The Pony Club, The Jockey Club or international horse charity. The UK alone has mor... more...

Just Before Dawn
The Creation of a Wildlife Sanctuary
by May Parker

The author describes the glorious but laborious work of converting what had been a general dumping-ground to a rich and productive wildlife haven. As work progressed, May took many photographs and kept observations of the varied wildlife she observed during the many evenings which were spent working... more...

Listen to the Trees
by Don MacCaskill

In his introduction, Don MacCaskill wrote modestly, 'I think I became a naturalist'. He was, in fact, one of Scotland's foremost naturalists and a remarkable wildlife photographer as well. In a flashback to his early years in Kilmartin, a village in Argyllshire, we learn of his awakening... more...

Mediterranean
A year around a charmed and troubled sea
by Huw Kingston

Huw's journey around the shores that gave birth to Western Civilisation is a modern odyssey that reminds us not only of this but also that a real and endlessly fascinating world is still out there… Quote from Tim Macartney-Snape, first Australian to climb Mount Everest and only perso... more...

On Foot in the African Bush
Adventures of Safari Guides
by Jeff Williams

Safari guide Jeff Williams has brought together a treasure-trove of stories of dramatic events that occurred whilst guides were leading parties through the bush on foot. Often these were recounted during evenings sitting around a campfire with friends and guide colleagues, swapping yarns and sharing... more...

Reading the Gaelic Landscape 2nd edition
Leughadh Aghaidh na Tìre
by John Murray

Following the success of the first edition, this new edition has been expanded and improved with additional images and enhanced drawings. The subject matter has been expanded with the chapter on grammar and pronunciation extended. There are examples of how Gaelic personal names and the human body ar... more...

Running South America
with my Husband and other animals
by Katharine Lowrie

It is the story of two everyday runners, Katharine and David, who decided to take on a continent and learn how to run again – barefoot, pushing their bodies and minds to levels they had never considered possible in a bid to become the first in the world to run the length of South America, to g... more...

Scotland's Heritage
A photographic journey
by John Hannavy

Scotland’s Heritage is a unique book. It combines John Hannavy’s stunning and original photography of Scotland with an engaging narrative on the country’s evolution from 4000 BC to the present day, using both the author’s own account of his travels with those of the great tra... more...

Scott's Forgotten Surgeon
Dr. Reginald Koettlitz, Polar Explorer
by Aubrey A. Jones

'...In this year celebrating the centenary of the conquering of the South Pole … it is more than fitting to have one of the unregarded figures of Antarctic history brought into the limelight of remembrance'. Extract from Introduction by Dr. Ross D.E. MacPhee, American Museum of Natura... more...

Seasonality
A personal account of nature through the seasons
by Ian  Parsons

Seasonality is an uplifting look at British wildlife through the seasons of the year, but it is also about our relationship with that wildlife. The author, a keen and passionate naturalist, takes us on a journey through spring, summer, autumn and winter, and on this journey we look at how our wildli... more...

Seton Gordon's Cairngorms
An Anthology
by Hamish Brown

Seton Gordon really created himself as naturalist, photographer and writer, the first such in the country, his first book appearing when he was eighteen. In all he wrote 27 books, two specifically about the Cairngorms where he grew up and first explored and returned to many times throughout his long... more...

Seton Gordon's Scotland
An Anthology
by Hamish Brown

Seton Gordon was only a boy when he began exploring the Cairngorms, fascinated by its wildlife and seeking to photograph all he saw - he later became a pioneer naturalist, photographer and folklorist. He wrote about the land that is Scotland, her flora and fauna, her people, her spirits, her often v... more...

Solo Round Scotland
The first single-handed circumnavigation by boat and bike
by Alan Rankin

In April 2006 the author became the first person to single-handedly circumnavigate Scotland by boat and bike. Setting out on this ultimate adventure from Kirkcudbright on the Solway Firth, Alan sailed around Scotland on a 50-foot yacht to the north-east coast of England. After 16 exhausting days on ... more...

Something Out There
by Jim Crumley

'Like many a Highland glen, the Fathan Ghlinne should be wooded but isn't. But I have sat long and often and listened to the ancient river speech, to the windsong of three birches and a rowan, the rowan above a meeting of waterfalls which should be a portentous place. And the word on the win... more...

The Joy of Climbing
by Terry Gifford

The Joy of Climbing is the result of a search through Britain, Europe and America for the esoteric gems at the easier end of climbing. This special selection demonstrates the sheer fun and enjoyment of climbing. The articles have been especially chosen to provide a stimulating but achievable challen... more...

The Mountains Look on Marrakech
A trek along the Atlas Mountains
by Hamish Brown

After an initial visit of three months to the Atlas Mountains in 1965, well-known travel writer, climber and photographer Hamish Brown has been back every year since, and this book is something of a love story about one man's lifelong devotion to the Atlas Mountains and the Berber Highlanders wh... more...

Three Men on the Way Way
A Story of Walking the West Highland Way
by Hamish Brown

The West Highland Way is Scotland’s first official Long Distance Route and runs near 100 miles from Milngavie to Fort William. It was nicknamed the 'Way Way' by a trio from Fife who set off to walk it in the year of the Millennium. This is not a guidebook but an account of their experi... more...

Walking Scotland's Lost Railways
Track Beds Rediscovered
by Robin Howie, John McGregor

Scotland still has hundreds of miles of ‘dismantled railways’, the term used by Ordnance Survey, and the track beds give scope for many walks. Some track beds have been ‘saved’ as Tarmacadam walkway/cycleway routes while others have become well-trodden local walks. The remain... more...

World Heritage Canal
Thomas Telford and the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct
by Paul A.  Lynn

Thomas Telford was arguably the greatest civil engineer Britain has ever produced. This book reveals his humble beginnings and then  describes his self-propelled rise from journeyman stonemason to famous canal engineer. In 1793 Telford was appointed principal engineer on the Ellesmere Canal ... more...