Outdoors
100 Scotsman WalksFrom 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 Scotlandby 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...
4000mClimbing 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 CameraThe 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 Ditchby 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 Wildernessby 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...
Between Earth and Paradiseby 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 Natureby 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...
Canals Across ScotlandWalking, Cycling, Boating, Visiting
by Hamish Brown
This entertaining and informative book will be of practical benefit to all who discover the historic Union Canal and the Forth & Clyde Canal, whether walking, cycling, boating or visiting the Falkirk Wheel or the Kelpies. The canals are for fun, whether on the water, on the towpath, walking or c... more...
Eating Diamondsby 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 Wildlifeby 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 Abuseby 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 DawnThe 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 Treesby 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...
Literature of the Gaelic LandscapeLitreacheas na Tìre
by John Murray
From the comfort of an armchair and with the aid of this new book, the reader can travel to the Breadalbane and Argyll of Duncan Bàn Macintyre; the Skye and Raasay of Sorley Maclean; and the Caithness and Sutherland of Neil M. Gunn. Photographs, maps and place-names linked to key passages in ... more...
MediterraneanA 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...
Reading the Gaelic Landscape 2nd editionLeughadh 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 Americawith 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 HeritageA 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 SurgeonDr. 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...
Seton Gordon's CairngormsAn 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 ScotlandAn 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 ScotlandThe 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 Thereby 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 Climbingby 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 MarrakechA 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 who so... more...
Three Men on the Way WayA 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 RailwaysTrack 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 CanalThomas 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 (now... more...