Published in conjunction with the Wildlife Trusts, this superb guide comprehensively covers more than 500 of the UK's top nature reserves, with hundreds of ideas throughout the year for both nature lovers and families looking for a special day out. Discover the Cabilla and Redrice Woods near Bodmin with a Did You Know? that the adits that the bats occupy were mined for silver and lead in the 18th century, that parts of the wood have not changed for over 400 years, and the network of paths are exactly the same as shown on a 1602 map. For each entry there is an OS map reference, how to get there, access and conditions, walking time, suggestions for a 30-minute visit and what one of the members of the Trust says. There are farms, dunes and broads, heaths and marshes, waterways, tunnels and meadows, Flamborough Cliffs, North Cave Wetlands and it is all organised by regions of Great Britain - the Southwest, Southeast, East, East Midlands, West Midlands, North, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. With Glossary and Maps and a foreword by Chris Packham and symbols for parking and toilets, shops and picnic areas, dogs on leads, cycle hire etc. 500 entries with a chance to discover some of the countryside's best-kept secrets. 320pp, quality heavyweight softback packed with colour photos.

The first examination of the seedier side of the canal routes which were, for almost two centuries, Britain's major transportation network. Even when traffic routes on canals imposed a speed limit of four miles an hour, criminals were still aboard and in what was seen as the fastest growing area of Britain's leisure industry. Books have been written retelling tales of bandits, footpads, highwaymen attacking the lone traveller, horseman, coachman, shipping line, locomotive engineer, lorry or van driver and even pilot. For almost two centuries the majority of goods travelled on Britain's famed canal network and this also attracted felons of all kinds, yet many of these tales have been largely ignored until now. From murders to muggings, parental problems to pilfering, arson, assault, smugglers, counterfeiters and even road rage canal-style, we follow the policeman on foot chasing down a thief on board the narrowboat and discover what really lies beneath the waters of the canal. Learn also about canal etiquette, the hardships, the kindness and the cruelty. Chapters cover dozens of characters from William Hancock in 1826, Ann Bridges in 1847 to Southwick's Iron Foundry, Counterfeit Coin and one character just named Annie (just like our editor!) in 1915; Annie being the name of the vessel central to the story when she struck something beneath the waterline while travelling the Forth and Clyde Canal in a prosecution described as 'an act of piracy'. Fascinating social history. 120pp in illustrated large paperback.

Revised second edition of this seminal work with 250 new entries, some illustrated, bringing the total individual bridges described to 1,600 and information describing more than 2,200 different structures. Here are road bridges, some of which are moveable, moat, packhorse, footbridge, park or garden bridges, aqueducts, canal bridges, tramways and railway bridges and seaside piers which number over one million to cross roads and canals and motorways. Far from dull, the book is quite beautiful, spanning (excuse the pun!) history and in an A-Z format covering the developing technology behind arch bridges, inhabited bridges and lifting bridges. From the wall enclosing the ancient abbey at Bury St Edmunds which carries over the River Lark three ribbed and pointed stone arches probably dating from the 13th century, there is the beautiful Aberdulais aqueduct over the River Neath with ten low stone arches and 340 feet long at Port Talbot. Page after page as you just scroll through and enjoy the archive and modern colour photographs numbering 900 including the beautiful Baddesley Clinton Moat Bridge in Warwickshire around a National Trust property, the gatehouse fortified wall and moat guarding Bishop's Palace at Wells from around 1340, Boathouse Bridge at Longleat, the Brunel Swing Bridge in Bristol, the Clyde Caledonian Railway Viaduct and so it goes on as we amble through Great Britain at a leisurely pace and are shown historical places of interest. One of our favourites is the Lower Brockhampton Manor Gatehouse Bridge, a quaint timber-framed gatehouse from 1550 with knee-braced deck beams. The last entry in the A-Z is handsome Ystrad Suspension Bridge of the type pioneered by James Dredge. Next there is a Bridge Miscellany describing aesthetics, aluminium, ancient British bridges, bridges in art, architectural periods, depictions in commercial art and on banknotes, stamps and medals, collapses and failures of bridges, sea bridges and a whole section on record-breaking bridges with the longest cantilever arm spans or laminated timber beam bridges. Finally, a geographical index. 444 big glossy pages, 22.2 x 28.6cm.

Designed for children but a fantastic revision course with hundreds of specially commissioned colour artworks to enjoy and maps and fact boxes, we believe adults will appreciate the clear layout of this superb resume. Beginning with the ancient lands 500,000 to 700BC and including chapters on Flint and Stone, The First Farmers, Stones of Mystery and Places of the Dead, Metal and Pottery, we then move on to the Celts and Romans 700BC to AD446 with chapters on The Masters of Iron, Druids and Mistletoe, Roads and Towns. The period AD446 to 1066 is entitled Raiders and Settlers and looks at The Age of Arthur, Saxon Swords, The Making of Wales and England, Viking Raids, Alfred and the Danes and Macbeth's Scotland. The following chapters cover Castles and Knights, Palaces and Players, World Power and The Modern Age and includes the Crusades, the Hundred Years War, the Wars of the Roses, Shakespeare's Genius, the Spanish Armada, Royalty, Bonnie Prince Charlie, the Factory Age, World Wars, the Cold War, Ireland North and South, Left, Right or Centre and Looking to the Future. With super timeline and fact boxes as we find out about fossilised bones and stone tools, the first mines, Hastings 1066, knights in armour, clashes of faith, treason and gunpowder, asylum seekers, a textile revolution, puffing billies, the Gold Rush, dance music to climate change. 384 magnificent pages for ages 10 and up. 22.8 x 18cm.

A beautifully illustrated account of the history and archaeology of an iconic feature of the English landscape, part of the stunning Landmark Library series. Perched on the chalk uplands of Salisbury Plain, the megaliths of Stonehenge offer one of the most recognisable outlines of any ancient structure. Its purpose - place of worship, sacrificial arena, giant calendar - is unknown, but its story is one of the most extraordinary of any of the world's prehistoric monuments. Constructed in several phases over a period of some 1500 years, beginning c3000BC, Stonehenge's key elements are its 'bluestones', transported from West Wales by unexplained means, and sarsen stones quarried from the nearby Marlborough Downs. Francis Pryor is one of Britain's most distinguished archaeologists and he delivers a rigorous account of the nature and history of the monument and explores how antiquarians, scholars, writers and artists and 'the heritage industry' and even neopagans have interpreted the site over the centuries. Extremely well illustrated and beautifully produced paperback, 236pp, full page colour.

The cobalt blue pendant-vaulted ceiling with golden lettering and decoration at Hampton Court Palace has been restored and is exactly what Henry VIII would have seen. Angels Costumes has eight miles of hanging rails and is an 'unparalleled dressing up box' housing more than a million costumes and accessories, military uniforms, medals, insignia and outfits for actors. The Daily Express building in Fleet Street has a stunning Art Deco lobby. Television Centre White City has a statue of the sun god Helios outside its curved exterior. The Royal Hospital Chelsea, Old Royal Naval College, the Honourable Artillery Company, Old Bailey, 10 Downing Street, Big Ben, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the disused Aldwych Underground Station, BT Tower, the Thames Barrier, Battersea Power Station, Mansion House, the Bank of England, Repton Boxing Club, Lord's Cricket Ground, St Sophia's Greek Orthodox Cathedral, New West End Synagogue, King Henry VIII's Wine Cellar to Tower Bridge, we embark on a thrilling tour of the hidden interiors of some of London's most iconic buildings. Celebrated photographer Peter Dazeley takes us deep into the boiler room of the city's infrastructure, into the changing rooms of our greatest temples of sport, into the heart of the Establishment, and behind the scenes at the most opulent buildings, livery companies and halls in the Square Mile. Some buildings are derelict, many still working and all of these extraordinary buildings are accompanied by the story of how each of these places was created, how they are used, and what they reveal about the currents of power flowing through the city. These are doors which may be otherwise closed to us in a magnificent volume, revised and updated in 2017 to include the royal palaces of Hampton Court, the Tower of London and Inigo Jones's Banqueting Hall at the Palace of Whitehall, the Royal Courts of Justice Supreme Court and Bow Street Magistrates' Court. Blazing in colour, a superb heavyweight 272 page publication, 24.8 x 31cm.
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Liverpool was the first port of call for American travellers arriving in England from 1815 when regular transatlantic voyages were introduced. The advent of steamships in 1838 reduced the length of the voyage but not the risk. During the early 19th century travel writing developed as a popular genre, as American visitors lingered in Liverpool before moving on into Europe and even the Holy Land and the East. Common themes are admiration of Liverpool's commercial energy combined with astonishment at how brazen the prostitutes were. A transatlantic visitor might not realise that a gentleman was not expected to carry his own luggage, and difficulty in understanding the local accent provides some amusing incidents. The Canadian Elizabeth Forbes expected Liverpool to be dirty, dingy and crowded, but found herself admiring the docklands architecture and clean pavement. Customs checks could be speeded up by a tip, though the officials made rigorous searches for smuggled tobacco. In 1863 the novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne, who served as American Consul, published his experiences in a collection of essays, including descriptions of walking round the slums. Henry James wrote about his first evening in Liverpool's luxurious Adelphi Hotel. The bird painter John James Audubon arrived in 1826 and moved on to Edinburgh where he found an engraver who illustrated his celebrated Birds of America and Herman Melville refers to the docks in his novel Redburn. Liverpool had been both a key part of the slave trade and also an important centre for abolition, and the former slave William Wells Brown settled there to write his memoir Three Years in Europe. Liverpool helped writers to liberate their voices in a free discussion of slavery, hosting lectures by speakers such as Amanda Berry Smith, a former slave, the evangelist Dwight Lyman Moody, and Harriet Beecher Stowe, who wrote "The hospitality of England has become famous in the world, and, I think, with reason". A fascinating collection of travellers' stories. 300pp, paperback, many illus including colour plates.

The UK's regional aeronautical treasures are housed in a wealth of museums of all sizes, in amazing venues, containing aircraft of the world, of national or regional importance. With region-by-region coverage, the backgrounds of the formative museums are highlighted along with the pedigrees of their most significant exhibits. Included are such icons as the de Havilland Aircraft Museum, home of the Mosquito, the Brooklands Museum, headquarters of Sopwith, Hawker and Vickers; the Helicopter Museum, the world's largest rotorcraft collection and Solent Sky, shrine to flying-boats and the Spitfire. Smaller collections for example the Martlesham Heath Control Tower Museum, home of the British flight test; the RAF Air Defence Radar Museum devoted to the vital 'magic eye' of the Battle of Britain; the Glenn Miller Museum at the airfield from which the band leader departed to his doom, and the Fort Paul Armouries, dominated by the enormous Beverley airlifter. Over 60 museums and their most important exhibits are profiled with over 300 photographs of aeronautical gems. Some colour, 352pp.

Written by the host of BBC2's Villages by the Sea, here is a charming and unexpected journey through the quirks of England's villages throughout the ages. Dr Ben Robinson is an expert archaeologist, and we join him visiting villages from prehistoric to Roman to medieval times, all the way to today's modern, urban villages. We discover how landowners, governments and communities have shaped villages and why village greens, pubs and village halls exist, and the real meaning behind the names like Bunny, Yelling, Lover, Great Snoring and Slaughter. Entirely new villages are still being built today, but when did the first villages appear and why is this form of settlement so enduring and endearing? This is a compelling hefty tome studying archaeology, history and architecture, and at once a thoughtful, and enlightening look at our oldest homes and extraordinary heritage. There are amazing aerial images such as RAF Alconbury with its Cold War runway gradually disappearing as a new type of village is born with industrial parks, housing developments, schools, greens and a cricket pitch. Or we see the beautiful brickwork of the terraced houses in Cromford, Derbyshire, built by Richard Arkwright in 1776-77 to house his textile workers, alongside other colour photographs of late 15th century small bricks laid in English bond, and a 19th century gault brick wall in Flemish bond of various colours. Hugely entertaining, 421pp, many colour plates.

A book about Britain's wildlife, how to discover it and the adventures we can have with it right here on our doorstep. In a world where nature is slowly being replaced by technology and material things, every single one of us could do with appreciating the flora and fauna that we have. To spend time in the outdoors exploring, searching and learning teaches us that there is life beyond out laptops and that it needs our help. Written by a young conservationist who details her own small adventures travelling in the UK in search of wildlife encounters, from ancient forests and coastal wildernesses, to bustling city streets an suburban back gardens, nature is everywhere if you know where to look. In her engaging and witty prose she has beautiful descriptions of wildlife including beaches, woodland, island and urban spaces detailing the best places to spot wildlife, tips and animal 'etiquette'. We meet seals and seabirds, whales and dolphins, understand dune systems and sparrowhawks, estuarine wildlife, ospreys and insects, hen harriers and moorland life, red squirrels, bats and owls, foxy city slickers, a graveyard that's very much still alive, garden birds and insects and how to encourage them into your garden. Best of all are the original illustrations and fabulous colour photographs by the author who has featured on BBC Wildlife and New Nature magazines. 192 big glossy pages in softback.