Walking Through Spring: An English Journey - Graham Hoyland

Walking Through Spring follows Graham Hoyland's journey as he creates a new national trail, walking with the Spring from the south coast in March up to the border with Scotland, which he reaches on the longest day: the twenty-first of June.

In Walking Through Spring Graham Hoyland walks north with Spring, from the South Coast to the Borders, tracing a new national trail. He connects a labyrinth of ancient footpaths, marking each mile by planting an acorn and drawing a path of oak trees that stretch through the English countryside. From dairy cows cantering and kicking their heels in lush meadows in the West Country, to galloping bands of lambs in the Peak District and secret green ways winding along canal tow-paths up the Derwent Valley, Hoyland draws inspiration from the vast literary landscape as he watches the season unfold across the country. 

Whether it is sailing a dinghy through the Lake District or taking in an otter's point of view down the River Eden to the Scottish border, he finds himself engaging with some of England's best nature writers, discovering the essence of the country and meeting England's rural characters along the way. What does Spring mean? Is it really getting earlier every year? Away from the streams of gleaming cars and motorways, can Springtime help us reconnect with the old England of The Wildwood and Pan?

"This richly enjoyable book will entertain you on one page, enrage you on the next and make you get out your walking boots on the third, the most effective advertisement for the countryside ever encountered". The Daily Mail