Rebecca Lowe, journalist and author of The Slow Road to Tehran * Lyrical, witty and full of cheer, Lost in the Lakes avoids tales of heroic climbs in favour of the quieter - and oft-overlooked - story of everyday life in one of Britain's rural honey-pots. The best travel writing is about people as much as places, and the best way to meet the people who inhabit or visit a place is on foot. Whether this engages with the Insta crowd and the inappropriately-dressed selfie takers remains to be seen. This is the Lake District seen from its walking paths – with just a backpack, an open mind… and a spring in the step. He is not obsessed by “bagging Wainwrights”, the peaks made famous by Alfred Wainwright (1907-1991) in his excellent Pictorial Guide series, though he does clamber up a few from time to time.

A charming book, brimming with tender affection for this ‘magnificent… dreamy patchwork’ of peaks, tarns and ‘serpentine valleys… between soaring slopes’.

From Penrith and back, via Keswick, Cockermouth, Coniston, Grasmere and Windermere, plus many places in between, Tom Chesshyre puts on his walking boots and sets forth in a “big wobbly circle” around the Lakes, drawn onwards by the dramatic scenery that attracts more than 19 million visitors each year. If it becomes just a playground for visitors, with no local character, what is the point of preserving it?

Tom Chesshyre sets off to make a meandering circle of the Lake District on foot with one aim in mind: 'to let happenchance lead the way. OK, Wordsworth and everyone and their dog since have written one of the 50,000 books about the Lakes and you can still find yourself alone, but I will not be alone in wanting to follow the list of hostelries mentioned as one 370-mile long pub crawl. From Penrith and back, via Ullswater, Keswick, Derwentwater, Bassenthwaite Lake, Cockermouth, Eskdale, Coniston, Grasmere and Windermere, plus many places in between, Tom Chesshyre puts on his walking boots and sets forth along the trails in a “big wobbly circle”, drawn onwards by the dramatic scenery that attracts more than 19 million visitors each year. Join our community to get personalised book suggestions, extracts straight to your inbox, 10% off RRPs, and to change children’s lives.A lovely gentle, slow paced meander around the peaks, lakes and valleys of the Lake District - an impressive 379 miles of them.

For more infomation please review our use of cookies in our Cookie Policy and then Accept and Close this bar. Most purchases from business sellers are protected by the Consumer Contract Regulations 2013 which give you the right to cancel the purchase within 14 days after the day you receive the item. In his amiable and relaxed company we climb the fells and skirt the lakes; just as engagingly, we meet a carnival of characters whose personalities and opinions are the real focus of Chesshyre’s tale. Tom Chesshyre is no brash Wainwright-bagger, but instead a relaxed, affable guide who takes us on a ‘big wobbly circle’ of a stroll around all sixteen main lakes: an impressive 379 miles in all. The Chalke History Festival announces a new name, new look, and tons for history buffs to get their teeth into!In his amiable and relaxed company we climb the fells and skirt the lakes; just as engagingly, we meet a carnival of characters whose personalities and opinions are the real focus of Chesshyre's tale. The author had an annoying way of seemingly poking fun at some the locals, mainly people who he met in passing. Across landscape that so inspired the Romantic poets, he takes in remote parts of the parkland that many tourists miss - enjoying encounters aplenty with farmers, fell runners and fellow hikers, while staying in shepherds' huts, bothies and old climbers' hotels along the way, and even going for a (chilly) dip in Derwentwater. LoveReading has teamed up with Summersdale Publishers to give our readers a chance to win signed copies of Lost in the Lakes by Tom Chesshyre, Moderate Becoming Good Later by Toby and Katie Carr and The Race of Truth by Leigh Timmis. Loved that he had a plan and stick to it - all his accommodation was pre-booked and he arrived everywhere he planned on foot.