Sport

Follow the footsteps of St Cuthbert in this easy-going walk of 63 miles (101 km) from Melrose Abbey in the Scottish Borders to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne in Northumberland. St Cuthbert’s Way is one of Scotland’s Great Trails, and it is also one of England’s great trails. Starting from the ruins of Melrose Abbey, it winds alongside the River Tweed, and after about 31 miles you walk across the border into England on high ground. The Way includes a section of Roman road and passes castles, hill forts and historic ruins along the way. Most people will complete it comfortably within 5 or 6 days. Its summit is Wideopen Hill (369m/1210ft), and its barefoot finale is the Pilgrim Way to Lindisfarne with its priory and castle. The route is fully waymarked, the gradients are modest and it has welcoming B&Bs and pubs at strategic intervals. This second edition was thoroughly revised in 2023 and it contains custom mapping at 1:40,000 and many post-Covid updates. It is bound in our lighter, pocket-friendly format and printed on rainproof paper.

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The free, weekly, 5k timed running and walking events known as parkrun are now a global phenomenon, operating in 23 countries worldwide. Within the community of participants are enthusiasts who have created a parkrun sub-culture of challenges, loved especially by those who can no longer improve on their personal best time week by week. One such is the Alphabet Challenge, to take part in parkruns which begin with every letter of the alphabet, just 25 letters in this instance, as there is yet no parkrun anywhere in the world beginning with X. Eileen Jones, the author of 'How parkrun changed our lives' (Gritstone 2021) was close to completing her own alphabet when parkrun was forced to stop because of the pandemic. Eventually, at long last, she made it to Zuiderpark parkrun in The Netherlands, only then to discover obsessives who were close to finishing their second, third, even seventh alphabets. This is her story, a personal memoir of a journey from Alexandra Palace in North London to The Hague, which often involved musical theatre, and sometimes a little drama along the way. It's the story of the people she met, the powerfully-cohesive force of the parkrun community, the dedicated, the eccentric, the enthusiastic runners, joggers, walkers and volunteers whom she calls her parkrun family. Each chapter leads with one featured parkrun, and then has details of the other events beginning with that letter that Eileen has completed, 135 different ones (out of a tally of more than 325 in all, many at her home parkrun, Fell Foot, in the Lake District). There are tales of record-breaking achievements beyond the confines of the stop-watch: the man who's done more parkruns than anyone else in the world, even taking part on crutches when injured; the popular and cheerful woman who's on her way to 100 different events, all of them by public transport; the writer whose children's stories are set at a parkrun beginning with D; and a friend who shared the author's Z celebrations after doing her own challenge in strict alphabetical order. If you've done a parkrun, you'll love this book. If you've not, this is a story that will surely inspire you to sign up and take part.

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There are two kinds of people in this world. Those who insist that football is just a game, and those who know better. Take the April 1967 clash between England and Scotland. Wounded by their biggest rivals winning the World Cup just nine months earlier, Bobby Brown's Scots travelled to Wembley on the mother of all missions. Win and they would take a huge step towards qualifying for the 1968 European Championship, end England’s formidable 19-game unbeaten streak, and, best of all, put Sir Alf Ramsey’s men firmly back in their box. Lose? Well, that was just unthinkable. Meanwhile, off the pitch, the winds of change were billowing through Scotland. Nationalism, long confined to the margins of British politics, was starting to penetrate the mainstream, gaining both traction and influence. Was England’s World Cup victory a defining moment in the Scottish independence movement? Or did it consign Scotland to successive generations of myopic underachievement? Michael McEwan, author of The Ghosts of Cathkin Park, returns to 1967 to explore a crucial ninety minutes in the rebirth of a nation.

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Learn all the essential tying techniques for the top streamer patterns from master fly tier Charlie Craven. The 18 featured patterns with recipes and complete step-by-step instructions include a mix of classic and modern patterns to showcase not only fish-catching flies, but also the best range of techniques. Includes tips from other top tiers, the latest information on new materials, 50 additional top patterns and recipes, and more than 800 color photos. Featured flies include Baby Gonga, Black Ghost, Clouser, Dirty Hippy, Double Bunny, Game Changer, Heifer Groomer, Lead Eyed Bugger, Matuka, Mickey Finn, Muddler, Platte River Special, Platte River Spider, Sculpzilla, Slumpbuster, Sparkle Minnow, Tequeely, and Thin Mint.

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Celebrate the greatest footballers from the world game's current era with over 90 player profiles including action photos and key statistics.The Stars of Football profiles over 90 players, telling the stories of their rise and successes. This fully illustrated book showcases the biggest names to grace the World Cup and other elite competitions including the Premier League. Learn about masters such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, plus other heroes who continue to enhance their reputations, including Harry Kane, Mo Salah, Kylian Mbappe, Karim Benzema, Robert Lewandowski and Kevin De Bruyne. This hardcover book also shines the spotlight on new stars such as Enzo Fernandez and Harry Souttar. Each player is profiled in a dedicated spread with action photos, key statistics and points of interest.

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In the era of boxing's pay-per-view superstars, Tris Dixon invested in a Greyhound bus pass and spent several months traversing America on a shoestring budget, tracking down fighters from yesteryear who had vanished from the limelight. Venturing from New York to Las Vegas and from Toronto to Miami, the young writer - himself a former amateur boxer - sought out coulda-been contenders and cult heroes from the 1950s to the 2000s, all now faded from popular memory. He visited old people's homes, gyms and too many prisons, discovering that life after boxing can be a cruel place when the ropes are no longer in place to keep fighters safe from the outside world. Dixon meets men who shaped boxing history, fighting the likes of Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson. He shares their memories and weaves together their forgotten tales over the course of a remarkable American journey.

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A People's History of Tottenham Hotspur is the story of how fans helped create the identity of a world-famous club and tells a story from a perspective rarely acknowledged. Drawing on social history, contemporary press reports and first-hand interviews with the fans themselves, authors Martin Cloake and Alan Fisher trace the club's development from being the team of the suburbs and the rising south, through the glory years and the arrival of mass, popular culture, and into the modern era of the game. It is not a tale of trophies won and lost, of players bought and sold. Instead, it is the story of how one of the game's oldest and most famous teams was formed and established by its fans and how its identity was created by them. It evaluates how the fans' relationship with the club has evolved, as the game has changed: from those bygone days, when a club was at the heart of a local community, to the modern era, where the world's leading football clubs have to compete as multinational 'brands', appealing to fans on a global scale, stretching much further and wider than the north London footprint than the club's founders would have ever imagined.

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Riders like Marco Pantani are made to be on the wall, and his remarkable riding feats are only part of it. The shaved head, the earring, that bandanna – Pantani could be the most iconic rider ever to have raced a bike. This poster book displays one of Italy’s most beloved sporting sons in technicolour glory, across sixteen 250gsm prints all ready to be displayed in pride of place. A graphic overlay on each image is reminiscent of hours spent feverishly viewing cycling on the television.

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1977/78: A Historic Season for Rangers FC and a Treble That Ended an Era tells the story of a historic season for Rangers FC on and off the pitch. Captain John Greig's 17-year playing career at Ibrox ended in treble glory, and he was later voted 'The Greatest Ranger' by the fans. With another great Rangers figure as manager, the late Jock Wallace, the team made a clean sweep of domestic honours, playing entertaining and attacking football. Greig would then make the leap from player to manager, with Wallace leaving the club just days after completing the treble. Season 1977/78 was the last before the modernisation of Ibrox stadium, and saw the start of another wonderful Rangers career with the arrival of mesmerising winger Davie Cooper. It also saw the emergence of a new force in Scottish football, with the challenge from an Aberdeen team that would grow even stronger in years to come. It is a season still fondly remembered by older Rangers fans. It truly marked the end of an era and the start of a new chapter.

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