Search results for ""Vertebrate Publishing Ltd""

Do you know how it feels to run for 1,900 miles? Or to look down at the earth from a space station? Or to swim alongside a hungry shark?Fantastic Female Adventurers by Lily Dyu is a collection of fourteen exciting and inspirational stories about the women that do. Follow them on their incredible journeys around the globe.Ski to the North Pole with Ann Daniels while watching out for polar bears and lethal cracks in the ice. Feel the air beneath your feet as you climb high on a cliff face with Gwen Moffat. Experience the thrill of racing down rocky Himalayan trails with champion runner Mira Rai. Sail the oceans with Ellen MacArthur, the girl who saved up her lunch money to buy her first boat. You’ll even fly into space with Britain’s first astronaut, Helen Sharman. And join Lily on other awesome adventures with Anna McNuff, Sarah Outen, Misba Khan and more – taking you from Everest to the South Pole and all the places in between.Beautifully illustrated by artist and adventurer Chellie Carroll, Fantastic Female Adventurers will leave you thinking: I can do that, too!

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Day Walks on the High Weald features 20 circular routes between 6.5 and 13.9 miles (10.5km and 22.4km) in length, spread across this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the south-east of England. Local author Deirdre Huston has compiled her favourite walks in the region, which showcase the High Weald’s rich history and varied landscape.Walk down old coach roads. Clamber through deserted woodland and along riverbanks. March past castles and skirt battlefields. Linger in meadows and leap across Wealden streams. See the countryside that inspired A.A. Milne and Rudyard Kipling. Visit Hastings Country Park, stroll around Bewl Water and through tranquil St Leonard’s Forest. Marvel at the Ouse Valley Viaduct and Bodiam castle, and consider the epic history of Battle and its surrounding landscape.Together with stunning photography, each route features Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 maps, easy-to-follow directions, details of distance and navigation information, and refreshment stops and local information.

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In 1986, the legendary fell runner Joss Naylor completed a continuous circuit of all 214 Wainwright fells in the Lake District, covering a staggering distance of over 300 miles – plus many thousands of metres of ascent – in only seven days and one hour.Those in the know thought that this record would never be beaten. It is the ultimate British ultramarathon. The person taking on this superhuman challenge would have to be willing to push harder and suffer more than ever before. There is no Map in Hell tells the story of a man willing to do just that.In 2014, Steve Birkinshaw made an attempt at setting a new record. With a background of nearly forty years of running elite orienteering races and extreme-distance fell running over the toughest terrain, if he couldn’t do it, surely no one could. But the Wainwrights challenge is in a different league: aspirants need to complete two marathons and over 5,000 metres of ascent every day for a week.With a foreword by Joss Naylor, There is no Map in Hell recounts Birkinshaw’s preparation, training and mile-by-mile experience of the extraordinary and sometimes hellish demands he made of his mind and body, and the physiological aftermath of such a feat. His deep love of the fells, phenomenal strength and tenacity are awe inspiring, and testimony to athletes and onlookers alike that ‘in order to attain the impossible, one must attempt the absurd’.

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North Wales Trail Running is a comprehensive guide to off-road running across North Wales, including Snowdonia, Anglesey and into the Llŷn Peninsula and the Clwyds. With 20 runs from 4km to 20.4km in length, this book is suitable for runners of all abilities.North Wales has some of the most diverse terrain in the UK, from rocky outcrops and large cwms to steep-sided valleys and magical llyns. It is a Mecca for the adventurous runner, and home to the 104km Paddy Buckley Round. In this book, author Steve Franklin has collected together many of his favourite runs, from low-lying loops around idyllic llyns and reservoirs, to serious hands-on-knees fell runs on some of Snowdonia’s biggest mountains. Summit Snowdon, Cadair Idris and Conwy Mountain, and discover quieter corners of the country around Cnicht, the Northern Carneddau and the Crafnant valley.Each route features clear and easy-to-use Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 maps, easy-to-follow directions, details of distance and timings, and refreshment stops and local knowledge.

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'Me not belong in the mountains? Why, I couldn't go on living without them! My thoughts, my dreams, my whole life were nothing but the mountains!'In 1953 Hermann Buhl made the first ascent of Nanga Parbat - the ninth-highest mountain in the world, and the third 8,000-metre peak to be climbed, following Annapurna and Everest. It was one of the most incredible and committed climbs ever made.Continuing alone and without supplementary oxygen, Buhl made a dash for the summit after his partners turned back. On a mountain that had claimed thirty-one lives, an exhausted Buhl waded through deep snow and climbed over technical ground to reach the summit, driven on by an 'irresistible urge'. After a night spent standing on a small ledge at over 8,000 metres, Buhl returned forty-one hours later, exhausted and at the very limit of his endurance.Written shortly after Buhl's return from the mountain, Nanga Parbat Pilgrimage is a classic of mountaineering literature that has inspired thousands of climbers. It follows Buhl's inexorable rise from rock climber to alpinist to mountaineer, until, almost inevitably, he makes his phenomenal Nanga Parbat climb. Buhl's book, and ascent, reminded everyone that, while the mountains could never be conquered, they could be climbed with sufficient enthusiasm, spirit and dedication.

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Alps Mountain Biking is a guide to the western Alps. It reveals epic rocky descents, high-altitude blasts and hidden Alpine singletrack, all set against a backdrop of snowy peaks, pine forests and clear blue skies. This is some of the greatest singletrack, enduro and downhill riding the mountains have to offer.Featuring the Alpine hot spots alongside the best lesser-known areas, you can ride the main lines of Morzine and Chamonix, and then escape the crowds and head to La Plagne, Martigny or Sauze d'Oulx. Using lifts, buses and good old pedal power, you can really exploit the massive vertical gains each area has to offer and enjoy trails that cater for every taste and ability.Alps Mountain Biking has everything you need to get out of the concrete resorts and plan a great riding trip. Written by Samoëns-based guide Steve Mallett, it gives you the local riders' inside knowledge on trails, and information on accommodation, lifts and travel. Packed with fantastic photography, it is guaranteed to inspire you to get out and explore this huge mountain bike playground.

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The Everest Files story continues in North Face ...Ryan Hart is an 18-year-old adventurer on a mission. To get himself to Mount Everest and check out the truth about the world's highest peak. Friends have told him dark stories about the mountain, outrageous things that he wants to see for himself.Just a few hours after Ryan arrives at Everest Base Camp a lethal earthquake strikes. Avalanches pound the glacier, burying Ryan's climbing buddy and killing many others. A desperate rescue saves Ryan's friend, but only after a local Tibetan girl Tashi helps with the search.Stress levels are running high among the climbing teams. The mountain is shut for the season because it is judged too dangerous.Then a flashlight reveals a clue. Someone is alive, high on Everest's treacherous north face!Tashi is convinced it is her 15-year-old brother.Ryan is prepared to risk everything to help.Storm clouds gather as they set out on their illegal climb, a do-or-die mission which the local militia will do anything to stop.

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Peak District Trail Running is a comprehensive guide to off-road running in the Peak District National Park. With 22 runs, from 5km to 28km in length, this book is suitable for runners of all abilities. Runners are spoilt by the variety of terrain on offer in the Peak District. There are many runs that stay low, avoiding roads, following broad, well surfaced trails such as the Monsal Trail around Bakewell, or the trails around Ladybower Reservoir and Carsington Water. For the more experienced runner the area has some excellent challenges on the high, rugged moors of Kinder and Bleaklow in the Dark Peak. Researched and written by local runners Nik Cook and Jon Barton, each route features clear and easy to use Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 maps, easy-to-follow directions, details of distance and timings, refreshment stops and local knowledge, and a detailed appendix.

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To celebrate Britain's first and arguably most beautiful national park, supporters of Friends of the Peak District have devised a 190-mile walking route around its entire boundary – the Peak District Boundary Walk. Stretching from the moorland tops of the South Pennines to the gentle limestone scenery of the Derbyshire Dales, the route embraces the urban edges of Sheffield and Oldham, as well as Staffordshire's rugged moorland and the undulating slopes of Cheshire.Follow the route along existing footpaths, tracks, quiet lanes, former railway lines and a canal towpath. Enjoy some quiet and little-known corners of the national park. Walk it in day stages or tackle it all in one go.Peak District Boundary Walk includes a detailed route description, Ordnance Survey 1:25,000-scale maps and information about places of interest and local facilities. Separate features examine some of the key national park issues and how the Friends of the Peak District have campaigned for over 90 years to safeguard our most precious landscapes.

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Day Walks in the Brecon Beacons features 20 circular routes between 6.8 and 16.5 miles (11km and 16.6km) in length, suitable for hill walkers of all abilities.Local author and walker Harri Roberts shares his favourite walks in the region, including circuits in the hills around Llangors Lake, the Taf Fechan Skyline and Pen y Fan, and the Llanbedr Horseshoe.The routes are split into four areas - Blorenge and The Black Mountains, The Brecon Beacons, Mynydd Llangatwg and Mynydd Llangynidr, Fforest Fawr and The Black Mountain.Each route features Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 maps, easy-to-follow directions, details of distance and navigation information, and refreshment stops and local information. The walks are illustrated with stunning photography by the author and outdoor photographer Adam Long.

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Walking South Yorkshire is a collection of 30 circular walks, between 2 and 8 miles (3 and 13 km) in length, that explore the ancient woodland and rural visitor attractions around Sheffield, Rotherham and Barnsley.Attractions visited include: Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wentworth Castle Gardens, Stainborough Park, Cannon Hall Museum, Old Moor RSPB Reserve, Monk Bretton Priory, Elsecar Heritage Centre, Worsbrough Mill, Rockley Blast Furnace, Wentworth Woodhouse, the Waterloo Pottery Kiln, Catcliffe Glass Cone, Graves Park Animal Farm, Roche Abbey and the Chesterfield Canal.Written by local walker, Rob Haslam, each walk features detailed route directions, combined with a thorough insight into the county's rich, yet little-known, heritage of ancient woodland. All walks can be reached by public transport from Sheffield, Meadowhall, Rotherham and Barnsley, feature Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 maps and information on public transport, car parking, history, refreshments and terrain.

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Winner of the 2012 Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature 'I was aware that I was cold - beyond cold. I was a lump of meat left for too long in a freezer, a body trapped beneath the ice, sinking down into the dark. I was freezing to death.' In this brilliant sequel to his award-winning debut Psychovertical, mountaineering stand-up Andy Kirkpatrick has achieved his life's ambition to become one of the world's leading climbers. Pushing himself to new extremes, he embarks on his toughest climbs yet - on big walls in the Alps and Patagonia - in the depths of winter. Kirkpatrick has more success, but the savagery and danger of these encounters comes at huge personal cost. Questioning his commitment to his chosen craft, Kirkpatrick is torn between family life and the dangerous path he has chosen. Written with his trademark wit and honesty, Cold Wars is a gripping account of modern adventure.

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There Is No Wall is ultrarunner Allie Bailey’s brutally honest and sometimes shocking account of alcoholism, depression and severe mental breakdowns which almost cost her her life. Told with disarming vulnerability, heartbreaking depth of feeling and dark humour, this isn’t a story about how running saved her – she was already running and at the height of her struggles sometimes even winning 100-mile-plus races. But somewhere between the darkest excesses of the music industry and the simple beauty of the ultrarunning scene, Allie found space to listen, learn and put into practice techniques that would go on to save her life and change it for the better. There Is No Wall is a story about how doing something you love can lead you to achieve things you never thought possible. Running won’t save you, but it might buy you the time to save yourself.

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Bikepacking Scotland by Markus Stitz features 20 great multi-day off-the-beaten-track cycling adventures across the Scottish mainland and islands. The book features routes of different lengths which take in the best of the country, from the Ayrshire Alps, Dumfries and Galloway and the Borders in southern Scotland, through Perthshire’s unique drovers’ roads and the grand architecture of the Central Belt, across to Argyll’s islands on ferry-hopping adventures around Islay, a paradise for whisky connoisseurs, and Jura and Mull to spot magnificent golden eagles. And, of course, the Scottish Highlands with an epic tour of the Cairngorms National Park, home to 25 per cent of Britain's rare and endangered species, as well as the author’s own take on the North Coast 500 and more. Researched and written by the founder of Bikepacking Scotland, and mostly accessible by public transport, each route includes all the information you need to help you plan your ride, with points of interest along the route, food recommendations and accommodation options, in addition to stunning photography and overview mapping. Downloadable GPX files of the routes are also available. Alongside further information on access, seasons and what to pack, and valuable insight from Scottish cycling personalities including Mark Beaumont and Jenny Graham, this book is full of practical tips and advice for both experienced bikepackers and those who want to try it out for the first time.

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Great Scottish Walks by Helen and Paul Webster, founders of Walkhighlands, is a comprehensive guide to the 26 best long-distance hiking trails in Scotland. Whether you’re keen to experience classic trails such as the West Highland Way, discover more accessible trails like the Forth & Clyde Union Canal Towpath in the Central Belt or yearn for the remote wilderness of walks like the Cape Wrath Trail and Skye Trail, this book offers inspiration for long-distance walkers of all experience levels who want to challenge themselves on Scotland’s greatest trails (and even those who wish to tackle the trails as day walks or in shorter sections). The walks are illustrated with stunning photography, showcasing the incredibly varied Scottish mainland and island landscapes that you can discover, from the remote mountains and glens, coastal sea stacks and beaches, to the lush farmland and canals of the lowlands. There are countless towns, villages and historical sites that you’ll want to stop and visit along the way, rich in Scotland’s heritage and culture. This book provides everything you need to inspire you to explore further, including an overview of what to expect from each route, logistical information about tackling the routes over a number of days, overview mapping, and practical information about access, public transport, accommodation and local amenities. With Great Scottish Walks, let Helen and Paul equip you to take on your own long-distance adventure and discover the amazing trails that Scotland has to offer.

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Do you wish you could make the outdoors a bigger part of your life? Liv Bolton, host of the chart-topping podcast The Outdoors Fix, presents an inspiring collection of stories about ordinary people who have done just that. By making time for their passions – from walking, running, climbing, swimming and paddleboarding to photography, filmmaking, cooking and conservation – they have found their daily lives transformed through immersion in nature and the countryside. The chapters include the stories of outdoor instructor Rehna Yaseen, mental-health campaigner Alex Staniforth, Black Girls Hike regional leader Oge Ejizu and coastal runner Elise Downing. Time outdoors can be hugely beneficial, and even small changes can make a big difference: improving happiness, enhancing work–life balance, introducing new friendships and boosting physical and mental health. Packed with stunning photographs and practical tips encompassing everything from after-work local adventures to spending a night out on the hills, The Outdoors Fix might just provide the inspiration you need to embrace the great outdoors and live more adventurously.

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Gravel Rides Lake District by Andrew Barlow features 15 of the best gravel bike rides in the stunning Lake District National Park, between 17 to 270km in length, suitable for all levels of gravel cyclists. This book also features industry-standard Ordnance Survey mapping, and is illustrated with action photography.

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‘We’re not at parkrun any more,’ I mutter to myself, quietly longing for the presence of nice marshals in high-visibility vests.Failure is an Option is the story of an average runner who sets out to discover just how far he can go. With the support (and misgivings) of his family, and aware that his quickest years are behind him, Matt Whyman leaves the Saturday morning 5K to push towards 100-mile ultramarathons and beyond. By slowing things down to run a very long way, he joins a growing number of men and women from all walks of life striving to do something extraordinary.A newcomer to a world that can often seem off-limits, Matt finds his feet as an ultrarunner by learning the hard way. He battles monster hallucinations on endurance races spanning day and night, loses himself on tantalising trails across landscapes far from home, and forges bonds with fellow competitors in which small, kind gestures mean more than any medal. Determined to touch the boundaries of his running world before it starts to shrink, ultimately Matt sets his sights on a six-day mountain ultra that even hardened veterans consider to be the most formidable on earth: the Dragon’s Back Race.Brimming with good humour, honesty and joy, Failure is an Option pits ambition against ability to uncover human truths that resonate with us all. A mid-pack competitor who could win prizes for enthusiasm – if nothing else – Matt takes us on a journey far beyond his comfort zone and with no guaranteed outcome of success. The results are entertaining from start to finish, often very funny and at times deeply moving.

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'The greater the challenge, the sweeter the reward, but also the greater the risk of failure. And fear of failure is the greatest barrier to success.'Sabrina Verjee is an ultrarunning phenomenon. In June 2021, on her fourth attempt, she became the first person to climb the Lake District’s 214 Wainwright hills in under six days, running 325 miles with a colossal 36,000 metres of ascent.Where There’s a Hill tells the story of an outsider who was never picked for a school sports team yet went on to become an accomplished modern pentathlete and adventure racer. After switching her focus to ultrarunning in her thirties, Sabrina moved to the Lake District, where she could hone her mountain-running skills on the local fells. High-profile success in endurance events followed, as she completed the Dragon’s Back Race three times and was the outright winner of the 2019 Summer Spine Race, beating her nearest competitor by more than eight hours.However, it was the Wainwrights Round which really captured Sabrina’s imagination. Having learnt about the challenge from fell-running legend Steve Birkinshaw, Sabrina began to plan an attempt of her own. Despite multiple obstacles – including lockdown regulations, bad weather, injury and controversy – Sabrina’s grit and determination shone through. Where There’s a Hill is a frank and inspirational account of how one woman ran her way into the record books.

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What we eat has a huge impact on our physical and mental health, and on our performance in our chosen sport, whether we’re elite-level athletes or enthusiastic amateurs. But, with so much information out there, how do we choose a way of eating that is right for us?More Fuel You is a clear and authoritative guide to making the most of your nutrition. Leading sports dietitian Renee McGregor looks at fuelling needs for sporting participation, training and competition, and analyses some popular diet options, including low-carbohydrate, vegan and intermittent fasting.But this is not just another sports nutrition book. Renee recommends a holistic view: by understanding the human body and being self-aware, you can find the ideal nutritional approach for you personally. Significantly, Renee also discusses areas of sports nutrition in populations that are often overlooked, including women’s health and the menopause, healthy ageing, and the inclusion of individuals who don’t necessarily conform to the stereotype of an athlete, such as people living with chronic health conditions.Whatever your race, genetics, gender, age, socio-economic status, body type or ability, it’s important to be your own athlete, fuel appropriately for your body and enjoy what you do.Whether you’re a world-class or real-world athlete, if you’re serious about sport and nutrition, you can’t afford not to read this book.

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In It for the Long Run is ultrarunner Damian Hall’s story of running a first marathon aged thirty-six, dressed as a toilet, and representing Great Britain four years later. His midlife-crisis running problem escalated to 100-mile ultramarathons and record-breaking bimbles, culminating in his 261-mile Pennine Way run in July 2020.In 1989, Mike Hartley set a record/Fastest Known Time (FKT) for the Pennine Way, running Britain’s oldest National Trail in two days and seventeen hours, without stopping for sleep. Hartley’s record stood for thirty-one years, until two attempts were made on it in two weeks in the summer of 2020. First, American John Kelly broke Hartley’s record by thirty-four minutes. Then Hall knocked another three hours off Kelly’s time.Hall used his record-bothering run to highlight concerns for our climate and ecological emergency: his attempt was carbon negative, he created no plastic waste, and he and his pacing runners collected litter as they went, while also raising money for Greenpeace. A vegan, Hall used no animal products on his attempt. Scrawled on his arm in permanent marker was ‘F F F’, standing for Family, Friends, Future.Packed with dry wit and humour, In It for the Long Run tells of Hall’s nine-year preparation for his attempt, and of the run itself. He also gives us an autobiographical insight into the deranged, custard-splattered, hedgehog-dodging world of ultramarathon running and record attempts.

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In February 2019, award-winning writer Alex Roddie left his online life behind when he set out to walk 300 miles through the Scottish Highlands, seeking solitude and answers. In leaving the chaos of the internet behind for a month, he hoped to learn how it was truly affecting him – or if he should look elsewhere for the causes of his anxiety.The Farthest Shore is the story of Alex’s solo trek along the remote Cape Wrath Trail. As he journeyed through a vanishing winter, Alex found answers to his questions, learnt the nature of true silence, and discovered frightening evidence of the threats faced by Scotland’s wild mountain landscape.

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The Climbing Bible: Practical Exercises by Martin Mobråten and Stian Christophersen is a collection of exercises specifically designed to help you train technique and strength so that you can develop and improve as a climber. After two decades of climbing, training and coaching, the authors have built up a huge library of exercises, and they share many of them with you in this book.The first section focuses on your technique, with emphasis on footwork, grip positions, balance, direction of force and dynamics, among other things. The second section features exercises to help you train strength and power – with on-the-wall exercises, finger strength and fingerboarding exercises, arm exercises and more. Also included is a section for children and young climbers to help their parents and coaches create great sessions for kids. This chapter presents games, technique exercises and physical training ideas for children.Illustrated with over 200 technique and action photos, and with insights from the authors and other top climbers, The Climbing Bible: Practical Exercises will inspire you to try new exercises in every training session. Keep it in your climbing wall bag, cover it in chalk and embrace the variety so easily found in climbing.

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"South West Mountain Biking - Quantocks, Exmoor, Dartmoor" - is the full second edition of the bestselling guide to the outstanding mountain biking in the south west of England. Featured are 26 of the best mountain bike rides in Dartmoor, Exmoor and the Quantock Hills, between 10km and 30km in length, suitable for all levels of mountain bikers. All route information has been thoroughly checked for this new edition to give the most up-to-date and - currently - the only comprehensive guidebook to this great area. Explore wild and epic moorland, plunge into steep and deep woodland combes, and speed along some of the best singletrack in the country: the south west has it all. As with all new Vertebrate MTB guidebooks, this new edition features industry-standard Ordnance Survey mapping, and is illustrated with stunning, all-new action photography. Researched, ridden and written by Nick Cotton, author of over 40 mountain biking and cycling guides, each route features clear and easy to use Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 maps, easy-to-follow directions, details of distance, timings and difficulty gradings, and refreshment stops and local knowledge. There is a detailed Appendix that provides essential information on where to eat, drink and sleep.

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Day Walks in Cornwall features 20 circular routes between 7.2 and 13.7 miles (11.6km and 22km) in length, suitable for hillwalkers of all abilities. Researched and written by experienced authors Jen and Sim Benson, and covering the extremities of this stunning peninsula, the walks reach areas from Bude to the Isles of Scilly, and from Rame Head near Plymouth to Lizard Point on the southernmost tip. Taking advantage of the South West Coast Path, discover a unique view of the charming coastline at every turn in this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.Explore Chapel Porth caves, and countless coves, archways and waterfalls, or simply immerse yourself in a leisurely stroll along white sands and blue waters. Head for the Merry Maidens stone circle in Lamorna, examine the serpentinite rock formations at Lizard Point, watch over medieval Tintagel Castle and parade past Cromwell’s Castle. Find serenity overlooking St Enodoc’s Church or soak up the vibe of trendy fishing village St Mawes, nestled in its sheltered bay; you’ll find Cornwall has it all.Together with stunning photography, each route features Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 maps, easy-to-follow directions, distance and navigation information, refreshment stops and local information.

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'Their bodies flickered strangely – transparent, blueish, as if they were made of flames. With a jolt, he realised that they were fading. Time was running out.’Who are the phantom girls? What do they want with Aidan?Aidan’s village is under siege. A fracking company has moved on to the land.Once drilling is complete, the paddocks looked after by Aidan’s family will be gone, along with his home and the horse he loves.Aidan and his best friends Emmi and Jon have one last hope. Legend has it that the warrior queen Boudicca is buried close by. If only they can find the tomb … prove this is the site of her last great battle against Roman invaders …As the mists of time separating ancient history from present day swirl and fade, Aidan must face a deadly enemy. He must fight to uncover the truth of the ghostly sisters, before it is too late.The Warrior in the Mist is the latest novel from award-winning children's author Ruth Eastham.

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The South West Peak is a lesser-known part of the Peak District stretching from Lyme Park in Cheshire in the north to Onecote in Staffordshire in the south, and from Macclesfield in the west to Buxton in the east. This landscape area includes tracts of high moorland, fertile valleys, wooded cloughs, picturesque villages and tiny hamlets. The farmers of the South West Peak are the people who have made the landscape what it is today, and it is their personal accounts of working in this often challenging land that form the basis of The Land That Made Us. Edited by local author Christine Gregory and dairy farmer Sheila Hine, and published in partnership with the Farming Life Centre and the Peak District National Park Authority with support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, this book includes the testimony of over twenty farmers, and it is illustrated with photographs of them and their farming landscapes. We hear stories from across the generations of heroic endeavour in difficult terrain, as well as accounts of day-to-day work and family life spanning eighty years of farming history. The land had been farmed in traditional ways for centuries, but the Second World War changed that, and in succeeding years politics and increasing mechanisation have constantly rewritten the rule book for farmers. There is pride in achievement as well as frustration at the often conflicting demands of food production and wildlife conservation.The Land That Made Us asks what makes for sustainability in the short and the long term. The future of this landscape and of the farming communities that sustain it hangs in the balance, and it is the farmers’ turn to reflect on their past and speculate about the future.

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Lake District Bouldering is the long-awaited guide to bouldering in the Lake District National Park. Written by Greg Chapman, one of the pioneers of bouldering in the Lakes, it features almost 3,000 individually numbered problems and dozens of variations and linkups at over 70 venues.Greg created the LakesBloc website in 2003 with the sole aim of providing the very best online information relating to bouldering in the Lakes and surrounding areas. Lake District Bouldering builds on LakesBloc and brings together this huge amount of information in a comprehensive guidebook for the very first time. This guide is split into five sections: South-East, South-West, North-East, North-West and South Lakes Limestone. Featured crags include old-school venues such as the Langdale Boulders, the Bowderstone, Woodwell and Armathwaite; recently developed areas such as the Harter Gold Boulders in Dunnerdale and the Stirrup Stones in Wasdale, and nationally significant spots including Carrock Fell, Kentmere and St Bees Head.Each crag features detailed access and approach information, including GPS coordinates for parking and crag grid references, together with conditions information and local knowledge. Alongside superb action photography, there are over 700 colour photo topos, plus overview and topo maps. A reference section with Ordnance Survey maps is included for selected mountain crags, and a detailed appendix includes everything you need to plan a visit: tourist information centres, cafes and pubs, campsites and accommodation, gear shops, climbing walls, and useful websites.

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Day Walks in the South Pennines features 20 circular walks between 5 and 18 miles (8km and 29 km) in length, spread across West Yorkshire, Lancashire and Greater Manchester. Researched and written by knowledgeable and experienced author Paul Besley, the walks range from gentle rambles to more challenging day walks, all through striking and varied terrain.The routes are split into two geographical areas – Southern Walks, including routes around Dovestones, Ramsden Clough and Holmfirth; and Northern Walks, including routes around Hebden Bridge, Hardcastle Crags and Ilkley Moor.Together with stunning photography, each route features Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 maps, easy-to-follow directions, details of distance and navigation information, and refreshment stops and local information.

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'Even the most casual reader among you will by now have worked out that the whole thing is little more than a delightful ruse for having a very good time.'Experienced climber Charles Sherwood is on a quest to find the best climb on each continent. He eschews the traditional Seven Summits, where height alone is the determining factor, and instead considers mountaineering challenge, natural beauty and historical context, aiming to capture the diverse character of each continent and the sheer variety of climbing in all its forms.The author's ambitious odyssey takes him to the Alps, the Himalaya, Yosemite, the Andes, Kenya, New Zealand and South Georgia. His goal is neither to seek glory nor to complete a box-ticking exercise, but simply to enjoy himself in the company of his fellow climbers, including Mark Seaton, Andy Kirkpatrick and Stephen Venables, and to appreciate the splendour of his surroundings. On classic routes like the North Face of the Eiger and the Nose on El Capitan, it is hard not to be swept away by Sherwood's unfaltering enthusiasm.Also featuring fascinating historical detail about each route, Seven Climbs is a compelling account of Sherwood's efforts to answer a much-debated question: which are the world’s greatest climbs?

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‘When an accident occurs, something may emerge of lasting value, for the human spirit may rise to its greatest heights. This happened on Haramosh.’The Last Blue Mountain is the heart-rending true story of the 1957 expedition to Mount Haramosh in the Karakoram range in Pakistan. With the summit beyond reach, four young climbers are about to return to camp. Their brief pause to enjoy the view and take photographs is interrupted by an avalanche which sweeps Bernard Jillott and John Emery hundreds of feet down the mountain into a snow basin. Miraculously, they both survive the fall. Rae Culbert and Tony Streather risk their own lives to rescue their friends, only to become stranded alongside them.The group’s efforts to return to safety are increasingly desperate, hampered by injury, exhaustion and the loss of vital climbing gear. Against the odds, Jillott and Emery manage to climb out of the snow basin and head for camp, hoping to reach food, water and assistance in time to save themselves and their companions from an icy grave. But another cruel twist of fate awaits them.An acclaimed mountaineering classic in the same genre as Joe Simpson's Touching the Void, Ralph Barker’s The Last Blue Mountain is an epic tale of friendship and fortitude in the face of tragedy.

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When Ogie the goblin’s blanket goes missing, he and his cat Gerald hunt high and low through the magical and mysterious places on the island of Goblinia. Does Grandad have it in the snowpark? Is it in the Slimewoods? Or caught in the Singing Stones?The Goblin’s Blue Blanket by author and illustrator Kieron Black follows Ogie and Gerald on their adventure through the goblin world in this fantastic story about why there is nothing you need so much as friends and family.

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Cats have nine lives. Ben has one. Keeping it will test him to the very limit.An Amazon expedition gone wrong throws Ben into a world of superstition and adventure.Now he must survive the mysterious Jaguar Trials to escape the jungle and uncover the truth about the lost City of Gold.In this spellbinding children’s adventure, award-winning author Ruth Eastham teaches us the value of friendship, and helps us to discover that there is more than just one kind of treasure.

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'An exceptional book.' Robert Macfarlane, author of The Lost Words, Landmarks and Mountains of the Mind‘We made Kinder Scout, not just metaphorically, or metaphysically, not just with our stories and our battles, but literally changed its shape, from the peat washing off its summit, to the drystone walls that turn the hillside into a harmonious grid, the trees that are and more often aren’t there, to the creatures that we’ve allowed to remain and those we’ve done away with. It’s our mountain.’In 1951 the Peak District was designated the UK’s first national park: a commitment to protect and preserve our countryside and wild places. Sandwiched between Manchester and Sheffield, and sitting at the base of the Pennines, it is home to Kinder Scout, Britain’s most popular ‘mountain’, a beautiful yet featureless and disorientating plateau which barely scrapes the 600-metre contour, whose lower slopes bore witness in 1932 to a movement of feet, a pedestrian rebellion, which helped shape modern access legislation: the Kinder Mass Trespass.But Kinder Scout’s story is about much more than the working class taking on the elite. Marked by the passage of millions of feet and centuries of farming, a graveyard for lost souls and doomed aircraft, this much-loved mountain is a sacred canvas on which mankind has scratched and scraped its likeness for millennia. It is a record of our social and political history, of conflict and community.Writer Ed Douglas and photographer John Beatty are close friends and have a shared history with Kinder going back decades. In this unique collaboration they reveal the social, political, cultural and ecological developments that have shaped the physical and human landscape of this enigmatic and treasured hill.Kinder Scout: The People’s Mountain is a celebration of a northern English mountain and our role in its creation.

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All Ellie Morgan wants is to be with her one true love, Henry. But she’s caught in the middle of a BATTLE as old as SNOWDON itself. A battle between GOOD and EVIL.A WITCHES’ SPELL, cast high on the mountain, has sped up time and made matters MUCH WORSE. The dragons are awake; mythical creatures and evil ghosts have risen. And nearly all of them want Ellie DEAD.Thank heavens for loyal friend George, bestie Rhi and mysterious stranger Davey. Armed with Granny Jones’s potions, Ellie and her companions must set out on a journey to REVERSE THE SPELL, stop the EVIL White Dragon and find Henry.As an eternal winter tightens its grip on Snowdon, Ellie and her friends have just THREE DAYS to SURVIVE and complete their quest.

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Peak District Gritstone is a comprehensive guide to traditional gritstone climbing and covers the whole of the national park. Written by local climber Graham Hoey, it features over 2,000 carefully selected trad routes graded from Mod to E10. Graham has been an active grit climber for nearly 50 years. He was a member of the British Mountaineering Council’s guidebook committee for 20 years and since 1979 has been a major contributor to the iconic Peak District climbing guidebook series. Over his grit career and during the course of his research for this guidebook he has climbed 95% of the routes in this book (many more than once!) and has checked the rest closely. No other guidebook author has climbed as extensively on Peak District gritstone; his passion for the genre, knowledge of the routes and his attention to detail are evident throughout the text. This guide is split into three sections: Eastern Gritstone - extending from Wharncliffe Crags down to Black Rocks; Staffordshire Gritstone- including The Roaches; and Moorland Gritstone- from the Chew Valley to Kinder. Alongside nationally significant crags such as Stanage and The Roaches, there are smaller and equally brilliant venues with their own unique features, such as the wild moorland edges of Wimberry and Ravenstones, or the urban quarried grit at New Mills Torrs. Each crag features detailed access and approach information, including GPS coordinates for parking and crag grid references, together with conditions information and local knowledge. Alongside superb action photography from Mike Hutton, Adam Long, Keith Sharples and more, there are over 400 colour photo topos, plus overview and topo maps. A detailed introduction includes everything you need to plan a visit: tourist information centres, cafes and pubs, campsites and accommodation, gear shops, climbing walls and useful websites.

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EVEREST IS WAITING … STORMS, AVALANCHES, YETIS AND ALL!A million pounds and popcorn for life.This is the incredible prize on offer if a team can meet the challenge: to make popcorn on the very summit of Mount Everest.The squirrels have their doubts. They could end up as a snack for a snow leopard. What about frostbitten paws? Will the friends even be able to breathe in the thin mountain air?But when little Alfie is kidnapped and held hostage by one of the Everest teams, the squirrels begin the deadly climb.Can they rescue Alfie? What if the yetis attack? And what about evil Rosalba and the thuggish honey badgers?It’s the popcorn-eating squirrels’ greatest adventure yet!Popcorn-Eating Squirrels Go Nuts on Everest – the sequel to Popcorn-Eating Squirrels of the World Unite! by bestselling children’s author Matt Dickinson – is a mountain survival epic unlike any other.

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Mountaineering in the Pyrenees features twenty-five classic mountain routes and link-ups that will delight any mountaineer who enjoys getting off the beaten track. Author and mountain guide François Laurens has drawn upon his encyclopaedic knowledge of the Pyrenees, and recommendations from other mountaineers, to put together a diverse selection of climbs – many of them accessible from spring to autumn – along the entire Pyrenean chain, from the Mediterranean to the Basque country.The most characteristic feature of the Pyrenees is its hodgepodge of topographies, climates and lives, all jumbled together. Sometimes, moving just a short way across this patchwork landscape, perhaps from one side of a cliff to another, is enough to take you into a completely different environment. This diversity is reflected in the routes featured in this book.Ridge traverses and rock climbs dominate the selection, which includes only a few ephemeral snow climbs, but every route has its own unique character and provides a wonderful day out in the mountains. Featured routes include the Salenques-Tempestades Ridge on Pico de Aneto, the Espadas Ridge on Pic des Posets, and a selection of climbs on the renowned peaks of Monte Perdido, the Maladeta, the Balaitous, the Vignemale, and the Grand Astazous and Petit Astazous. Each route features technical notes, a topo and route description, and photos illustrating the character of the climbing.

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Shortlisted - Cross British Sports Book Awards 2015. Grand Prize Winner - 2014 Banff Mountain Book Festival. 'The wall was the ambition, the style became the obsession.' In the autumn of 1982, a single stone fell from high on the south face of Annapurna and struck Alex MacIntyre on the head, killing him instantly and robbing the climbing world of one of its greatest talents. Although only twenty-eight years old, Alex was already one of the leading figures of British mountaineering's most successful era. His ascents included hard new routes on Himalayan giants like Dhaulagiri and Changabang and a glittering record of firsts in the Alps and Andes. Yet how Alex climbed was as important as what he climbed. He was a mountaineering prophet, sharing with a handful of contemporaries - including his climbing partner Voytek Kurtyka - the vision of a purer form of alpinism on the world's highest peaks. One Day As A Tiger, John Porter's revelatory and poignant memoir of his friend Alex MacIntyre, shows mountaineering at its extraordinary best and tragic worst - and draws an unforgettable picture of a dazzling, argumentative and exuberant legend.

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In 1939 British cyclist Tommy Godwin cycled 75,065 miles in a single year. Think about that for a second: it’s an average of over 200 miles each day. And it’s a mark that still stands after almost eighty years. In The Year, Dave Barter resurrects the legend of the year record – a challenge nearly as old as bicycles themselves – and the cyclists who pushed themselves to establish and break it. Barter uncovers the stories behind these riders who would routinely cycle over a hundred miles a day in the race to set new records. Americans such as John H. George who recorded over 200 ‘centuries’, nineteen double ‘centuries’ and three triple ‘centuries’ in the late 1800s. The British advertising executive Harry Long, whose annual tallies of over 20,000 miles in the early twentieth century led to the founding of the formal cycling year record and Cycling magazine’s Century Competition. The Englishman of French descent, Marcel Planes, whose 1911 record of 34,666 miles stood for over twenty years. Not forgetting the legends of the job-seeking Arthur Humbles, the one-armed vegetarian communist Walter Greaves, the ‘keep-fit girl’ Billie Dovey and the staggering mark set by Godwin who left a youthful Bernard Bennett trailing in his wake. Meticulous research through the annuals, archives and news stories of the bicycling world is backed up with insights from the families of these legendary cyclists, as well as Dave’s own analysis of the riders’ years in numbers. There is no more difficult challenge in cycling. The Year is the definitive story of these phenomenal cyclists.

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Mont Blanc – The Finest Routes is a collection of the 100 must-do climbing routes in the Mont Blanc Massif.Modern alpinism is a multi-faceted activity for which the Mont Blanc Massif is the perfect playground. Classic routes to which every mountaineer can aspire are surrounded by the towering rock faces, huge mixed walls, precipitous ice shields, serrated ridges and narrow gullies that define the massif’s harder climbs.In order to attain these prestigious summits via the most interesting itineraries, this book presents a modern selection of 100 must-do routes, ranging from historic classics to more recent lines, described in order of increasing difficulty.Author and mountain guide Philippe Batoux provides a comprehensive account of each route, outlining its history and atmosphere and giving all the technical information needed to climb it. These written descriptions are complemented by photo diagrams and detailed topos. In addition, every route is illustrated with superbly evocative photos that make best use of the book’s large format.The routes were chosen for the quality of the rock, the reliability of the in-situ gear, the beauty of the surroundings, the prestige of the summit and the enthusiasm the route inspires.Preference has been given to routes in the modern idiom, whether they are gullies that only form in winter, difficult free climbs on high-altitude cliffs, long ridge scrambles or traverses of major summits. There are routes here for all tastes, from famous classics such as the Cosmiques Ridge on the Aiguille du Midi, the American Direct on the Petit Dru, the Whymper Couloir on the Aiguille Verte, the Walker Spur on the Grandes Jorasses and the Kuffner Ridge on Mont Maudit to more recent gems such as Je t’ai conquis, Je t’adore on Pointe Lépiney, No Siesta on the Grandes Jorasses and Le Vent du Dragon on the Aiguille du Midi.

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"Cycling Days Out - South East England" is an informative and vibrant guide to the traffic-free family and leisure cycling in Kent, Sussex, Surrey and Hampshire. Written by Deirdre Huston - a keen cyclist and co-author of the popular Cycling in Sussex, "Cycling Days Out" explores tourist trails, country parks, forest riding and much much more. Each area is written up with a detailed introduction, together with comprehensive visitor information, including how to get there - by public transport or car, where to eat and drink, and places of interest. The routes are complemented with a mix of Ordnance Survey and bespoke mapping, together with easy-to-follow directions. The book is finished with stunning action photography throughout. Vertebrate Publishing is one of a new breed of independent publishers, dedicated to producing the very best outdoor titles. We have award-winning and bestselling titles covering a range of activities, including; mountain biking, cycling, rock climbing, hillwalking and others. Our autobiography of British rock climber Jerry Moffatt won the Grand Prize at the 2009 Banff Mountain Book Festival - one of the biggest prizes in publishing in the outdoors, environment and adventure genres.

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Norway, 1965. A team of young climbers from the north of England camp at the bottom of the tallest vertical rock face in Europe - the Troll Wall. No one has dared attempt this gigantic challenge before. Some say it will never be climbed. This will be the adventure of a lifetime. Rain and snow soak them as they climb. Avalanches and loose rock threaten their lives. A Norwegian team arrives to compete for the glory as the world's media look on. Pushed to the limits of exhaustion, the team spends days on the wall, refusing to given in, even when failure seems certain. "Troll Wall" tells the gripping story of one of the most dramatic first ascents in British climbing history. Written days after their success, almost half a century ago, and newly rediscovered, Tony Howard's account is a fascinating insight into the challenges of climbing a big mountain wall.

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Winner of the 2010 Boardman Tasker Prize. Ron Fawcett is a natural-born climber. In 1969, while still at school in his native Yorkshire, he tied into a climbing rope for the first time and was instantly hooked. From that moment on, it seemed nothing else in his life mattered nearly as much as his next vertical fix. Ten years later, Fawcett was the most famous rock climber in Britain and among the best in the world, part of a new wave whose dedication to training transformed the sport, pushing standards further and faster than ever before - or since. His legacy of new climbs ranks him alongside the very best in the history of the sport. He was also the first to style himself a professional rock climber, starring in the landmark television documentary "Rock Athlete", and appearing on the covers of magazines around the world. But far from enjoying the fame, Fawcett found the pressures of the limelight too much to bear, and at the end of the 1980s he faded from view. Now, for the first time, he tells his extraordinary story, of how his love of nature and the outdoors developed into a passion for climbing that took him to the top - and almost consumed him. This title won the 2010 Boardman Tasker Prize and was shortlisted for the 2010 Banff Mountain Book Competition. It comes from the publisher of "Jerry Moffatt - Revelations", winner of the Grand Prize at the 2009 Banff Mountain Book Festival. It is written by the leading journalist Ed Douglas. British rock climbing's folk hero Ron Fawcett tells his story for the first time.

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"South East Mountain Biking Ridgeway and Chilterns" - a compact guide to some of the best mountain biking in Southern England, west of London.The Chilterns and the area either side of the Ridgeway west of London are criss-crossed with byways and bridleways, allowing you to escape onto fine woodland tracks and out into big open chalk country, with panoramic views over the Vale of the White Horse and the Thames Valley.This guide contains 24 routes from 18 to 38km long, many of which can be linked to make much longer ridges. Each is described with easy-to-follow directions and details of distance, grade of difficulty, refreshment stops and is accompanied by specifically designed mapping.The Bonus Section includes top tens for climbs and descents, and suggestions for 'Mega Rides' with further information about finding places to eat, drink and stay. The routes are drawn up by Nick Cotton, author of over 30 cycle guides, plotted on bespoke maps and illustrated with stunning photography by Andy Heading.

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Simon Warren's 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs of the Tour de France is the ultimate cyclist's guide to the iconic climbs of Le Tour. This second edition is fully updated for 2024.

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Longer! Higher! Steeper! Another 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs, Simon Warren's follow-up to his original bestselling 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs, is packed with another century of stunning ascents. It features the same winning and inspirational formula as the other books in Simon's 100 climbs series. This second edition is fully updated for 2024.

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Mountain Walks Yorkshire Three Peaks by Hannah Collingridge is a guide to walking routes up and around Pen-y-ghent, Ingleborough and Whernside in the Yorkshire Dales. Alongside classic routes, there are also lower-level walks for mixed-weather days and those new to mountain walking. Features Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 maps and downloadable GPX files.

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