Caught by the River

Beachcombing

10th June 2012

I enjoyed listening to this week’s Book of the Week on BBC Radio 4. The book was Strands, written by Jean Sprackland and summarised on the BBC web page as “A year of discoveries on the beach. Jean Sprackland meditates on objects revealed by the shape-shifting sands, or washed up on the wild beaches between Blackpool and Liverpool…’Strands’ is a book about what is lost and buried, then re-discovered; about all the things you find on a beach, dead or alive, natural or man-made..” Both book and author were new to me. I’ll be investigating further. You’ll find all five episodes on the iPlayer, here.

Another book that I stumbled upon whilst browsing the web this week was The Green Road Into The Trees by Hugh Thomson, another name new to me. Described in his biography as a ‘travel writer and explorer’, with this book he has made an exploration of England by walking ‘the old ways’. Sound familiar? Bad timing for Mr Thomson perhaps, or maybe we’re having a zeitgeist moment. Either way, the book and it’s author appear interesting and if anyone reading this happens to have read the book, please let us know how it is.

Listening to Strands reminded me of a fantastic film of a Cornish wrecker that was sent to me by Chloe Evans, now feels like an appropriate time to share it.