Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The perfect guide for swimming around Britain, 13 May 2009
256 pages absolutely bursting with smugglers' coves, sea caves, watery tunnels, deep rock-pools, hidden lagoons. Not to mention lots of the more conventional beaches we've all paddled along, including some breathtakingly beautiful stretches of white Scottish sand.
Ten years of "research" - if having a whale of a time can be called research - has gone into this labour of love and it shows. Daniel has painstakingly (should that be funmakingly?) put together a complete guide to swimming off the coast of our island home. A series of maps divides Great Britain into five: SouthWest, South&East, Wales, Scotland (with an inevitable bias towards the idyllic NW), "North" (everything-else). This makes it easy to plan your trips.
The book shuns the likes of Fistral Beach in Newquay. This makes sense; you can find beaches like that easily enough without a guide-book. No fewer than 350 less obvious locations are described - 175 as "main entries" and 175 as sub-entries. Here's a typical entry:
66.........Lydden Spout, Dover
Grid ref..TR283387
Postcode.CT17 9HH (2km W)
Walk......20 mins, mod
Train......Dover Priory, 4km
Cycle......Route 2 and 17
Remote undercliff beach. Leave Dover on A20, Samphire Hoe is signed to the L 1.5km up the hill after the last roundabout. Continue down through tunnel to car park. Walk to W end of park (1km) to find beach extending 800m to Lydden Spout cabin and Abbott's Cliff. Shingle at HT, deep rock pools and sand at LT. Avoid sea wall area. On cliff above are tunnels of WW2 battery.
Daniel appends a triangle symbol to the above entry, denoting "Caution Advised". (A few locations have two triangles). Whilst he is clearly not a paid-up member of the Health'n'Safety brigade, he does point out places where you should be extra careful in rough weather, during spring tides, etc. This will be of interest to parents with young children, but would perhaps be of most benefit to teenagers Who Know No Fear. Daniel also provides some sound but never patronising info and advice on general water safety. Some is common sense; much however is not obvious - it wasn't to me anyway.
The book is far more though than a collection of locations. Swimming anecdotes mingle easily with more general information about what you'll find along numerous stretches of coast - flora and fauna, geology, history. Do you know which British seaweeds and crustaceans are edible and how to prepare and cook them? Also, there are overviews with titles like: Where to Find Dolphins, Great for Families and Picnics, Best for Jumps, Skinny Dipping, Cosy Pubs, Literature and Legend.
For a balanced review, I feel I should try and find something I don't like about the book. It's difficult. Okay, I'd prefer the road distances in miles not km.
I can't agree though with the reviewer who said this is a coffee table book. For one thing, the images (all 326 of them) are not consistently perfect. Inspiring, evocative, informative, yes. But they won't win any prizes. Well, one or two might, but most won't.
But none of this matters. Because this is not a book to sit on your coffee-table. Nor will it stand pristinely on your shelves gathering dust. No, this book will live in your rucksack or glove compartment, getting steadily more tatty with time. Its pages will be wrinkled from the splashes kicked up by your children. Its cover will be faded and warped from lying out in the sun. When you shake it, sand will fall out. Eventually, it will fall to bits.
Of all the books you will have owned, none will have had a happier life.
You might also like:
Wild Swimming: 150 Hidden Dips in the Rivers, Lakes and Waterfalls of Britain
Wild Swim: River, Lake, Lido and Sea: the Best Places to Swim Outdoors in Britain
Cool Camping: England (Cool Camping)
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A total inspiration - I want to fling off my clothes and dive in ALL around Britain, 8 May 2009
This a STUNNINGLY beautiful and inspiring book - WAY above your average, or even high class, travel guide.
First, it's a total pleasure to open, browse and be mesmerised by the incredible selection of really top-notch photos, which make it a wonderful coffee table WORK OF ART! Really - I just can't stop dipping into it and lingering leisurely over the imaginative, evocative imagery.
Second, it ALSO does its job - I'm now SO INSPIRED to fling off my clothes and jump into a whole host of best kept secret bays, coves, pools and inlets that I would never have found about otherwise.
And the book size is PERFECT for both the sitting room AND carrying around in the car.
I love this book and if there were 6 stars - I'd have given awarded them!
Thank you Daniel Start for your dedication in creating this (gotta check out your other book now!)
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7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
for everyone, 5 May 2009
Full of gorgeous photos, illuminating text,clear and concise directions; the latest volume of Wild Swimming repeats the excellent format and style of its predecessor. Aimed at anyone who enjoys the beach (and who doesn't?) this guide works for the serious sea swimmer on the lookout for new adventures, as much as it does for the family looking for a slightly more exciting day out to the coast. At this price it'd be good value even if it were a list of beaches, but this is so much more. The sea's now just about warm enough to get in for a while - so pack your goggles, cossie and towel and head for the beaches with Coast in your bag.
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