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Journey Through Britain
Softback, ex-library, with usual stamps and markings, in good all round condition.
238 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1968
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322 people want to read
About the author
John Hillaby
30 books6 followershttp://www.independent.co.uk/news/peo... written by Douglas Matthews:
Pedestrian was the last word to apply to John Hillaby, though he has been called the most celebrated pedestrian in England. Yet like his contemporaries, Clive Wainwright and Wilfred Thesiger, he was admired as much by armchair idlers as by the serious walking fraternity. Whether pacing rapidly through the streets of London or across the high moors of his beloved Yorkshire, his tall, spare figure was instantly recognisable, and even in his seventies he could leave younger men struggling in his wake.
... the son of a printer, he was educated at Woodhouse Grove school, Leeds, from where he made his early countryside excursions. He began his career as a journalist on local weeklies in the West Riding, but was quickly caught up in the Second World War, seeing active service with the Royal Artillery, notably in the retreat through Dunkirk. He married, first, in 1940, Eleanor Riley, with whom he had two daughters, though this marriage was later dissolved.
Returning from the war he took up journalism again, and from 1949 was zoological correspondent on the then Manchester Guardian. The New York Times engaged him as European science correspondent from 1951, and the New Scientist as biological consultant from 1953. He published his first book, Within the Stream, in 1949, and all the time he was travelling, in Africa, North America and, of course, in Britain. He never scorned modern transport (though he hated motorways), but used it mainly to get him to where he wished to start serious travel, which for him was on his own two feet.
...
Hillaby was a director of the Universities Federation of Animal Welfare, and a frequent broadcaster on radio and television. He was made a Fellow of the Zoological Society, was awarded an honorary D.Litt. by the City University, and in 1973 was appointed Woodward Lecturer at Yale University.
After publishing Nature and Man in 1960, Hillaby really made his impact upon the literary scene with Journey to the Jade Sea (1964), about his remarkable thousand-mile walk from Northern Kenya to Lake Rudolf, alone except for his hired bearers and a string of camels, many of whom acquire personality and character under his pen. His rueful sense of this noviciate, inept with the animals, awkward with his rifle, and dependent on the Africans for guidance and support, is belied by the achievement itself and by the professionalism of his planning and organisation. The reviewers gave it warm praise, as much for its literary quality as for the journey itself, and the book remains a classic among travel writings, having brought a new, individual and endearing personality before the reading public.
It also set the pattern and style for his later writings: Journey Through Britain (1968), an account of his walk from Land's End to John-o'-Groats, almost entirely on tracks and bridle ways; Journey Through Europe (1972), his similar walk from the Hook of Holland to Nice by way of the Alps; and Journey Through Love (1976), on scattered travels in Britain and America, which also recounts the death from cancer in l972 of his second wife, Thelma ("Tilly"), whom he had married in 1966.
Hillaby was deeply affected by Thelma's death, but although he was a solitary walker he was a companionable man, and in 1981 he married Kathleen Burton. Katie was to bring him more than domestic support. A doughty Yorkshire woman who had lived much of her life in Ceylon, she proved to be as enthusiastic a walker as John Hillaby himself, and from now on she accompanied him on his travels and appears as a cheerful, practical figure in several of his subsequent books.
These were Journey Home (1983); John Hillaby's Yorkshire (1986); John Hillaby's London (1987); and Journey to the Gods (1991), in which he returned to his earlier format with an account of his walk from Athens to Mount Olympus. His last book, Hillaby's Worl
Pedestrian was the last word to apply to John Hillaby, though he has been called the most celebrated pedestrian in England. Yet like his contemporaries, Clive Wainwright and Wilfred Thesiger, he was admired as much by armchair idlers as by the serious walking fraternity. Whether pacing rapidly through the streets of London or across the high moors of his beloved Yorkshire, his tall, spare figure was instantly recognisable, and even in his seventies he could leave younger men struggling in his wake.
... the son of a printer, he was educated at Woodhouse Grove school, Leeds, from where he made his early countryside excursions. He began his career as a journalist on local weeklies in the West Riding, but was quickly caught up in the Second World War, seeing active service with the Royal Artillery, notably in the retreat through Dunkirk. He married, first, in 1940, Eleanor Riley, with whom he had two daughters, though this marriage was later dissolved.
Returning from the war he took up journalism again, and from 1949 was zoological correspondent on the then Manchester Guardian. The New York Times engaged him as European science correspondent from 1951, and the New Scientist as biological consultant from 1953. He published his first book, Within the Stream, in 1949, and all the time he was travelling, in Africa, North America and, of course, in Britain. He never scorned modern transport (though he hated motorways), but used it mainly to get him to where he wished to start serious travel, which for him was on his own two feet.
...
Hillaby was a director of the Universities Federation of Animal Welfare, and a frequent broadcaster on radio and television. He was made a Fellow of the Zoological Society, was awarded an honorary D.Litt. by the City University, and in 1973 was appointed Woodward Lecturer at Yale University.
After publishing Nature and Man in 1960, Hillaby really made his impact upon the literary scene with Journey to the Jade Sea (1964), about his remarkable thousand-mile walk from Northern Kenya to Lake Rudolf, alone except for his hired bearers and a string of camels, many of whom acquire personality and character under his pen. His rueful sense of this noviciate, inept with the animals, awkward with his rifle, and dependent on the Africans for guidance and support, is belied by the achievement itself and by the professionalism of his planning and organisation. The reviewers gave it warm praise, as much for its literary quality as for the journey itself, and the book remains a classic among travel writings, having brought a new, individual and endearing personality before the reading public.
It also set the pattern and style for his later writings: Journey Through Britain (1968), an account of his walk from Land's End to John-o'-Groats, almost entirely on tracks and bridle ways; Journey Through Europe (1972), his similar walk from the Hook of Holland to Nice by way of the Alps; and Journey Through Love (1976), on scattered travels in Britain and America, which also recounts the death from cancer in l972 of his second wife, Thelma ("Tilly"), whom he had married in 1966.
Hillaby was deeply affected by Thelma's death, but although he was a solitary walker he was a companionable man, and in 1981 he married Kathleen Burton. Katie was to bring him more than domestic support. A doughty Yorkshire woman who had lived much of her life in Ceylon, she proved to be as enthusiastic a walker as John Hillaby himself, and from now on she accompanied him on his travels and appears as a cheerful, practical figure in several of his subsequent books.
These were Journey Home (1983); John Hillaby's Yorkshire (1986); John Hillaby's London (1987); and Journey to the Gods (1991), in which he returned to his earlier format with an account of his walk from Athens to Mount Olympus. His last book, Hillaby's Worl
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
April 5, 2014
My absolute all-time favourite book. An account of a walk along the length of the mainland, told without pretension and with much warmth and humour. Hillaby's walk books are all superb but for me this stands out as the best; find yourself a copy and then lose yourself amongst Hillaby's tales of long trudges, cold nights and warm folk.
January 18, 2013
This is the classic volume on the art of walking (well, not really the art: Hillaby thought it was a natural function). For those who cannot remember the last time they walked to a corner store, the prospect of actually walking the length of Britain (not one of the world's longer islands!) may be somewhat daunting. So sit back and let Hillaby tell you what you are missing.
I suppose if there is one thing to lament about North America, it's the culture of the automobile with its concomitant health situation deriving from flabby calves. The English, in particular, are great walkers and have allowed a place of importance for this national pastime, in their towns, villages and countryside. Walking is something one can do in most of Europe, along organised ways, but in England it is something one does do, and both the ways and byways are, in the main, very structured. The old straight track is a term coming from the distant past which refers to a well-trammelled path, usually between the smaller towns. At one time they might have been drove roads for sheep or cattle. At others, Roman legions may have tramped down them widely. In the main, however, the paths across England taken by Hillaby are through farmer's fields and across the high points of various heaths. Go with him for a while and you may just be bitten by a bug which will take you (one hopes it will be on foot) to some of Britain's loveliest spots. They certainly abound.
I suppose if there is one thing to lament about North America, it's the culture of the automobile with its concomitant health situation deriving from flabby calves. The English, in particular, are great walkers and have allowed a place of importance for this national pastime, in their towns, villages and countryside. Walking is something one can do in most of Europe, along organised ways, but in England it is something one does do, and both the ways and byways are, in the main, very structured. The old straight track is a term coming from the distant past which refers to a well-trammelled path, usually between the smaller towns. At one time they might have been drove roads for sheep or cattle. At others, Roman legions may have tramped down them widely. In the main, however, the paths across England taken by Hillaby are through farmer's fields and across the high points of various heaths. Go with him for a while and you may just be bitten by a bug which will take you (one hopes it will be on foot) to some of Britain's loveliest spots. They certainly abound.
August 17, 2016
A first class walk through Britain from Cornwall to Caithness, through wild and tame, friendly and unfriendly, by a good man and a reliable guide. Worth reading for the story, the adventure, the achievement, the revelations, the fact that is preserves the rural side of 1968 Britain in well-chosen words and a whole host of other reasons.
Read it. It's good.
Read it. It's good.
February 4, 2015
Here is a traveller, a walker, who can really write. Hillaby revels in the pleasure (fear at times) of journeying at a pace which enables him to observe the landscapes and communities which he travels through. Unmatched by car, bus, train, (or, nowadays, battery powered mobility scooter), walking (or cycling) requires the expenditure of human effort; both in the planning and in event. Walking has always enabled the explorer to reach landscapes and places both rare and ordinary, inaccessible to the physically lazy or disadvantaged. It’s also one of the best way to meet interesting people with interesting lives to relate.
Hillaby is a master of such ‘slow’ travel. Like an owl his eyes miss nothing. His sense of curiosity for, and interest and knowledge in both people and in his surroundings roots his reader to the page. His informed writing, analytical in its quality, indicates that he’s done his homework. Clearly he’s no amateur, even though that’s the part he has chosen to play.
He doesn’t make many assumptions of his reader, though one plum which gave me a frisson of pleasure in the recognition was (p.54) “In the middle of the moor [Dartmoor], Baring-Gould said he had known a horse to stand still and sweat with fear.” That reminded me of a book on my shelves which I want to read again. “Onward Christian Soldier: A Life of Sabine Baring-Gould, Parson, Squire, Novelist, Antiquary, etc, 1834-1924,” by William Purcell. Baring-Gould, Rector of Lew Trenchard, was the father of fifteen children. Not only the pioneer of archaeology on Dartmoor, he also collected and recorded the old folksongs of the West Country as they vanished under changes in society. Hillaby would only have been seven years old when Sabine Baring-Gould died; but on reflection I think that the two of them shared strong characteristics of study, wide general culture, and respect for the landscape. Indeed I should be very surprised if Hillaby were not familiar with Baring-Gould’s gripping two and a half page description of being caught in a bog at Trewartha. Hillaby’s unnerving experience of the bogs at Great Kneeset, and the infamous Cranmere Pool would have given the two men much to talk over.
On the English-Welsh border Hillaby is really in his element; quite literally as he describes how the subject of the weather is usually the first topic of conversation. He revels in the “extraordinary variable accent, as the inversions and idioms which come through from the Welsh.” He records a tombstone in Radnorshire, inscribed with succinct perfection (p.106):
“ Him as was has gone from we;
Us as is must go to he.”
The final stages (12 to 15) through Scotland to John O’Groats left me breathless. Would his walking shoes make it intact? Would atrociously dangerous weather in the high ground cause him to come to grief. The end of the book is relatively abrupt; the adrenaline levels of this reader took somewhat longer to fall back to normal.
I record but one complaint. The binding of my 1974 reprint failed. A good third of the 238 pages have, as I read, detached themselves from the spine. Two elastic bands now hold everything ‘decently’ together on the shelf, whilst I mutter dark oaths against the printer’s inadequate testing of materials: Richard Clay (The Chaucer Press) Ltd., Bungay, Suffolk.
Hillaby is a master of such ‘slow’ travel. Like an owl his eyes miss nothing. His sense of curiosity for, and interest and knowledge in both people and in his surroundings roots his reader to the page. His informed writing, analytical in its quality, indicates that he’s done his homework. Clearly he’s no amateur, even though that’s the part he has chosen to play.
He doesn’t make many assumptions of his reader, though one plum which gave me a frisson of pleasure in the recognition was (p.54) “In the middle of the moor [Dartmoor], Baring-Gould said he had known a horse to stand still and sweat with fear.” That reminded me of a book on my shelves which I want to read again. “Onward Christian Soldier: A Life of Sabine Baring-Gould, Parson, Squire, Novelist, Antiquary, etc, 1834-1924,” by William Purcell. Baring-Gould, Rector of Lew Trenchard, was the father of fifteen children. Not only the pioneer of archaeology on Dartmoor, he also collected and recorded the old folksongs of the West Country as they vanished under changes in society. Hillaby would only have been seven years old when Sabine Baring-Gould died; but on reflection I think that the two of them shared strong characteristics of study, wide general culture, and respect for the landscape. Indeed I should be very surprised if Hillaby were not familiar with Baring-Gould’s gripping two and a half page description of being caught in a bog at Trewartha. Hillaby’s unnerving experience of the bogs at Great Kneeset, and the infamous Cranmere Pool would have given the two men much to talk over.
On the English-Welsh border Hillaby is really in his element; quite literally as he describes how the subject of the weather is usually the first topic of conversation. He revels in the “extraordinary variable accent, as the inversions and idioms which come through from the Welsh.” He records a tombstone in Radnorshire, inscribed with succinct perfection (p.106):
“ Him as was has gone from we;
Us as is must go to he.”
The final stages (12 to 15) through Scotland to John O’Groats left me breathless. Would his walking shoes make it intact? Would atrociously dangerous weather in the high ground cause him to come to grief. The end of the book is relatively abrupt; the adrenaline levels of this reader took somewhat longer to fall back to normal.
I record but one complaint. The binding of my 1974 reprint failed. A good third of the 238 pages have, as I read, detached themselves from the spine. Two elastic bands now hold everything ‘decently’ together on the shelf, whilst I mutter dark oaths against the printer’s inadequate testing of materials: Richard Clay (The Chaucer Press) Ltd., Bungay, Suffolk.
August 2, 2020
I decided to read this book because Rebecca Solnit mentions it in Wanderlust. It has turned out to be an excellent book for 2020, gentle and mildly humorous, glancingly educational but not at all self-serious: a man goes on a long walk (this was before through-hiking was a thing). It took me about as long to read this as it took Hillaby to walk the length of Britain because it is the best bedtime book, a perfect cure for quarantine insomnia.
October 6, 2021
I think this book is unique in that both my father and my father-in-law owned, indeed its one of the few books I can actually remember my father reading. Given that I've just finally read Kerouac I'm tempted to call it 'Off the Road' as the author avoids roads wherever possible. But I wouldn't want to belittle the author's achievement, for this is an uninterrupted walk through some of Britain's more remote places, which treats the Pennine Way as a mere interlude. Its also an portrait in snapshots of rural Britain in the late sixties. The book seems to find its voice as the author gets into his stride in Somerset, and the chapters on Staffordshire and the Borders were particular treats. Times have probably changed in many ways. Nowadays you will rarely, I would guess, find walkers taking on board fluids in the form of two or three pints at lunchtime followed by two or three in the evening. Nor would they have breakfasts that included four or more fried eggs on top of a plate of bacon and tomatoes. I, for one, found it reassuring that such an experienced walker could lose their way quite so often.
October 16, 2025
A go-to book to inspire LDW far and wide.
February 7, 2020
Five stars may be a little generous but as this book is from the late 1960's and still reads well and was gripping, at times funny and always interesting maybe not.
Great book.
Great book.
March 17, 2017
I wish I was smart enough or chill enough to have enjoyed this, but...not really.
I think the main thing is that I'm a pretty visual person and reading descriptions of landscapes is just not going to work very well for me. Especially as I don't know the names of a lot of flowers and underbrush. Sometimes I got a bit of an idea. Some anecdotes were enjoyable and some of the history interesting. It was pretty well-written and quite possibly very informative for someone hoping to walk in Britain (at least, to do so 50 years ago).
Just overall not for me.
I think the main thing is that I'm a pretty visual person and reading descriptions of landscapes is just not going to work very well for me. Especially as I don't know the names of a lot of flowers and underbrush. Sometimes I got a bit of an idea. Some anecdotes were enjoyable and some of the history interesting. It was pretty well-written and quite possibly very informative for someone hoping to walk in Britain (at least, to do so 50 years ago).
Just overall not for me.
August 25, 2018
An amazing book and achievement. Although he did this journey more than 40 years ago it reads as fresh as if he did it yesterday. I think he must have been quite a character. His descriptions of landscape, geology, botany and history are excellent. Thanks to John Law for recommending this
July 12, 2018
great descriptive tour through England on foot.
October 20, 2019
Could almost say definitive account of a walking travelogue, this is John Hillaby’s walk from Lands End to John O’Groats in the late 1960s. Not pretentious with the oft-overused swirl of descriptors and, for me, the anathema of spirituality you get in some modern travelogue writing; it’s largely perfunctory, describing what happens each day and, what he sees, experiences and who he meets as he makes his way through 15 chapters, but adding just enough colour here and there along the journey to brighten the minds-eye picture without hurting the senses.
He is often wet, often tired and often miserable and whilst he assesses whether there is any purpose to his journey, he seems to conclude there really rather isn’t and that it’s just a very long walk ending with no real sense of meaning, as he sits on a hotel bed flicking through his diary looking at “facts and names that seemed rather strange and far away.” That to me grounded it in existential realness and made it that much more enjoyable.
There are some joyous anecdotes and aside history/geology. My only quibble was it leaned rather too heavily on the Scottish chapters and was a tad too light in others. But in the round (or cuboid, being a book) it was super!
He is often wet, often tired and often miserable and whilst he assesses whether there is any purpose to his journey, he seems to conclude there really rather isn’t and that it’s just a very long walk ending with no real sense of meaning, as he sits on a hotel bed flicking through his diary looking at “facts and names that seemed rather strange and far away.” That to me grounded it in existential realness and made it that much more enjoyable.
There are some joyous anecdotes and aside history/geology. My only quibble was it leaned rather too heavily on the Scottish chapters and was a tad too light in others. But in the round (or cuboid, being a book) it was super!
July 27, 2012
Published in 1968, this book documents Hillaby's walk from Land's End in Cornwall to John O'Groats in Scotland. He was 50 years old when he did it, and it took him 55 days. He avoided roads like the plague, sticking as much as he could to footpaths, drove roads and ancient byways. That in itself made the book worth reading, and I'm glad that I did.
He is a good writer, but I wished for more drama as I was reading. I think he experienced drama, for sure, but he did not convey the emotional turmoil of the trip to me. He made it seem too easy, although I know that it was not, and that sometimes he must have been utterly miserable. I know. I'm awful. By the end he had walked almost literally out of his shoes, had no toenails left at all and probably lost quite a bit of weight, but apparently that's not grueling enough for me. Bad Pat.
He is a good writer, but I wished for more drama as I was reading. I think he experienced drama, for sure, but he did not convey the emotional turmoil of the trip to me. He made it seem too easy, although I know that it was not, and that sometimes he must have been utterly miserable. I know. I'm awful. By the end he had walked almost literally out of his shoes, had no toenails left at all and probably lost quite a bit of weight, but apparently that's not grueling enough for me. Bad Pat.
January 7, 2014
A travel book I read and re-read. I bought my first serious pair of walking shoes after reading it when it was first published. It opened my eyes to just how much you can see and appreciate on a simple walk. There is no need to be a thirty mile a day athlete to enjoy it. Hillaby shows how you can get pleasure from a simple ramble as well as a long distance hike. Beautifully written, it blends natural observation, history, folklore, personal anecdote and illuminating portraits of ordinary people.
April 21, 2019
I've recently decided that travel and biography are the books that I prefer as bedtime reading. This was one of them, John Hillaby's narrative of his walk from Land's End to John O'Groats in 1967(?).
I found it a bit dispiriting as he encounters so much rain and takes routes which lead him through pathless or badly signposted ways, and he frequently experiences low spirits. (He's also wearing footwear that seems ridiculously inappropriate.) The only occasion I remember when he gets seriously cheerful is in Jedburgh. Otherwise, rather like Wainwright in his account of his first walk from home to Hadrian's Wall and back, he relies on the kindness of strangers to put him up, dry him out and offer him good-hearted company, for which he is duly and generously grateful. And if that's not available, then he camps anywhere he can.
It's generally a nicely anecdotal account, and, in spite of the dreariness of much of it by which I seem most to have been impressed, I could not but admire Hillaby's (to my mind) slightly unhinged belief in his capacity to cross difficult terrain on his own, especially Dartmoor and the mountains in Assynt. This is old-fashioned, give-it-a-go, because-it's-there adventuring, for which, as an intrepid armchair traveller, I have awesome and envious respect. It's also clearly written, and unpressing on the brain at bedtime.
I found it a bit dispiriting as he encounters so much rain and takes routes which lead him through pathless or badly signposted ways, and he frequently experiences low spirits. (He's also wearing footwear that seems ridiculously inappropriate.) The only occasion I remember when he gets seriously cheerful is in Jedburgh. Otherwise, rather like Wainwright in his account of his first walk from home to Hadrian's Wall and back, he relies on the kindness of strangers to put him up, dry him out and offer him good-hearted company, for which he is duly and generously grateful. And if that's not available, then he camps anywhere he can.
It's generally a nicely anecdotal account, and, in spite of the dreariness of much of it by which I seem most to have been impressed, I could not but admire Hillaby's (to my mind) slightly unhinged belief in his capacity to cross difficult terrain on his own, especially Dartmoor and the mountains in Assynt. This is old-fashioned, give-it-a-go, because-it's-there adventuring, for which, as an intrepid armchair traveller, I have awesome and envious respect. It's also clearly written, and unpressing on the brain at bedtime.
July 26, 2022
This review is posted more than 40 years after reading it, but I still remember it fondly. It inspired me to walk, on my own, long distances. Others have commented on Hillaby's lack of organization and what today would be no doubt called "logistical backup", and I remember being a little suprised at his lack of planning myself at the time, particularly as at about the same age I read Sir Francis Chichester's round-the-world trip in Gypsy Moth IV, Robin Knox-Johnson's then Chay Blyth's 1971 trip going the "wrong way", the "Kon-Tiki Expedition" and others on the theme of adventurous travel in the 20th century. Tons of planning in all of those.
If you enjoyed this book, check out fellow Brit's Alan Booth's north-to-south hike of Japan: The Roads to Sata: A 2000-Mile Walk Through Japan
Also worth a look, A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush, and Renee Caillie's account of his remarkable trip to Timbuktu and back, the first white man to do so and live to tell the tale.
If you enjoyed this book, check out fellow Brit's Alan Booth's north-to-south hike of Japan: The Roads to Sata: A 2000-Mile Walk Through Japan
Also worth a look, A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush, and Renee Caillie's account of his remarkable trip to Timbuktu and back, the first white man to do so and live to tell the tale.
February 28, 2023
In this book, John Hillaby charts an entire journey on foot from Land's End to John O'Groats in Britain. It was published in 1970, but strangely not too much of what he wrote about felt dated, possibly because a large amount of the dialogue was about the history of the places that he passed through.
I also noticed there was a lot about wildlife, and I got the impression that Hillaby is quite knowledgeable, though a comment about red kites being rare did feel inaccurate compared to nowadays, where (as a friend has pointed out) they seem to be quite common.
Best of all though were Hillaby's first-hand accounts of his own travels, a lot of which seemed to involve him getting mistaken for a gamekeeper, and locals seemingly criticising him for his decision to do the whole journey on foot. There were also several extracts from his own memoirs that he presumably wrote while doing the journey.
There was some humour too, mostly self-deprecating, which I loved. For example, his account of trying to do part of a hike naked, but quickly covering up because he saw a young woman coming on horseback.
I found this to be quite an engrossing read, which I was able to finish in just a few days. Very interesting as a portrait of British life during the 1960s/70s, as well as a historical guide.
I also noticed there was a lot about wildlife, and I got the impression that Hillaby is quite knowledgeable, though a comment about red kites being rare did feel inaccurate compared to nowadays, where (as a friend has pointed out) they seem to be quite common.
Best of all though were Hillaby's first-hand accounts of his own travels, a lot of which seemed to involve him getting mistaken for a gamekeeper, and locals seemingly criticising him for his decision to do the whole journey on foot. There were also several extracts from his own memoirs that he presumably wrote while doing the journey.
There was some humour too, mostly self-deprecating, which I loved. For example, his account of trying to do part of a hike naked, but quickly covering up because he saw a young woman coming on horseback.
I found this to be quite an engrossing read, which I was able to finish in just a few days. Very interesting as a portrait of British life during the 1960s/70s, as well as a historical guide.
December 5, 2025
Taking a walk isn't normally a test of resolve, patience, or endurance both physical and mental, but it is when you walk from one end of Great Britain to the other, particularly when your youth is a bit far in the rearview mirror. This book chronicles the author's trek in late 60s Britain, a length of just over a thousand miles, in just under two months, for an average of about twenty miles a day, regardless of the weather. Along the way, the author talks about the weather (unsurprisingly), local people, the landscape, and bits of history and culture, all of which is told with style and wit. Written for a British audience (the numerous place names require constant map checking, or ignoring), the book is nonetheless quite charming. The only unanswered question, unless I've forgotten, is why he did it in the first place.
October 24, 2020
My favourite book ever. I have read it several times, and it always brings a contented smile to my face. His powers of description make you feel you're there, and he supplements his personal experience with interesting facts about the geology, archaeology and social history of the places through which he travels. You get the impression that it was hard going at times, especially over Dartmoor and through parts of the Highlands (well, it would be, wouldn't it?!) but his adventure is told with subtle humour. The book has an 'old-fashioned' gentleness to it, which becomes more and more attractive as time goes by.
October 25, 2020
This book by the naturalist and walker John Hillaby, first published in 1968, recounts the important highlights and observations he made during 55 hard days walking from Lands End to John O'Groats. Hillaby has presented us with a social and natural history of the Britain he passed through. The joy and hardship of long distance walking, the many characters met, and those stories that must be told, leap from the pages. The late John Hillaby is a legendary figure among walkers, but this book will delight readers beyond the rambling and right to roam fraternity.
December 21, 2020
Reread at the end of the year of no travel when armchair travel esp engaging. Read over several months (picked up and put down), a nice way to experience it. The Scotland section read after had embarked on virtual tour of the Shetland Islands, which made the Highlands section more meaningful.
He had a very difficult and strenuous time, but communicates something lovely about the experience of the Quest!
He had a very difficult and strenuous time, but communicates something lovely about the experience of the Quest!
May 23, 2024
Gearing up for the summer with help from one of the world's greatest walkers: fueled by pints and pubfare, he regularly covered well over 20 miles a day, tripping over cairns and industrial wasteland, as well as seemingly untouched bogs and heathland. Enough funny/dramatic anecdotes to enliven the summative and ultra specific
February 15, 2024
Read it first 54 years ago, formative influence. Hillaby started at Lands End, got sore feet near Bristol but persevered. He even passed through my home town. He was in his 50s at the time. Several other walking books followed, I read them all.
August 14, 2024
Wonderfully written book that probably matures with ago as we lose much of our landscape to progress. A tough man with a sharp eye who imparted a rich treasure trove of botany geography literature history and folklore. Never boring
March 12, 2025
Wonderful book which us now a snapshot of a different Britain. It shows how walking has changed- this was a time with few long distance footpaths but everything did seem less busy. Funny and thought provoking, would definitely recommend.
November 1, 2020
In the days of future passed with your toe nails dropping off!
January 21, 2022
Very nice indeed.
March 9, 2022
The orchard in Melrose - the rain falling on Llanthony Priory - the dark sky above Glencoe - they came back to me in memory - I must reach for my maps - northern skies still call me
February 8, 2024
Whether or not you are a long-distance walker, Hillaby is worth your time. An amazing read.
July 29, 2025
Almost the original long-distance walking book from the UK. I have read it several times with very great pleasure. Highly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews