Walking a road from origin to end-point was difficult enough – but it may have seemed a little out-of-character too. After all, it would necessitate my engaging with open countryside – terrain to which I was unaccustomed and ill-equipped for walking. However, it felt like a project worth undertaking – not least because the road was there to be walked. And so, on a blustery but strangely warm December morning, my trudge began…
This Is a delightful read, encompassing several of the author's blog posts which detail his longtime goal of walking around much of London and its outlying areas, a few miles at a time. (A complete collection of his blogs can be found at https://mikegtn.net.) Armed with a formidable (by U.S. standards) vocabulary and a witty writing style, he shares several of his Saturday walks with the reader. (A sample section in which he is walking near a collection of abandoned buildings: "I set off again, and realise I'm attracting nervous glances and creating interest by passing drivers. It's perhaps not surprising- I'm a wild-haired, heavily bearded walker in just a sweater and rucksack despite the December weather. I'm also, it seems, the only pedestrian to be seen for many miles...…Even the occasional cyclists look askance, risking a wobble to check back over their should after passing me by. Then it all becomes clearer-- the high chain fence and the cameras fringing the grass bank beside me belong to the Newham Centre for Mental Health. I'm an assumed escapee from the secure unit. As I suck fumes and regard the featureless view ahead, I wonder if perhaps they're right?") Bravo on an excellent first book. I hope there will be more!