A Last Wild Place

by Mike Tomkies

Mike Tomkies gives a remarkable picture of the whole cycle of nature around him, in a harsh and testing environment of unrivalled beauty. Vivid colours and sounds fill these pages – exotic wild orchids, the roar of rutting stags, a pair of dragonflies mating, the flight of the redwing, the territorial movements of foxes, otters and badgers, an oak tree being torn apart by hurricane-force gales. Nothing seems to escape his penetrating eye, to which the selection of his photographs in this book – some revealing little-known aspects of animal behaviour – immediately testifies.Yet Mike’s extraordinary insights into the wildlife that shared his otherwise empty territory of 300 square miles are not gained without perseverance in the face of perilous hazards. Every pound of supplies (including heavy gas canisters) has to be manhandled in and out of his boat, which once sank beneath him in a storm. Thousands of miles of rock faces and hillside must be trekked each year in summer and winter, the tussock grass concealing sodden peat holes that will break an ankle. Hours on end, day and night, are spent in cramped hides on windy, precipitous ledges.A Last Wild Place is much more than the chronicle of a man who left city life in order to study the wilderness. It is a celebration of nature at its most rugged and spectacular in all Britain. Like the enormous ageing salmon he threw back because he felt he had no right to claim its life, Mike Tomkies reveals through his quest our urgent need to become retuned to natural rhythms if mankind is to regain a measure of health and sanity in a world bent on self-destruction.

Genres: Scotland, Nature, Travel, Environment, Nonfiction, Natural History

256 pages, Paperback

First published July 19, 1984

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tomkies spent much of his life in extremely remote places, observing the wildlife, and this is his account of 10 years at 'Wildernesse', an isolated dwelling on Loch Shiel.

You can't help admire Tomkies for his devotion to wildlife and his determination to learn more about the world around him. He spent hours painstakingly stalking animals or crouching in cramped hides to observe birds, putting up with the discomfort for the sake of a better understanding of the creatures he was watching. He made many interesting discoveries and has contributed greatly to our understanding of British wildlife. He was also passionate about the need to protect and preserve the 'wild places' of our land and the creatures that inhabit them.

This book isn't perfect - in some places, it is repetitive, with needless detail. Some accounts of his interactions with wildlife may make modern naturalists wince (for example, touching deer calves that he finds on his walks, and bringing birds into the house to photograph them better), but there are also moments when his observations enable him to alter his behaviour, as he better understands what effect he is having on the creatures around him. Squeamish readers should be aware that he doesn't shy away from the grittier aspects of nature-watching, so there are accounts (and a couple of photos) of dead animals.

He obviously struggled with loneliness at times, while at the same time, appreciating the isolation, being aware of how fragile it was. His love for the natural world shines through every page. He refers to the world as something that "can only be ours on trust...If we fail to learn from the last wild places, we may yet create a hell on earth...The lessons will not wait for ever to be learned." I suspect Tomkies would have been disappointed if he had known how little we are still heeding this message, four decades after he wrote this book. If ever there was a time to listen to him and those like him, it is now.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mike Tomkies left behind a career as a celebrity journalist in the 70s to live alone in the woods. After a few years in western Canada tracking brown and black bear he returned home to the UK and bought a 20 yr lease for a knackered hut in a remote valley in Scotland. The only access to the outside world being a 5hr trip by boat and landrover. (This is very wild and remote by UK standards)

In this book he details mostly the cycle of the seasons in the main environments around him - loch, woods & mountain. It is a fascinating view of the perpetual drama of the wildlife around him and the natural history of several more famous species in particular - red deer, golden eagles, buzzards, black throated divers etc. It is also a very human story of a man struggling to decide if he's done the correct thing in leaving the rest of the world or to view himself as a lonely failure.

While I enjoyed the subject matter a lot, I felt the writing was rather heavy going in many places in ways that seemed completely avoidable; perhaps it could have done with a better editor. I would recommend this for anyone interested in wildlife in general.

[Stuart Malcolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like my own company and being in the wilds but Mike Tomkies took it to the nth degree! An account of years spent living miles from anywhere in the Scottish Highlands that is structured by season and habitat. Tomkies is a keen student of the natural world and his writings reflect this. I enjoyed his more observational style rather than the metaphysical musings that sometimes blight this genre.

[Philip Chaston · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author, from Sussex, died in 2016. He was unsettled in our world and found his own wilderness: understanding what the wild meant for himself and for his widwer audience. A life, bare to teh soul, pared to essences. I hear echoes of Emerson in his writing.

[Susan Grimshaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enthralling account of Highland Wildlife in the 1980s, the Author actually living a solitary life amongst the deer, eagles etc etc and devoting his life to observing and caring for them.

[Carol Aldred · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully evocative

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this while on holiday in Scotland. Unbeknown to me I canoed past the cottage he lived in two weeks previously. I really enjoyed this getting back in touch with nature book. The realities of the living in remote Scotland and observing the wildlife around you in a way most people can not. It left me wanting to sample some of what Mike experienced. Thanks Mike I really enjoyed this and look forward to reading more of your work.