Author:  Jan Wiltshire

Publisher: Palatine Books, £15.46 paperback

For those who love wandering in the Cumbrian countryside this is a book of discovery and delight. Travel with Jan through the landscape she loves, from the edges of town across the fells and all the way to the coast, absorb her knowledge and be inspired by her appreciation of the natural world around us. Stop and linger with her to notice and identify the rich variety of flora and fauna often overlooked by others.

Beautiful images and eloquent descriptions of the wildlife and its habitat bring these wild places to life in your imagination. Who could fail to read these pages and not want to don boots and coat and head off on their own adventures of discovery, looking for orchids on Scout Scar or butterflies at Smardale and natterjack toads on the Duddon Estuary. 

Reviewed by Catriona James