Pilgrimage in Europe is thriving on a massive scale. In 1990 the cathedral at Santiago de Compostela recorded less than 5000 pilgrims: today that figure is at least 200,000 a year. Author Derry Brabbs’ previous book, Roads to Santiago, focused exclusively on the ‘camino’ through France and Spain to Santiago de Compostela; Pilgrimage revisits this classic route, and nine other inspirational journeys across Europe.

Whether you’re truly making a pilgrimage, exploring the world, or simply hiking, Pilgrimage will lead you along deeply historical routes like the ‘Jakobsweg’ in Germany, between  Cologne and Trier. You’ll find great walks in Britain and France, like St. Cuthbert’s Way which winds around the Scottish Borders to the holy island of Lindisfarne, and the World Heritage Site of Mont-St-Michel built on the tiny island off the coast of Normandy.

The most notable addition to the rejuvenated era of pilgrimage is the Via Francigena, now a very well established path through Switzerland and Italy. The Italian section begins on the bleak summit of the Great St  Bernard Pass where a hospice still caters to the needs of passing pilgrims before heading down to Rome through some of Italy’s most beguiling countryside interspersed with medieval hilltop towns and villages.

Astounding photographs combine with an absorbing text that describes the history and key features of each route, as well as brief details of the distances and the number of days it takes to walk, and a list of websites to help plan your journey.

The Secret Gardeners is a captivating photographic portrait of the private gardening passions of 25 of the UKs foremost artists, designers, actors, producers, composers, playwrights, sculptors and musicians.

It  includes composers Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh;  oligarch Evgeny Lebedev; entrepreneur Richard Branson; architect Anish Kapoor; actors Jeremy Irons,  Rupert Everett, Griff Rhys Jones  and Terry Gilliam; chef Prue Leith; musicians Ozzy Osbourne,Nick Mason  and Sting; playwright  Julian Fellowes; film director Paul Weiland; and designers Kirstie Allsopp and Cath Kidston.

Accompanying meaty essays explaining the owners’ inspiration and passion are stunningly-reproduced photographs revealing the beautiful gardens that the public rarely see.

Amongst these gardeners you’ll find the plantaholics, the scene-changers, the view makers, the weeders, the hot-colour fanatics and those who use their garden to retreat from public life.  

Great things happen in gardens. No one can doubt the importance of the garden in Roald Dahl’s life as it was here where he worked, and here that he created James and the Giant Peach. And where would Jane Austen have been if she had never seen a ‘walk’, an ornamental lake, or a wilderness?

Gardens hold a special place in many author’s lives. For Beatrix Potter, Hill Top house was made possible by the new found freedom and wealth that a literary career can bring; for Sir Walter Scott, laying out his garden at Abbotsford was a way of distracting himself from mounting debts.

In this book of 18 gardens and 20 writers, the author examines how the poet, writer, novelist derived a creative spirit from their private garden, how they tended and enjoyed their gardens, and how they managed their outdoor space.

• Jane Austen at Godmersham and Chawton
• Rupert Brooke at Grantchester
• John Ruskin at Brantwood
• Agatha Christie at Greenway
• Beatrix Potter at Hill Top
• Roald Dahl at Gipsy House
• Charles Dickens at Gad’s Hill Place
• Virginia Woolf at Monk’s House
• Winston Churchill at Chartwell
• Laurence Sterne at Shandy Hall
• George Bernard Shaw at Shaw’s Corner
• Ted Hughes at Lumb Bank
• Henry James followed by E.F. Benson at Lamb House
• John Clare at Helpston
• Thomas Hardy at Hardy’s Cottage and Max Gate  
• Robert Burns at Ellisland
• William Wordsworth at Cockermouth and Grasmere
• Walter Scott at Abbotsford
• Rudyard Kipling at Bateman’s

Legendary gardener and plantswoman Beth Chatto describes how she transformed a piece of wasteland into a lush and blooming garden in this beautiful book, filled with helpful tips and practical advice.

The story of how Beth Chatto created her gravel garden on ‘possibly the driest, and the most windswept, piece of soil in England’ has a message of hope for gardeners everywhere. At the outset she promised herself: ‘This garden was not to be irrigated in times of drought. Once established the plants must fend for themselves or die.’  

The results, eloquently described by the author and beautifully portrayed in Steven Wooster’s specially commissioned photographs taken through the seasons, testify to the triumphant outcome of the adventure.

Showing how her principles can be applied on any scale, this book is an essential read for any gardener facing water shortages and poor soil. Rich with hard-won tips and expressed in Beth Chatto’s matchless style, this is a gardening classic.

Pen & Ink is packed with page after page of bite-sized creative sketching tips and accessible advice, and offers aspiring artists the freedom to dip in and out for practical information or flick through for fresh inspiration and ideas.

Exploring around 200 pieces of artwork by young contemporary artists, Pen & Ink highlights and examines the different techniques, qualities, and effects relating to each piece. Organized into chapters according to the technique exemplified (e.g.water soluble, mixed media) artwork is featured large and luscious, accompanied by extended captions, insightful tips, and practical advice. A detailed index at the front of the book also groups the paintings according to three main categories: Principles (e.g. composition), Media, Type of sketch (e.g. abstract), and Subject (e.g. nature). Listing each page where similar examples may be found, this category index enables the reader to easily identify and cross reference subjects that have been painted in similar styles.

Throughout the book, useful information and practical tips are provided on a wide range of topics such as tone, perspective, color, and much more besides. Readers are encouraged to discover the various ways in which similar subjects and styles are executed by different artists, while also being inspired to use the tips in the book as a way of building on their existing skills. Offering a bold, refreshing change from other run-of-the-mill art books, Pen & Ink adopts the unique approach of accessing practical information via the images, focusing on the way subjects can be treated using a whole range of different drawing techniques, rather than looking at how to master one single style. This gives the reader a much wider skill set- allowing them to capture or create the essence of any image in a variety of different ways.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) is one of the world’ s longest running environmental groups, marshalling the conservation movement in England since 1926. This book celebrates the achievements of the CPRE and associated groups in bequeathing to the present generation a countryside that is still a repository of beauty and tranquillity, despite 300 years of sustained development and population growth.

22 Ideas That Saved the English Countryside re-asserts the vision and durability of the CPRE’ s key arguments and those of historic partners including The National Trust, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and the Ramblers’ Association. public.

This book contains contributions from leading thinkers, campaigners and high-profile supporters, including Julia Bradbury, Tony Robinson, John le Carré , Andrew Motion and Simon Jenkins, as well as archive images and beautiful colour photography of present day landscapes, which show what has been saved, what has been protected for ever, and, on occasion, what has been lost – often the most poignant images of all.

The ideas include:

Controlling Ribbon Development  

One of CPRE’s earliest campaigns was to curtail urban sprawl alongside arterial roads. Through the coordination of public and political support, the Restriction of Ribbon Development Act of 1935 protected views of the countryside from the encroachments of suburbia.

National Parks  

Wordsworth’ s 1810 description of the Lakes as a ‘ sort of national property’ culminated in CPRE’ s long campaign for National Parks, which in turn was inspired by the world’ s first National Parks like Yellowstone in 1874.

The Green and Pleasant Land  

According to historian David Cannadine, ‘the English countryside was . . . the very embodiment of decency, Englishness, national character and national identity’. This theme has been expressed by authors from Shakespeare and Spencer through to Kenneth Grahame and George Orwell. As more of us live in cities, the English obsession with escaping to the countryside has grown.  

Urban Regeneration  

Every home built on a previously developed ‘brownfield’ site saves a piece of green field. The efficient renovation of derelict buildings and and land offer a new opportunity to create new urban housing to be set against unspoiled countryside. The creation of new public spaces and pedestrianised zones since the 1960s have made cities more pleasant places to live.

Taking its cue from these Isles’ extraordinarily diverse geology, This Land ranges from the ancient quartzite rocks of the Scottish Highlands to the gritstones and limestones of the English Pennines and the rolling chalk downs of Southern England. There are sections on Mountains, Islands, Forests and Coasts, and the book concludes with a fascinating look at the ways in which British people have shaped the landscape over thousands of years.

Accompanying text by leading outdoors writer and campaigner Roly Smith explains how each type of rock creates its own distinctive landforms and vegetation, and how these have often been made the subject of local folklore and legend. There is room for some personal recollections from Joe and Roly about their own experiences in these magical places.

Wainwright’s meticulously hand-drawn  maps, diagrams and drawings take walkers up the 214 principal hills and mountains of the Lake District, describing the main routes of ascent from different starting points, as well as lesser-known variants, showing the summit viewpoint panoramas and the ridge routes that can be made to create longer walks. Every page combines words and illustrations to  present the routes in a way that is original, visually appealing  and easy to follow.

This new edition of Wainwright’s Walking Guide to the Lake  District Fells has been comprehensively revised. Paths, maps, diagrams and  route descriptions have been checked and corrected throughout. These revisions have been undertaken by writer and designer Clive  Hutchby, author of  The  Wainwright Companion.

The Central Fells, Book Three of Wainwright’s Walking Guide, covers the popular fells accessible from Great Langdale, Ambleside, Grasmere, Keswick and Borrowdale, including Harrison Stickle, Pike o’Stickle, Pavey Ark, Silver How Loughrigg Fell, Helm Crag and Walla Crag.

One name above all others has become associated with walking in the Lake District: Alfred Wainwright, whose seven-volume Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, first published in 1955- 66, has become the definitive guidebook.  

Wainwright’ s meticulously hand-drawn maps, diagrams and drawings take walkers up the 214 principal hills and mountains of the Lake District, describing the main routes of ascent from different starting points, as well as lesser-known variants, showing the summit viewpoint panoramas and the ridge routes that can be made to create longer walks. Every page combines words and illustrations to present the routes in a way that is original, visually appealing and easy to follow.

This new edition of Wainwright’ s Walking Guide to the Lake District Fells has been comprehensively revised. Paths, maps, diagrams and route descriptions have been checked and corrected throughout. These revisions have been undertaken by writer and designer Clive Hutchby, author of The Wainwright Companion.

The Far Eastern Fells, Book Two of Wainwright’ s Walking Guide, covers the entire area east of Kirkstone Pass, bordered by Ullswater in the north and Windermere in the south, and includes the ascents of   High Street, Ill Bell, Place Fell and Wansfell.