At the risk of stating the obvious, it’s been a strange few months. Businesses are closed (hopefully only temporary for most). Travel is definitely off the cards, and I’ve spent every day wishing I was tromping across the Yorkshire Moors again. Even getting creative in the kitchen has lost its allure. So it’s no surprise that keeping British Food and Travel updated has been challenging.
But as the coronavirus pandemic drags on, and thousands of emergency workers risk their health every day, the very least we can do is stay home as guidelines request. Although I’ve definitely not been enjoying much of the great outdoors, or doing much baking, I have been catching up on some reading.
If you are looking for a good read, below are some of the works about travel and food that I’ve been enjoying recently, with Amazon affiliate links. (These links don’t cost you anything but they do help to support the upkeep of the site.)
And as one extra plug, pick up a copy of Explore England 2020 from the publishers of This England magazine to read my piece about the Wye Valley and the birth of British tourism.
Recently Read:
The Salt Path: A Memoir by Raynor Winn.
I think I read this one in a day because I enjoyed it so much. Someone asked me to describe it and upon hearing about it, said it sounded so depressing. But it’s the opposite. A couple loses everything they have built over the course of their marriage – their farm, their livelihood, their home. And to top it all, the husband has a debilitating illness. It may not seem like the greatest time to attempt to walk the South West Coast Path, or perhaps it’s the best time. Part memoir, part travelogue, this is beautifully written and wonderfully honest. Upon finishing, I immediately found myself searching for the author online to see what has happened since.
Footnotes: A Journey Round Britain in the Company of Great Writers by Peter Fiennes.
If you enjoy combining travel with literature and biography, you may well enjoy Footnotes. Author Fiennes follows in the footsteps of a dozen noted authors, seeing the landscapes that inspired them and seeing how those landscapes have changed today, while providing fascinating insights to the lives of the authors. Explore Enid Blyton and Dorset or traipse around Cornwall with Wilkie Collins. Chart a course through Wales and up to Scotland, before finishing with Charles Dickens in North Kent and London. Fiennes does an excellent job of painting a portrait of each wonderful character, and I am convinced I would never have wanted to travel with Collins!
Dinner with Dickens by Pen Vogler
I am always enthralled by accounts of historical meals and so Pen Vogler’s combination of literary works and food history reignites my desire to get into the kitchen. Among the recipes in this collection inspired by Charles Dickens: roly poly pudding, cod in oyster sauce, and of course it wouldn’t be Dickens if there weren’t a touch of Victorian Christmas. Far more than just a recipe book, this provides an insight into such topics as the Victorian kitchen, not to mention the ups and downs of Dickens’ own life.
On The Pile:
The England Coast Path by Stephen Neale
It’s no secret that I am longing to walk the entirety of the England Coast Path, as well as the paths around Wales and Scotland. As adventurous as it sounds to take off to do the whole thing, time and money are likely to prevent such an endeavour. Instead, I may well have to content myself with the 1,000 mini adventures that Neale promises. That only leaves one decision – which mini adventure to embark upon first. Cleaning up my hiking boots and digging out my rucksack in eager anticipation…. Meanwhile, I shall meet the people and places shared by Neale.
Walking Away by Simon Armitage
So there’s a recurring joke in Winn’s The Salt Path where her husband keeps getting mistaken for a certain wandering poet, despite his best attempts to set people straight. Therefore, after reading The Salt Path, it seems only proper to read of Simon Armitage’s travels along the same path. He was apparently embarking on a book tour for Walking Away while Winn and her husband were making their way around Cornwall, hence the confusion. You know, now that I think about it, I’m not sure that this reading list will alleviate my desire to be walking; if anything it will make the desire even stronger!
A Cheesemonger’s History of the British Isles by Ned Palmer
The title says it all with this one; it’s a turophile’s dream. Learn the history of cheese in the British Isles, and discover some of the wonderful people making it today.
It goes without saying that this book should be accompanied by a platter of British cheeses and your favourite tipple.
