A search for nearby nature and wildness After years of expeditions all over the world, adventurer Alastair Humphreys spends a year exploring the detailed local map around his home. Can this unassuming landscape, marked by the glow of city lights and the hum of busy roads, hold any surprises for the world traveller or satisfy his wanderlust? Could a single map provide a lifetime of exploration? Discovering more about the natural world than in all his years in remote environments, he learns the value of truly getting to know his neighbourhood. An ode to slowing down, Local is a celebration of curiosity and time spent outdoors, as well as a rallying cry to protect the wild places on our doorstep.
I’ve been a fan of Alastair Humphreys for some time now. Ever since my Scout Leader days when he kindly sent us a video of instructions on how to make a little stove out of a drinks can, I’ve followed his adventures, blogs and various shenanigans with interest.
Late last year I was interested to see that he’d written a new book, Local. It took the idea of adventures and exploration, and asked the question of whether a single Ordnance Survey Explorer map would be enough adventure for a year.
You can buy an OS map centred on any location fairly cheaply (even better if there’s a sale on!). It covers roughly 20km to a side, broken up in to squares. Twenty squares to a side, 400 squares in total.
Alastair Humphreys set about exploring a square a week, using a random number generator to choose the square, with a couple of caveats. No square adjoining a square he’d already visited.
I bought my map early on (see the photo above), on the basis that maps are brilliant and I love a good map. Though I know where I live fairly well, having been here for a while, it was still a bit of a surprise to see how much of it was urban.
A bit like Alastair’s it turns out, albeit a bit further north than his.
However, the more I read of his book, and his exploration of his local area, the more determinted I became to explore my own area. As he says:
The more I pay attention, the more I notice. The more I notice, the. more I learn. The more I learn, the more I enjoy. The more I enjoy, the more I pay attention.
And I really enjoyed this book. Some squares are more interesting to visit – a discovery of deneholes in the woods being an early highlight. But even in the built-up areas our intrepid author visits, there’s always something fascinating or thought-provoking going on. And Alastair is as fond of a detour on the map as he is of a detour in the storytelling.
Interesting diversions abound in this book. We pause briefly to learn about Tulip Mania, when the price of the flowers rocketed and a bulb of Semper Augustus was valued at enough to buy a house in Amsterdam. Or to discover that the monkey puzzle tree hails from Chile.
I loved this:
You should sit in nature for twenty minutes every day, they say, unless you’re too busy; then you should sit for an hour.
And the idea of sitting on a log for an hour, out in the woods, just enjoying being there.
It’s a fascinating book, filled with tiny day-long adventures. There’s a spot of mudlarking, far too many ‘no entry’ signs (a topic on which he ruminates at length – our countryside is being blocked off from us by landowners when we need to be out in it more to appreciate and protect it), the odd burnt-out car and a lot of fly-tipping and litter.
But there’s so much good out there too. The little pockets of woodland, the cool churches on a hot summer’s day. The pub at the end of a long bike ride, the cool rivers to soak yourself in and watch the wildlife.
I might not get as far as exploring a square a week, but I’m determined to go and see some new places. I’ve started writing about tackling my seven local summits over on my Substack (though there are 13 on my local map, so might expand that a little!)
I went to the book launch talk that he did at Alpkit Hathersage last week and had the chance to say hello and get my book signed. Alastair is a fabulous speaker and presenter, so if you get the chance to see him in person, I highly recommend it.
I also ended up with a second signed copy, so will be doing a giveaway soon – watch this space!
As you can probably tell, this book falls into the highly recommended category. Get yourself a map and go exploring!
Local, by Alastair Humphreys is published by Eye Books and is out now. You can get a copy of Local here, and find Alastair online at https://alastairhumphreys.com
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