Roly Smith
This anthology brings together the finest writing about the Peak District through the ages. Compiled and introduced by Peak District expert Roly Smith, it revives many forgotten descriptions of what many people believe is the finest, most varied and best loved landscape in the whole of Britain.,From William Camden to Daniel Defoe, Sir Gawain to Lord Byron, literary visitors have long been astonished by the sublime wonders of the Peak. Ruskin extolled its beauties, while novelists Charlotte BrontÃ« and George Eliot used closely observed Peakland settings for some of their most vivid narratives. Topographical writers including Edward Bradbury, Thomas Tudor and James Croston enthusiastically described the delights of the Derbyshire scenery to the ever-increasing stream of Victorian visitors.,The flowering of guidebook writing in the twentieth century added to the Peak's outdoor literature. Many books were produced covertly encouraging what was known as 'the gentle art of trespass'. They included works by G. H. B. Ward, the 'King' of the Sheffield Clarion Ramblers; Derby's pioneering rock climber, Ernest Baker; and Patrick Monkhouse, deputy editor of the ,Manchester Guardian,. Later writers have continued this tradition of fine outdoor writing, including Hannah Mitchell, Sally Goldsmith, folk singer Ewan MacColl, ,Manchester Evening News, editor and broadcaster Brian Redhead, and long-standing ,Guardian, Country Diarist Roger Redfern.
A Peak District Anthology: A Literary Companion to Britain's First National Park