Christmas present book idea

[Dave_P]

Now's the time when many of us are scratching our heads for Christmas present ideas for loved ones.  So may I suggest this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hidden-Nature-Discovery-Alys-Fowler/dp/1473623006/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1512056910&sr=8-1&keywords=alys+fowler+hidden+nature

Now I must declare an interest.  The author is a good friend of mine.  She's better known as the Guardian gardening columnist and former Gardeners World presenter, but with this book she embarked on a mini-adventure.  Due to her husband's illness, her quest for adventure needed to be confined to the city she lives in, so she got a little inflatable boat and set off to the explore the canals of Birmingham.  What came out of that is this book, which is about canals, but also about plants and wildlife, history, adventure, friendship, relationships and coming out as a lesbian when you're a married woman approaching middle age...

I think it's great, but obviously I'm biased.  I'm also in it quite a bit, as are the canals around Birmingham.  The BCN Challenge also gets a whole chapter devoted to it.  It was the year where we all spent hours queuing up to moor at Bradley Workshops (Alys had already left by then, to get back to her husband).

Anyway, it came out earlier this year, and some of you may be interested.  Available in all good bookshops...

[Dave Payne]

Think i saw a story on Central news (Or whatever its called these days) in the summer?

[Dave_P]

19 minutes ago, Dave Payne said:

Think i saw a story on Central news (Or whatever its called these days) in the summer?

Possibly.  It came out in April though.  

Here's a wee review https://www.towpathtalk.co.uk/hidden-nature-a-voyage-of-discovery-by-alys-fowler/

 

[rusty69]

Is her name Alys pronounced Alice or Alees or something else?

Edited November 30, 2017 by rusty69

[Dave_P]

17 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Is her name Alys pronounced Alice or Alees or something else?

Alice.  We also have an Amy-Alys on this forum do we not?

Alys is the Welsh/Pretentious/Cool spelling - delete as applicable.

[rusty69]

7 minutes ago, Dave_P said:

Alice.  We also have an Amy-Alys on this forum do we not?

Alys is the Welsh/Pretentious/Cool spelling - delete as applicable.

Ta

[Dave_P]

Just now, rusty69 said:

Ta

Personally, I'm all in favour of alternative spellings.  We have a member on here called Dave Payne, whereas I am the far more rarefied variant, Dave Paine.

[Athy]

I had a look at the author's synopsis on Amazon. Her 'Edible Garden' looks worth investigating, I may dig further (whoops)

Edited November 30, 2017 by Athy

[WotEver]

1 hour ago, Dave Payne said:

Central news (Or whatever its called these days)

ITV News Central. Sadly Central TV no longer exists although of course the region still does. 

[Dave Payne]

15 hours ago, Dave_P said:

Personally, I'm all in favour of alternative spellings.  We have a member on here called Dave Payne, whereas I am the far more rarefied variant, Dave Paine.

Payne has more class than Paine

 

[Sea Dog]

15 hours ago, Dave_P said:

Alice.  We also have an Amy-Alys on this forum do we not?

Alys is the Welsh/Pretentious/Cool spelling - delete as applicable.

It would need an extra Y, 2 Ws and 3 Ds to be the Welsh version if my observations are correct.

[WotEver]

1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:

It would need an extra Y, 2 Ws and 3 Ds to be the Welsh version if my observations are correct.

And no vowels. 

[Up-Side-Down]

Returning to the OP's original topic, here are a couple of other waterway books that make excellent Christmas presents:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Waterways-Britain-illustrated-waterways-Nicholson-ebook/dp/B01LKXFFGE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1512216871&sr=8-1&keywords=waterways+of+britain

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Our-Great-Canal-Journeys-Beautiful-ebook/dp/B075WWSD9B/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1512216871&sr=8-2&keywords=waterways+of+britain

 

Both available as 'book' books or eBooks.

[Dave_P]

On 12/1/2017 at 09:37, WotEver said:

And no vowels. 

Ywwwlysddd then?

[WotEver]

1 hour ago, Dave_P said:

Ywwwlysddd then?

Spot on