Gardening journalist Anna Pavord was born in rural Wales and, even though she has lived in Dorset for more than 40 years, still feels at home surrounded by hills and wild countryside. She feels an affinity, too, for Dorset’s gentler, rolling topography and is equally captivated by the craggy, brooding landscape of the Scottish Highlands.
Landskipping is a love song to the British countryside, both a travel guide and a history lesson. Pavord surveys the landscape through the eyes of painters, land owners and the people who worked the land, and explains how the countryside has been shaped and changed by agriculture and industry.
She is at her best, however, when she’s recalling childhood holidays, or recounting her own rambles through the countryside. Apart from a rant about golf courses, which jars a little and feels oddly out of place, this is a beautifully written celebration of our natural history.
