I liked this book.
It’s about Ash trees and what you can make out of their wood. It’s a simple enough idea but it takes the author, Robert Penn, to many parts of the UK , Europe and America and he meets a variety of interesting craftsmen on his journeys.
Baseball bats, cricket stumps and bails and hurley sticks – the ash wood has its place in sports. Travel too: toboggans, wheels, coracles, paddles etc.
The book is easy to read and I felt myself being carried along by the tale – it’s certainly not wooden. It’s full of fascinating facts of natural history, history and craft but it’s a slight shame there is no index.
If I didn’t have a copy, I’d like it as a Christmas present and so might many of your friends.
The Man who made things out of Trees by Robert Penn is published by Particular Books.
Inglorious: conflict in the uplands by Mark Avery is published by Bloomsbury – for reviews see here.
Behind the Binoculars: interviews with acclaimed birdwatchers by Mark Avery and Keith Betton is published by Pelagic – here’s a review.
A Message from Martha by Mark Avery is published by Bloomsbury – for reviews see here.
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Mark, you may know it, but if you don’t, ‘Wildwood – a journey through trees’ by Roger Deakin is a fabulous read for anyone who loves trees, wood(s), and the natural and social history of trees, woodlands, and many other species dependent on them.
Roger Deakin was, among other things, a gloriously eccentric writer (he of ‘Waterlog’) and this book would be another great winter gift (aka Xmas present).
Hi Daphne / Mark – another great book which I was lucky enough to get through a Secret Santa at work last Christmas – A Secret Life of Trees by Colin Tudge. Packed full of knowledge and also written in an engaging and entertaining way. Well worth reading.