Undiscovered Scotland

 

"Scotland's Countryside Parks, Volume 2, Edinburgh & East" by Tom Prentice is an outstanding little book that should be a permanent resident of the glovebox of everyone who enjoys walking and spends any time in the eastern half of Scotland. The inclusion of the words "Edinburgh & East" in the title reflects the fact that half of the 60 walks are within a short distance of our nation's capital: though none of them are in the city itself. The other 30 walks are much more widely dispersed, from near Peterhead in the north, through the rest of Aberdeenshire; Dundee & Angus; Fife; East Lothian; to three that are around Bowhill in the Scotttish Borders.

When we reviewed this volume's western counterpart we noted that it achieved what you might have thought to be an impossible feat in opening up a new and hitherto underexplored area of Scotland for enjoyment by walkers. This second volume is likewise subtitled "60 Walks in Scotland's Country Parks, Country Estates & Regional Parks", and once more it provides the impetus to get out and explore not-quite-hidden gems that are on or close to the doorstep of many of us. If you do visit you tend to find the parks well used. But listen to those around you and you rapidly come to understand that while the parks are well known and highly appreciated by those living nearby, they are much less well known, still less appreciated, by visitors to, or passing through, the area.

Between the covers of a volume that could just about fit in the back pocket of a pair of jeans you find everything you need to plan your walk, though the author recommends the use of the relevant Ordnance Survey maps when undertaking the walks themselves. This seems particularly good advice for walks in more upland areas like the Pentlands. The walks are divided into areas, and subdivided into individual country parks. So, for example, there are six walks in the Lomond Hills Regional Park in Fife, and three in the Bowhill Country Estate in the Borders. Each walk comes with a good full colour sketch map, a description, and some key data. The colour photos used throughout the book are excellent, and certainly whet the appetite.