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Work InformationSilt Road: The Story of a Lost River by Charles Rangeley-Wilson
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. In some ways I don't need to write a review, but simply say that Alison's review sums up my feelings exactly and in a better form than I can produce. But I will add a few thoughts. This book was given to me as a present; the buyer being attracted by the Robert MacFarlane quote on the cover. There were lots of nice pieces of writing and a lot of interesting facts, but my problem was that I did not feel there was sufficient flow (not intended as a pun) to his discoveries; he wandered up and down the stream without explaining why to us and thus involving us in his search. no reviews | add a review
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At the foot of a chalk hill a stream rises in a silent copse, and is soon lost under the car parks and streets of the town its waters once gave life to. Captivated by the fate of this forgotten stream Charles Rangeley-Wilson sets out one winter's day to uncover its story. Distilled into the timeless passage of the river's flow, buried under the pavements that cover meadow, marsh and hill he finds dreamers and visionaries, a chronicle of paradises lost or never found, men who shaped the land and its history. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)914.25History and Geography Geography and Travel Geography of and travel in Europe England and Wales East Midlands, Chiltern Hills, Trent RiverLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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He travels to soggy fields in search of the springs that make the tributaries and to the sites of old mills, and spends a lot of time in council offices trying to find out why the river has been stifled and ignored for so long. He writes about the inventor of the water meadow who saw how water flowing from a molehill kept the ground near green, rather than the parched grass nearby. He visits old mills, and hears the river through a grate in an underpass.
I always look forward to books that concentrate on a single place or entity. An author who really knows his landscape and his subject can really make these books soar. In parts this is really nicely written, he has a way of making what he is writing about engaging and interesting, and Rangley-Wilson does know the location having lived there in the past. However there are some parts that don’t seem to make the sense. One chapter was on trying to take salmon spawn to Tasmania, I can see the links, but a whole chapter? Interesting in lots of ways, but I feel it could have been so much more. ( )