Product Description

Griff Rhys Jones was a mountain virgin. So when it was suggested that he might like to go up a few of Britain’s peaks, he rightly asked: isn’t there someone better qualified? Apparently not. So Griff was duly dispatched across the rooftops of England, Scotland and Wales to explore some of the roughest, most arduous – not to mention most beautiful – terrain, and to meet those who live daily in such thin-aired wilds. Climbing the big mountains like Snowdon, Ben Nevis and Scafell Pike and many others besides gave Griff an insight into the passion and devotion our high places inspire – and turned a mountain virgin into a mountaineer. Well almost …

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24998 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-26
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Wanderlust
'A stunning reminder of what's on our doorstep'

Herald
'Rhys Jones finds humour in the most remote places'

About the Author
Griff Rhys Jones was born in 1953. He was educated at Brentwood School and Cambridge University. On the way to becoming a writer, he worked as a security guard, a petrol pump attendant and a television star. Griff is the author of To the Baltic with Bob and Semi-Detached. His TV credits include Not The Nine o' Clock News, Alas Smith and Jones, Restoration and Three Men in a Boat.

Customer Reviews

How much of this can we believe
I never saw the TV series so I don't know what it was like. Superficially the book is pleasing. However, there are some major factual errors which marred my enjoyment. What worries me is that if there are so many mistakes that I know about how many more are there in areas where I don't have an expertise. There are some real howlers here:
"The Torridonian is 400 million years old" - it is at least double that, probably 1000 million years old.
"The Black Cuillins are granite" - no, the Red Cuillins are granite, the Black Cuillins are Gabbro. He does call them Gabbro later on but that's like getting sandstone and limestone mixed up.
"The big stones at Stonehenge were dragged from Wales"- no, the big stones, the Sarsens, are relatively local, the smaller bluestones come from Wales. If he had just said some of the stones came from Wales.
"The Honister Slate is 4 million years old" - Sigh, only out by a hundred times. It is round about 500 million years old.
You or your researchers need to get your act together Griff.

What no maps?
An excellent addition to the recent BBC TV series. Super photos and an entertaining text by Griff Rhys Jones. I only gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because of the lack of any maps to refer to as you read the book. In a book of this nature which is constantly referring to different locations all over the British Isles this is a serious omission, otherwise highly recommended!