Shortlisted for the 2008 _ Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction_, ” Crow Country” is Mark Cocker`s brilliant description of his journeys in search of crows & ravens of Engl&, birds that obsessed him & changed his life for ever. Rooks & jackdaws are both members of the same bird family. To ornithologists the group is known as _the corvids_, to the layperson they are `crows`. But to the Mark Cocker these two species have become a fixation & a way of life. When he moved with his family to a rundown cottage in the Norfolk Broads he acquired first a naturalist`s perfect home in the countryside, then the keys to a secret landscape. Twice a day flight-lines of rooks & jackdaws passed over the house on their way to a roost in the Yare Valley. Following them down to the river one winter`s night, the author discovered a roiling, deafening flock of birds which rised at its peak to 40, 000. From the moment he watched the multitudes blossom as a mysterious dark flower above the night woods, these gloriously commonplace birds were unsheathed entirely from their ordinariness. Cocker goes in search of them, journeying from the cavernous, deadened heartland of South England to the hills of Dumfriesshire, experiencing spectacular failures alongside magical successes & epiphanies. Step by step he pieces together the complexities of the birds` inner lives, the historical depth of the British relationship with the rook & the unforeseen richness hidden in that sombre voice, a raucous crow song that he calls `our landscape made audible`.” Crow Country” is a prose poem in a long tradition of English pastoral writing. It is also a celebration of the Norfolk countryside, of its oceanic flatness, its immense skies & of the human intimacies which have shaped it from generation to generation. Yet, the book is also a powerful restatement of the central importance of nature in human affairs. It asks us to recall that ` Crow Country` is not `ours`. It`s a landscape which we cohabit with thousands of other species & is all the richer for these complex fellowships. ” Crow Country” is the perfect companion to the wonderful * Birds Britannica*.‘ Luminously beautiful & dartingly intelligent’ _ Richard Mabey_ ...

` Beginning & ending, always the same, always now. The game, the story, the riddle, hiding & seeking. Crow comes from this place; this place comes from Crow. & Crow has work for you.` Sadie isn`t thrilled when her mother drags her from the city to live in the country town of Boort. But soon she starts making connections
- connections with the country, with the past, with two boys, Lachie & Walter, &, most surprisingly, with the ever-present crows. When Sadie is tumbled back in time to view a terrible crime, she is pulled into a strange mystery. Can Sadie, Walter & Lachie figure out a way to right old wrongs, or will they be condemned to repeat them?
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The Birds & the Bees series was designed for Vintage Classics by Timorous Beasties, the Scottish studio famous for their designs inspired by the natural world. One night Mark Cocker followed the roiling, deafening flock of rooks & jackdaws which regularly passed over his Norfolk home on their way to roost in the Yare valley. From the moment he watched the multitudes blossom as a mysterious dark flower above the woods, these gloriously commonplace birds became for Cocker a fixation & a way of life. Journeying across Britain, through spectacular failures, magical successes & epiphanies, Cocker uncovers the mysteries of these birds` inner lives. SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2008 SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE. ...

Crow Lake is that rare find, a first novel so quietly assured, so compelling, & with an emotional charge so perfectly controlled, that you sense at once that this is the real thing
- a literary experience to relish, a book to lose yourself in, & a name to watch. Here is a gorgeous, slowburning story of families growing up & tearing each other apart in rural Northern Ontario, where tragedy & hardship are mirrored in the landscape. Centre stage are the Morrisons whose tragedy is insidious & divisive. Orphaned young, Kate Morrison was her older brother Matt`s protegee, her curious fascination for pond-life fed by his passionate interest in the natural world. Now a zoologist, she can identify organisms under a microscope, but seems blind to the tragedy of her own emotional life. She thinks she`s outgrown her family, who were once her entire world
- but she can`t seem to outgrow her childhood or lighten the weight of their mutual past.

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A compulsively readable thriller that skillfully weaves together past & present to uncover the sinister secrets buried in the ancient stone quarries under Bath. Kit Parry is reluctant to take the job shoring up the ancient quarries beneath her hometown of Bath -- a place as riddled with memories she`d rather forget as it is with Roman ruins. The miners certainly don`t want her there, & her burgeoning romance with lanky foreman Gary looks likely to complicate matters even further. But when dark developments threaten the spa town`s placid facade, Kit must face up to the past she`s tried so desperately to bury. Someone wants her out of Bath -- that much is clear -- but who was it that brought her childhood to an abrupt end in the summer of her fourteenth year? Why has she never been back to Bath, & how did she escape her violent father? When Kit stumbles across evidence of a lost Mithraic temple, the mysteries in her own past become entangled with a search for what could be the archaeological discovery of the decade -- & what turns into a dangerous obsession! ...

Croxteth Hall in 1906 in a fascinating series of reproductions of old Ordnance Survey plans in the Alan Godfrey Editions, ideal for anyone interested in the history of their neighbourhood or family. Selected towns in Great Britain & Ireland are covered by maps showing the extent of urban development in the last decades of the 19th & early 20th century. About the Alan Godfrey Editions of the 25 ...

Croxteth Hall in 1906 in a fascinating series of reproductions of old Ordnance Survey plans in the Alan Godfrey Editions, ideal for anyone interested in the history of their neighbourhood or family. About the Alan Godfrey Editions of the 25” OS Series: Selected towns in Great Britain & Ireland are covered by maps showing the extent of urban development in the last decades of the 19th & early 20th century. The plans have been taken from the Ordnance Survey mapping & reprinted at about 15 inches to one mile (1:4, 340). On the reverse most maps have historical notes & many also include extracts from contemporary directories. Most maps cover about one mile (1.6kms) north/south, one & a half miles (2.4kms) across; adjoining sheets can be combined to provide wider coverage.FOR MORE INFORMATION & A COMPLETE LIST OF ALL AVAILABLE TITLES PLEASE CLICK ON THE SERIES LINK. ...

Croyde area of northern Devon on a very detailed, GPS compatible hiking, cycling & horse riding map from Croydecycle at 1:12, 500, printed on light, waterproof & tear-resistant synthetic paper. The map is part of publishers’ series covering the western coast of Somerset, both coastlines of Devon, & the adjoining areas of Dorset. Each handy size, 50 x 35cm, map is double-sided to cover a wider area. Topography is indicated by contours at 10m intervals with graphics and/or colouring for different type of terrain (s&, shingle, mud, high or low cliffs, etc) & vegetation (woodlands, gorse, scrub, etc). An overprint highlights footpaths, permissive paths & small permissive paths, Bridleways, cycle tracks & country roads which are byways for all traffic. On other roads markings indicate routes which are part of the National Cycle Network. Symbols show locations of campsites & caravan sites, riding stables, pubs/cafes/restaurants, shops & other local facilities, etc. For GPS users each map has in the margins National Grid coordinates. Most 1:12, 500 maps include enlargements of main town (s), an inset providing geological information, & details of transport options. To see other titles in this series, including cycle maps, please click on the series link. The 1:12, 500 maps are numbered on our website westwards along the Somerset & north Devon coast, & then eastwards along the southern coast of Devon & into Dorset. ...

Brixton & Herne Hill in 1894 in a fascinating series of reproductions of old Ordnance Survey plans in the Alan Godfrey Editions, ideal for anyone interested in the history of their neighbourhood or family. Three versions for this area have been published, stretching from Branksome Road & Strathleven Road eastward to Beckwith Road, & from Pulross Road & Brixton station southward to Brixton prison. The left half of the map covers Brixton, with Brixton Hill running north-south; further east is Herne Hill, & Herne Hill itself runs northward through the map, lined with villas. Also crossing the map are railways, with Herne Hill station near the foot. Other features include Helix Gardens, Effra Road, Atlantic Road, Mayall Road, Railton Road, Coldharbour Lane, Loughborough Park, St Matthew`s church, Brixton Hall, Lambeth Water Works, beer bottling works, Lowden Road, Brockwell Hall, north part of Brockwell Park, St Jude`s church, Casino House, & Loughborough Park station. The prison is blank on 1894 map but shown on 1870 version. The maps have directory extracts on the reverse; 1894 map has street entries for Atlantic Road, The Avenue, Brixton Hill, Railton Road; 1913 version has street directory entries for Acre Lane, Coldharbour Lane, Effra Road, Fawnbrake Avenue, Railton Road. About the Alan Godfrey Editions of the 25” OS Series: Selected towns in Great Britain & Ireland are covered by maps showing the extent of urban development in the last decades of the 19th & early 20th century. The plans have been taken from the Ordnance Survey mapping & reprinted at about 15 inches to one mile (1:4, 340). On the reverse most maps have historical notes & many also include extracts from contemporary directories. Most maps cover about one mile (1.6kms) north/south, one & a half miles (2.4kms) across; adjoining sheets can be combined to provide wider coverage.FOR MORE INFORMATION & A COMPLETE LIST OF ALL AVAILABLE TITLES PLEASE CLICK ON THE SERIES LINK. ...

Croydon East: Coombe Park & Addiscombe Road area in 1895 in a fascinating series of reproductions of old Ordnance Survey plans in the Alan Godfrey Editions, ideal for anyone interested in the history of their neighbourhood or family. The map covers the eastern part of Croydon, from the Addiscombe Road southward to Coombe Park. Features include Shirley House, Addiscombe Farm, Coombe Lane station, Parkhill House, Brickwood House, St Mary Magdalene church, Addiscombe Road etc. Extracts from a 1934 street directory are on the reverse. About the Alan Godfrey Editions of the 25” OS Series: Selected towns in Great Britain & Ireland are covered by maps showing the extent of urban development in the last decades of the 19th & early 20th century. The plans have been taken from the Ordnance Survey mapping & reprinted at about 15 inches to one mile (1:4, 340). On the reverse most maps have historical notes & many also include extracts from contemporary directories. Most maps cover about one mile (1.6kms) north/south, one & a half miles (2.4kms) across; adjoining sheets can be combined to provide wider coverage.FOR MORE INFORMATION & A COMPLETE LIST OF ALL AVAILABLE TITLES PLEASE CLICK ON THE SERIES LINK. ...