• Rising Ground

Recently I’ve been re-reading Philip Marsden’s masterly Rising Ground.  His ability to interweave stories from his walk east-west through Cornwall, the history and significance of topography (although he does not mention Thomas Bond) and his retrieval and renovation of a derelict house upriver from Fowey is brilliant.  I have learned so much from his example as I try to confront the challenges of writing about my French walk that I finished a year ago.  So on this balmy April day I went up into the wood, and to its oldest bench looking over to Sharp Tor, with my copy of Marsden’s book as companion.