The Field By The River: Uncovering the Nature of Country Life - Hardcover

For the past thirteen years Ken - originally from Scotland - and his wife have lived in France, in a Breton hamlet, Kerkelven. They live in a manor house built in 1655 which is blessed with all the trappings of antiquity and individuality, and for neighbours they have a full dance card of endearing eccentrics. They also have an adjoining chunk of land, unremarkable to the uninitiated, prone to flooding from the river where it's flat and unproductively hilly and overgrown everywhere else. Ken walked the dogs - elderly Mortimer, nosy Max and independent Syrus - around this field three times a day for many years before a chance encounter with a kingfisher made him unexpectedly consider the sorry fact that he knew next to damn-all about either the kingfisher or the rest of the flora and fauna in 'his' field.This charming book is the result of that moment: a record of the twelve months Ken has spent trying to understand his immediate surroundings a little better. In one sense therefore the book is a series of 'micro-holidays', journeys into books and into the lives of bats, mushrooms, foxes, moorhens, the night sky, spiders, snakes, salamanders, rare ferns and all the rest. But "The Field by the River" is more than that too, full as it is of the affectionate and humorous stories of a Scot abroad.It is beautifully observed and enchantingly written. It will appeal to fans of both nature and travel writing. It is an ideal summer read, as well as a potential Christmas gift. It helps readers to think Springwatch with a literary twist.