Nothing you are likely to have seen or heard before is going to beat the stories in this anthology of holiday horrors. Patrick Blackden has canvassed holiday reps, friends and a host of other onlookers, and the results have been collected according to topic — stories of sexual excess, drug abuse, happy-hour misery and so on. Some locations are predictable — plenty of happenings in Tenerife, Bali and Ibiza — but there are less likely ones, too, including Bath and Rome. In fact, one of the things you will realise on reading this book is that you are never safe, no matter where you go in the world. An Australian minister has put forward a plan to legislate to protect “people too stupid to protect themselves”. Until he gets his way, and characters such as the claustrophobic Dutchman (who tried to open the aircraft door mid-flight) and the curious museum visitor (who scratched paint off a Manet to see how thick it was) are saved from themselves, it is as well to know the worst.
Coast to Coast Path: St Bees to Robin Hood’s Bay
by Henry Stedman
(Trailblazer £9.99)
Alfred Wainwright, the fell walker and guidebook writer who died in 1991, did much to shape the way we enjoy northern England. In 1972, he planned a new route across the country, from St Bees, on the Irish Sea, to Robin Hood’s Bay, on the east coast. At just under 192 miles, it is not the longest cross-country route, and it has yet to be declared a National Trail. But it is one of our great walks. The issue of walkers’ access has meant some changes have had to be made to the original route, and Trailblazer’s Coast to Coast Path now looks the most complete guide — with all the detail you’ll need for a walk in Wainwright’s footsteps.
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