\n Harry Bucknall\u2019s new book, A Road for All Seasons: A Tribute to Britain, will be published by Constable on March 19 in hardback and eBook.\n<\/p>\n
\n Described as \u201cuplifting, joyous and charming\u201d, it charts a year-long pilgrimage around the UK, following four separate journeys which mirror the changing seasons.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Dorset-based author embarked on the project after a tumultuous spell in British politics following Brexit, which left him questioning how well he really knew the country he called home.\n<\/p>\n
\n His route takes him from the islands of Mull to Sunderland and from Aberystwyth to Aldeburgh, criss-crossing cities, towns and countryside in search of what he calls the \u201cbeating heart of the nation\u201d.\n<\/p>\n
\n Whilst the journey starts on the Scottish island of Iona, the book itself opens with an anecdote of Harry’s journey from Lyme Regis to West Bay.\n<\/p>\n
\n “The story opens in Dorset,” the writer from Blandford St Mary said.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I was travelling from Lyme Regis to West Bay and I was spooked by the enormous cliffs and thought, if i fall, I am done for. I had not read the map properly and came up against an impenetrable hedge and I thought I could try and jump through but in the end I had to give up. But I looked back at my map and found a way around.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Harry also visits the Cerne Abbas giant along his journey before heading towards the coast at Bournemouth.\n<\/p>\n
\n The cover of Harry Bucknall’s new book’ A Road For All Seasons; A tribute To Britain (Image: Harry Bucknall)\n<\/p>\n
\n Across 6,518 miles, he meets a cast of \u201cdiverse and charismatic\u201d characters, using their stories \u2013 alongside his own encounters with landscapes, folklore and local history \u2013 to build a vivid social and cultural snapshot of 21st-century Britain.\n<\/p>\n
\n The book focuses as much on the people he meets as the scenery, from coastal communities to inland market towns.\n<\/p>\n
\n “My conclusion was that Britain has been through far worse times and its strength is the Union and being British is brilliant, ” he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We have always had immigration but maybe not on the scale we have now but the book is a message of hope and inclusivity. I hope people enjoy the ride and see how things have changed.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Going to meet the Muslim community in Bradford was a joy, there is so much misunderstanding.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I also visited a Hindu temple in Leicester and that was a real eye-opener. There is a whole community there that we don’t buy into or understand but the book is about building bridges between communities.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Each of the four seasonal journeys he embarks upon in the book opens with a detailed map by illustrator Lachy Campbell, giving readers a clear sense of the routes he followed. The book also features specially commissioned line sketches by artist Gary Partridge, depicting some of the locations Harry visits.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Dorset writer is already known for long-distance travel writing. His first book, In the Dolphin\u2019s Wake, recounted a 5,500-mile journey from Venice to Istanbul through the Greek islands, while his second, Like a Tramp, Like a Pilgrim, followed a 1,400-mile pilgrimage on foot from London to Rome.\n<\/p>\n
\n Before turning to writing, he spent 12 years in the Coldstream Guards and later worked in the oil and mining industry and as a consultant in the Middle East.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Harry Bucknall\u2019s new book, A Road for All Seasons: A Tribute to Britain, will be published by Constable…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":793939,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5018,3,4],"tags":[748,393,4884,1144,712,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-793938","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-britain","8":"category-uk","9":"category-united-kingdom","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-northern-ireland","14":"tag-scotland","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116146211848504312","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=793938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/793939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=793938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=793938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=793938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}