Friday, 8 January 2016

The Illustrated Herdwick Shepherd, by James Rebanks

A slightly unusual but charming little book, this. It’s a hardback strong enough to kill a rhinoceros, festooned with snippets about a shepherd’s world in the Lake District.

It’s a very beautiful part of the world (the picture at the top of this blog was taken there, incidentally), and the author’s photographs, all caught on his mobile (which may surprise, given the quality) capture its changing moods brilliantly.

As well as the landscapes, border collies, sheep and (occasionally) humans, the book has nuggets of text, from concise poetry to a few pages on the sort of individuals who live there. How to prepare potentially prize-winning sheep for sale or show, and anecdotes from the rural world of the Lake District feature within.

The writing is eloquent, the photography superb. It’s entirely possible to devour the whole book in a single sitting.


Thaddeus

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