The Observant Walker: Wild Food, Nature and Hidden Treasures on the Pathways of Britain

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Modern airline transport grapples, successfully, with a different set of safety issues. For general aviation, the lessons about weather and mountains are ongoing – and not always heeded. Photographer Marco Tersigni’s latest book – in collaboration with Occupation historian Simon Hamon – focuses on rare and previously unpublished photographs from the Occupation, together with modern-day comparisons ‘from the exact spot’. The book is called Occupied Guernsey Past and Present — From the Exact Spot. Seeking out strangers and talking to them may involve some discomfort in the beginning, but can open up new worlds of perception and opinion. This can improve your sense of empathy, and even inspire you. Another related exercise is writing a letter to a stranger, hero, or villain. The media is heavily represented in May. As well as the Dimblebys, Jon Snow, Susie Dent and Dan Walker, International Editor for the BBC Jeremy Bowen will talk about his new book The Making of the Modern Middle East – A Personal History.

When we go for a walk, whether in the countryside or city, we pass through landscapes full of natural beauty and curiosities both visible and invisible - but though we might admire the view, or wonder idly about the name of a flower, we rarely have the knowledge to fully engage with what we see. When we do, our sense of place is expanded, our understanding deepened and we can discover richness in even the most everyday stroll. John Wright has been leading forays around Britain for decades.Other useful activities are interviewing friends and elders, or asking relatives and colleagues to interview you about incidents and stories revolving around happiness, pride, humour, loneliness or grief. In the workplace, asking five questions, requesting five suggestions, or giving five compliments a week can make you more alert and aware.

Walking with a neighbourhood expert or a companion can bring out new objects, significances and connections along the way, Rob advises. Walking or drifting through unfamiliar parts of town, randomising your movements, and seeing how tourists view your own town are other revealing activities. Meeting faraway friends at geographic midpoints can open up new places to explore.Perfect for a trivia night or a long trip, #TrainTeasers will both test your knowledge of this country`s rail system and enlighten you on the most colourful aspects of its long history. Meet trunk murderers, trainspotters, haters of railways, railway writers, Ministers for Transport good and bad, railway cats, dogs and a railway penguin. This is NOT a book for number-crunching nerds. Many of the answers are guessable by the intelligent reader. It is a quiz, yes, but also a cavalcade of historical incident and colour relating to a system that was the making of modern Britain. Emily Kenway became a carer for her elderly mother and her experience and that of the carers she got to know and speak to make her question whether carer treatment could be improved. She will speak about her book Who Cares? Jag Sherbourne’s book Clouds in My Guernsey Sky – a Memoir of Love, Truth and Hope is a fascinating account of the legacy of Guernsey’s wartime past, and the power it holds to influence the lives of future generations. This year’s Festival Service is being held at St Peter’s church where the Festival’s Honorary Chairman Terry Waite CBE will be preaching on the theme of freedom.

There is plenty this year for the family and young people, with events like Draw with Rob, led by popular illustrator and author Rob Biddulph, and live drawing and music with Tom Percival (Milo’s Monster, Perfectly Norman, Ravi’s Roar). Warm, wise and endlessly informative, with helpful illustrations and suggested routes, this book will help you to see the world around you with new eyes: no walk will be the same again.

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There are times to avoid distraction, and other times to enjoy distraction, Rob explains. Distraction can even lead to new surprises and discoveries; cruising can alternate with consciousness. John Wright is a naturalist and one of Great Britain's leading experts on fungi. His most recent books include A Spotter's Guide to the Countryside and The Forager's Calendar. He lives in Dorset, where he regularly leads forays into nature and goes on long walks across all terrains. The Forager's Calendar won the 2020 Guild of Food Writers Award and the 2020 Woodland Book of the Year.