Pleasant, easy read about a beautiful part of the world. I enjoyed the almost anecdotal style of the narrative, roughly ordered by season, and the authors obvious love for his home in his descriptions of the seasons and wildlife. I especially loved the parts about his relationship with his father and grandfather and how he recognised the love but also the competition between them. The strongest part of the book, I think.

I get the criticism of the early chapters about tourism (mate, lots of us were born in cities and we can’t help that, have a bit of empathy, please?) and the value of education, but I do think he walks those back later in the book, if only in a couple of sentences. It would definitely have been nicer to see a bit more reflection on that, and I hope he’s raising his sons in the same way.

I’d have liked to read more about his time at Oxford and about the foot and mouth crisis. I’ll probably pick up his next book and hope he opens up a bit more in it than this one, which feels a bit reticent in places - understandable for a northern bloke!