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Published: 26 November 2020
ISBN: 9781473581210
Imprint: Vintage Digital
Format: Audio Download

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Waterlog

Roger Deakin

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A passionate open-air swimmer, Roger Deakin travelled around the British Isles in search of the best places for a dip. Waterlog celebrates the magic of water and the beauty and eccentricity of Britain.

In 1996 Roger Deakin, the late, great nature writer, set out to swim through the British Isles. From the sea, from rock pools, from rivers and streams, tarns, lakes, lochs, ponds, lidos, swimming pools and spas, from fens, dykes, moats, aqueducts, waterfalls, flooded quarries, even canals, Deakin gains a fascinating perspective on modern Britain. Detained by water bailiffs in Winchester, intercepted in the Fowey estuary by coastguards, mistaken for a suicide on Camber sands, confronting the Corryvreckan whirlpool in the Hebrides, he discovers just how much of an outsider the native swimmer is to his landlocked, fully-dressed fellow citizens.

This is a personal journey, a bold assertion of the native swimmer's right to roam, and an unforgettable celebration of the magic of water.

Published: 26 November 2020
ISBN: 9781473581210
Imprint: Vintage Digital
Format: Audio Download

Categories:

About the author

Roger Deakin

Roger Deakin, who died in 2006, was a writer, filmmaker and environmentalist of international renown. He was a founder member of Friends of the Earth, and co-founded Common Ground. He lived for thirty-eight years in a moated farmhouse in Suffolk. Waterlog, which was first published in 1999, became a word-of-mouth bestseller, and is now an established classic of the nature writing canon.

A filmmaker and writer with a particular interest in nature and the environment, Roger Deakin was the author of Wildwood and the highly acclaimed Waterlog. He lived in Suffolk, and died there in August 2006, aged 63.

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Praise for Waterlog

Deakin has written an aquatic Songlines.
Heathcote Williams

I jumped in with both feet and wanted to stay for more.
Griff Rhys-Jones

Erudite, funky and passionate, a total delight
Independent on Sunday

Charmingly and elegantly written
Daily Telegraph

A delicious, cleansing, funny, wise and joyful book, so wonderfully full of energy and life. I loved it
Jane Gardam

Highly entertaining...Waterlog is a book about a cold, wet subject written with a warmth and passion it surely deserves, but has rarely had before
Guardian

A wonderful and romantic tale told by a true English eccentric...think Ratty, think Mole, think three men falling out of a boat...enchanting
Michele Roberts, Financial Times

A travel book like no other, it is rich and deep with insights on modern Britain
The Independent

Roger Deakin is the perfect companion for invigorating armchair swim. Engaging, thoughtful and candid, he also has a wonderful eye
Peter Marren, Telegraph Weekend

A brilliant and compelling view of Britain from a few inches above its neglected waterways
Simon Usborne, The Independent