I've listened to a couple of Robert Macfarlane's books recently after a recommendation from someone on HN - "The Old Ways" and "Landmarks". Both very different to what I usually read but very enjoyable.
I'm now reading Nan Shepherd's The Living Mountain - which is every bit as good as Macfarlane suggests. Also planning on reading The Peregrine by J.A. Baker.
For some reason I'm fascinated by underground stuff. I have to say though some of this article is certainly in Pseud's Corner territory, e.g.
'Experimental climate-change reportage such as Elizabeth Rush’s Rising; major environmental histories such as Floating Coast, Bathsheba Demuth’s study of the Bering Strait; Lauret Savoy’s brilliant account in Trace of deep time, race and the American landscape; and innovative print essays such as Emily Raboteau’s recent Climate Signs – all are recognising the poly-temporal weaves of culpability, vulnerability, elementality and urgency that characterise the present situation.'
That aside, it's certainly possible to fall into a rabbit-hole (sorry) on this topic! The Great County Adit is quite an amazing and mostly unknown part of mining history, and the story of how in 1880 the construction of the Severn Tunnel was saved by a pioneering diver using one of the first rebreathers is staggering - and I've just read that in another fearless adventure the same diver, a chap called Alexander Lambert, recovered tens of thousands worth of gold coins from a sunken galleon in the Canary Islands, blasting his way through the ship with explosives and diving deeper than any man have gone before! Someone should make a film about his life.
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[ 246 ms ] story [ 2489 ms ] threadI'm now reading Nan Shepherd's The Living Mountain - which is every bit as good as Macfarlane suggests. Also planning on reading The Peregrine by J.A. Baker.
A review of the The Living Mountain: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/sep/20/living-mountai...
'Experimental climate-change reportage such as Elizabeth Rush’s Rising; major environmental histories such as Floating Coast, Bathsheba Demuth’s study of the Bering Strait; Lauret Savoy’s brilliant account in Trace of deep time, race and the American landscape; and innovative print essays such as Emily Raboteau’s recent Climate Signs – all are recognising the poly-temporal weaves of culpability, vulnerability, elementality and urgency that characterise the present situation.'
That aside, it's certainly possible to fall into a rabbit-hole (sorry) on this topic! The Great County Adit is quite an amazing and mostly unknown part of mining history, and the story of how in 1880 the construction of the Severn Tunnel was saved by a pioneering diver using one of the first rebreathers is staggering - and I've just read that in another fearless adventure the same diver, a chap called Alexander Lambert, recovered tens of thousands worth of gold coins from a sunken galleon in the Canary Islands, blasting his way through the ship with explosives and diving deeper than any man have gone before! Someone should make a film about his life.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_County_Adit
http://archive.divernet.com/other-diving-topics/p299302-the-...
https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Alexander_Lambert