In Search of Wales

by H.V. Morton

In this reissue of his popular travel text, H.V. Morton goes in search of Wales and finds equal delight in climbing Snowdon and going down a coal mine. Bustling with local stories and characters, this account reaches from the scenic north to the domestic beauty of the industrial south.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, History

Hardcover

First published June 16, 1932

About the author

Henry Canova Vollam (H.V.) Morton, FRSL, was a journalist and pioneering travel writer from Lancashire, England, best known for his prolific and popular books on Britain and the Holy Land. He first achieved fame in 1923 when, while working for the Daily Express, he scooped the official Times correspondent during the coverage of the opening of the Tomb of Tutankhamon by Howard Carter in Egypt.

In the late 1940s he moved to South Africa, settling near Cape Town in Somerset West and became a South African citizen.

Reviews

[Ben Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd really prefer to have read the seminal Wild Wales before commenting, in order to compare, but best strike while the memory is fresh.

In Search of Wales comes from a gentler age, where writers described the good and noble in all they encountered. You won't find biting sarcasm here; and some modern readers might therefore consider it rather cloying. I conversely found it refreshing: it's not sugary sweet (and he does poke fun at some of the figures he meets) but it does conjure up a forgotten time quite memorably.

Morton meets a wide variety of figures - farmers, teachers, industrialists, singers, preachers, and of course miners, not to mention LLoyd George himself. Some come across as rather stereotypical... think How Green Was My Valley (especially if you've seen the film)... but this may be because his descriptions have been passed down across the generations and themselves created some of the stereotypes. He describes the natural world too in evocative imagery, which rings true to my own trips to Wales as well as making me want to visit areas I have not seen. His historical detail is also interesting but not overpowering, and just enough to tempt one to make a detour to check if a particular village is still as it was then.

The next time I read the book (it's one I certainly will re-read, unusual for me), I will keep a notebook by me to copy down some of the more interesting facts and phrases. Those who enjoy it may well like the works of Thomas Firbank, famed for I Bought a Mountain but also the author of a similar travel tome, A Country of Memorable Honour.

[Stephen Twist · Rating 5 out of 5]

Morton's evocative descriptions make travelling back in time to 1930s Wales a joy. Essentially, HVM is a story-teller. His encounters develop from the shadow between fiction and reality, adding to their vibrancy. But it is his relationship with the environment that most inspires.

'Mountains are the barriers against change. Wherever there are mountains you will find old memories, old beliefs, old habits, and unaltered ways. It is of mountains that you think when you remember Wales - mountains in sunlight, mountains in the mist of the morning, mountains blotted out by rain, ominous in their very invisibility...
The twilight deepened, I could hear the quiet evening sounds of farms: the barking of dogs, the lowing of herds coming from pasture.
Night was falling over Wales, stealing down from the distant hills of Snowdonia into the little mountain villages, day was fading on the wild seas round Bardsey Isle, shadows like ghosts were gathering in a hundred ruined keeps; and in the smooth depths of mountain tarns burned the first star.'

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

HV Morton’s travels were in a long gone Wales. The book was first published in 1932. You read it and want to go there and see what he saw. The mountains and the valleys are still there I imagine but he captures a society that no longer exists. He writes in a style that no longer exists either. It is nearly always engaging but can be ponderous and I needed lots of breaks. Sometimes he is patronising and pompous. He likes to make generalisations about the Welsh that people would find offensive today but he means them kindly.

I’m sure I have read this before but maybe I didn’t finish it. I found two copies that had belonged to my mother on my bookshelves along with various other HV Morton books.

His book would have been a wonderful guide but the traveller would have to expect disappointments and nearly a century of changes.

[Jaide · Rating 3 out of 5]

H.V. Morton is astonishingly good at describing landscapes so you can just see it. He also shows respect for Welsh culture and rarely if ever makes the book about himself.
Some parts held my interest more than others, but otherwise it was a pleasant introduction to Wales.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the second and last book I will read by Morton. It started out fine and was charming in an old-fashioned way. The last chapter had too had too much racism for me.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good old H.V. does it again. A wonderful trip through the Wales of 1930.

[Wayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

One for the "Mortonites". For those of us who enjoy H.V.Morton, I would recommend. However probably not in 2024 for everyone.

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

When you've read a few of H. V. Morton's books, you begin to see what he actually experienced and what may have been, shall we say, embroidered. This work is of its time and should be read as such. I can't imagine he wrote with the intention of being read 80 years later.

[Peg Lotvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another of H.V. Morton's travel books. This was written in the early '30s about an auto tour of Wales. Even though it's 70 years old still makes you want to visit.

[Neil Munday · Rating 5 out of 5]

i Just loved this book of Wales in 1930's. Brought my Welsh heritage to life.