The Green Road Into the Trees: An Exploration of England

by Hugh Thomson

Award-winning British travel writer Hugh Thomson explores the most exotic and foreign country of them all -- his own.
     From the very centre of England -- literally, as his village is furthest from the sea -- Hugh travels to its outermost edges. The Green Road into the Trees is a journey made rich by the characters he meets along the way. And the ways he takes are the old ways, the drover-paths and tracks, the paths and ditches half covered by bramble and tunnelled by alder, beech and the trails that can still be traced by those who know where to look.

Just as in his acclaimed book about Peru, The White Rock , Hugh shows how older, half-forgotten cultures lie much closer to the surface than we may think. In recent years, archaeologists have uncovered remarkable findings about the Celts, Saxons and Vikings that have often yet to reach the wider public. Travelling along the Icknield Way, Hugh passes the great prehistoric monuments of Maiden Castle, Stonehenge and Avebury, before ending at the Wash near Seahenge.

By taking a 400 mile journey from coast to coast, through both the sacred and profane landscapes of ancient England, Hugh casts unexpected light -- and humour -- on the way we live now.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Nature, History, British Literature, Natural History, Walking

320 pages, Paperback

First published June 7, 2012

About the author

Hugh Thomson believes strongly that the world is not as explored as we like to suppose.

He writes about the wilder corners of the planet, from the edges of Peru to the Himalayas, looking for Inca ruins and lost cultures. Geographical commented that 'he is a writer who explores and not an explorer who writes.'

For 'The Green Road into the Trees', he returned to Britain to write about his own country. It won the inaugural Wainwright Prize for Best Nature and Travel Writing. 'An immensely enjoyable book: curious, articulate, intellectually playful and savagely candid.' Spectator.

For the successful sequel, 'One Man and a Mule', he decided to have ‘a South American adventure in England’ by taking a mule as a pack animal across the north of the country.

His most recent book is his first novel - ‘Viva Byron!’ - which imagines what might have happened if the poet had not died an early death in Greece - but instead lived - and then some! - by going to South America with the great last love of his life, Countess Teresa Guiccioli, to help Simon Bolivar liberate it from the Spanish. "Hugh Thomson is a mesmerising storyteller." Sara Wheeler.

His previous books include: 'The White Rock', 'Nanda Devi' and 'Cochineal Red: Travels through Ancient Peru' (all Weidenfeld & Nicolson), and he has collected some of his favourite places in the lavishly illustrated '50 Wonders of the World'.

In 2009 he wrote 'Tequila Oil', a memoir about getting lost in Mexico when he was eighteen and, in the words of the Alice Cooper song, 'didn't know what he wanted'. It was serialised by BBC R4 as 'Book of the Week'.

"Delightful, celebratory and honest....In a way 'Tequila Oil' is the first installment of his now-complete trilogy, his 'Cochineal Red' and 'The White Rock' being two of the finest books on Latin America of recent years." (Rory MacLean, The Guardian)

See www.thewhiterock.co.uk for more, including his blog and events at which he is speaking.

Reviews

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here is a list of my interests;

Walking
History
Nature
Birds
Archaeology
Insulting people.
Music
Books.

Hugh Thomson in one book manages to tick each of those items. I really enjoyed this, One day I'd love to walk the Icknield Way and it would be even better if Hugh Thomson was there walking with you, he is so knowledgeable the 400miles would soon whiz by.

I have never really seen the point going abroad for a holiday when we have so much in the UK to explore and if you go walking it won't cost you much to do that. The one thing that does stop me is I'm not sure if you can just pop up a tent wherever you like in England, I think it is allowed in Scotland though. Hugh tends to imply in this book that it isn't allowed as he often finds a secluded spot to sleep/hide. I also hadn't realised just how much stuff is around me to see, Alfred's Tower isn't too far away and sounds like an impressive place to check out, I never knew about Woodhenge and that's even closer.

The writing is easy to read, at times it almost feels like your listening instead of reading, the pencil drawings Hugh has done probably help with that. He is also a very funny guy, quite opinionated which I loved, I think he probably upsets a lot of the people who read this... if fact he has included a rejection letter at the end of the book where the rejector lists everybody he manages to insult. Had me chuckling, a really good letter.

A wonderful book that has inspired me to check out some of the areas nearby that I didn't know about.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful description of walking the Icknield Way across England, including history, legends, and a description of the land. It sparked my interest in many other things as well, historical events, authors and painters for example, as well as the description of the walk itself. I thoroughly enjoyed this and will keep it on my shelf to re-read it.

[Penny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this book - detailing a walk the author does from Dorset to Norfolk, stopping at his home along the route.
Books about walks and journeys are 10 a penny but this one is way, way above the average. Thomson mixes fascinating history with asides about the England we live in now, his painful divorce, 3 delightful children, current girlfriend etc.
The mix really works - one minute he is telling us about an ancient hill fort, the next minute he is in Tesco eating a pie!
I really hope he decides to do more travel writing about England - next time come up to North Yorkshire!

[Jamie Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like history books, and I like travel books, and where this book focuses on history or travel, I enjoyed it. However, the author is too easily distracted, and the narrative often devolves into extended discourses on his private life, local politics, his favorite foods, and the everyday folk he encounters.

He has an easygoing, conversational writing style, and seems like the kind of guy who would be a lot of fun to share a pint with at the local pub. Because his trip followed the Ickneild Way, one of the main trading routes of ancient Britain, I started the book thinking it was going to be about pre-Roman history, but if I misunderstood its themes that is on me, not the author. In fact the history sections go from the earliest humans up to the present day, so there are Bronze Age hill forts, post-Roman strongholds from the age of Alfred the Great, fortified towns and castles from the the War of the Roses, all the way to pillboxes built along the Thames as a last ditch defense in case of a successful German invasion in World War II. His sections on history and archaeology blend together to tell interesting stories of Britain through the ages.

This is also a travel book, with well written accounts of the rivers, forests, and animals he meets along the way, and he has a special interest in the various species of birds. He also spends a lot of time talking with the people he meets, and here is where my attention started to waiver. He never meets a farmer, hiker, or barkeep whose story he did not want to recount in detail, and while many of them are moderately interesting as vignettes of life in modern England, they take up too much space in the overall narrative.

For example, there is a chapter on Stonehenge and Avebury. It starts with their history, discussing the various ages and civilizations of ancient Britain that built, added to, and finally abandoned the sites. Along the way the author managed to convince me that Stonehenge must be one of the world’s most disappointing, overrated tourist destinations. The stones themselves are fenced off, so visitors cannot approach them, and two main highways, thick with roaring traffic, pass next to the site. All of that is useful information, interesting and well told, but then the story takes a long detour into the free spirits congregating for festivals around the sites. First, there is an admittedly amusing aside about the absurdity of modern day Druids claiming it as their sacred place (if ancient Druids did in fact make use of it, they did so two millennia and several discrete civilizations after it was first erected). Then, he starts talking to the New Agers, the hippies, the rootless, and those who show up simply to get roaring drunk. Although they probably see themselves as free spirits in an overly regimented century, they actually came across as mostly losers, dimly protesting against a society they neither understand nor fit in with, and their stories are not particularly interesting.

Just when you start to get frustrated with the book it returns to explaining historical and cultural facts, such as

In the ancient European world, from Greece to Celtic Britain, raven calls were thought to be messages sent from the underworld to the living. One can see how. That ‘caw’ has the rasp of death to it. And prophecy. Apollo is said to have listened to the utterances of a rave. The Celtic raven-god, Lugh, the god of war, was told by his fellow ravens when enemies approached. In Celtic mythology, ravens were one of the animals thought to be used by shape-shifters, themselves often old women dressed in black rags, the Mor Raegan or witch-harridans.” (p. 102)

The Celts practiced sky-burials, where the bodies were exposed to be picked clean by birds, with ravens the largest and most dominant among them, and when they interred the bones they buried ravens with them, as messengers between worlds. Then, with the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons all of this stopped, as they imposed their own cultural and religious norms.

Eventually, the walk ends in Norfolk along the English Channel. I had never heard of Seahenge but the author has a very interesting discussion of it, enough so that I looked around for a book about it, and found Francis Pryor’s Seahenge: A Quest for Life and Death in Bronze Age Britain. I haven’t got to it yet, but I look forward to it.

So, in the end I enjoyed about half this book, the history and the travel sections. The long interludes about the author’s past and the quirky characters he met along the way held much less interest for me. There are large sections of the book that could be skipped over unless the reader enjoys offbeat human interest stories.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thomson undertakes a walk along the route of the Ichnield Way, an ancient path probably around 3000 - 5000 years old in parts.

He starts in Abbotsbury in Dorset, at the far end of the Fleet, and crosses Dorset and Wiltshire continually passing hill forts, barrows, mound, stone circles and other glimpses of prehistoric and bronze age life in this country. The journey takes him across the country to Norfolk where he end his walk at the place where Seahenge was excavated from.

I quite enjoyed it, as it combined some of my favourite subjects, history and travel, and the writing is effortless to read. He also looks back at his life, following a painful divorce, and of friends past, and journeys traveled. I think that took a little away from the essence of the book, but still glad I have read it.

[Sophy H · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this read immensely.

Hugh Thomson, like Roger Deakin and Bernd Heinrich has a natural, easygoing writing style that effortlessly combines nature writing with conversational style discussion of landmarks, practices, waymarkers, landscapes he encounters along the Icknield Way.

He leads you along on his journey, unafraid to discuss his own shortcomings, failures, and anxieties. It feels as though you are actually with Thomson on his meander, chatting idly as friends do, but all the while, learning new and interesting facts about the Icknield Way, druidism, Bronze Age burial sites, Neolithic Age man and many more snippets.

If you like nature writing in the style of Deakin, Thoreau or Heinrich, then I'd highly recommend this.

[Seb Yawlo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A timely book for me to read as some of the route which Thompson walked along I am following and some of the subject matter such as the wind in the willows has been relevant to visits I’ve made recently. A lovely tale of what it means to be English, the history and culture, of Hugh himself and of the walk which he took following The Ridgeway in part. It certainly inspired me to walk with my eyes open and seek out those interactions which make a journey like this so memorable.

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know how it happens. You read a book. That book mentions another title and it peaks your curiosity, so you go there. And that book leads to another and then another. It's like a line of dominoes falling, one after the other, as you go down the rabbit hole to investigate (sorry to mix up metaphors). Well, that's how I came across The Green Road into the Trees: An Exploration of England by Hugh Thomson.

I should probably say that I have this yen for epic walks so this fit the bill. And, I've had an urge to walk the Ridgeway, as I did one blustery, atmospheric Easter Sunday with my brother, sister-in-law and my daughters. The Ridgeway is part of the ancient Icknield Way in England; it's probably the oldest road in the country and has been in continuous use since at least the Bronze Age, and maybe even before that. That day, we walked between The Uffington White Horse and Wayland's Smithy. Up there, high on the chalky backbone of England, the views were mesmerizing: laid out like a tableaux, the bright yellow fields of rape seed and trees thick with pollen fading off into the distant thick slabs of grey clouds. And then, we happened upon that barrow tomb, With a little imagination, I was suddenly transported back in time to a tomb found empty on that first Easter Sunday and all it's celebrations of renewal and forgiveness and grace that flowed forth from the moment. It took away my breath and fired the imagination as I stared at the empty barrow tomb and considered the antiquity of life passing along that same path for thousands and thousands of years.

And that's when the idea to walk that length of England from Maiden Castle to the end (I i didn't actually know where it ended, but no matter) formed. My brother, Steve, was on board; he is an inveterate walker having done some epic hikes in Tibet and other places. "It will be but a short jaunt for me, but you better get yourself in shape!' he said with a wink and a grin.

Part of getting myself ready for the trek is to walk everyday. Last month, I clocked 60 miles. This, it turns out, is a drop in the 400 mile bucket that is actually the entire length of the Icknield Way so clearly I have more walking to do! The other part of the preparation for the Walk is more restful and prosaic. I'm reading my way, book by book, along the Ridge, through the Chilterns all the way to the familiar East Anglian landscape of my childhood, where the Ichnield ends up on a beach that looks out on the North Sea.

The Green Road Into the Trees, is my second armchair trek along the Ridgeway. The good thing about Thomson is that he doesn't just stick to the path. Imagine how tedious it would be. No, instead it's as though we are right there on the walk, listening to his "think alouds" on a range of topics that are completely absorbing, highly entertaining but entirely random! And we meet the cast of eccentric characters. The Gypsy King and aging hippies and a gamekeeper. And as we walk, Thomson manages to insult in some way, every single special interest group in Britain, including bird fanciers, archeologists, aging hippies and British wives and their henpecked husbands. That mix of trek and tale makes for a highly entertaining, amusingly ticklish and thought-provoking read, just perfect to mull over when I finally do the actual trek - once this pandemic is over and we're free to travel again. Until then, I'll keep walking and reading!

[Jennifer (now mainly husband Peter) · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoy walking, are interested in people, and appreciate connecting with the history of the landscape which surrounds you then I highly recommend you read this engaging book. Hugh Thomson has a wanderlust and, on returning to England from Peru, decides to investigate the history on his doorstep; immediately setting off on to walk the Icknield Way, an ancient drove road running 400 miles across England, from Abbotsbridge, Dorset to Holme next the Sea in Norfolk. The Icknield Way is not one of those, well signed "long distance footpaths" that now form National Trails. It is a varying route, requiring some research and it has, in part, been forgotten that the way gave access to central England well before London became the central hub. Robert Macfarlane, a very bookish walker I love to read, has walked the route from East to West - written of in The Old Ways - as he followed in the footsteps of the poet, Edward Thomas who wrote of walking the Icknield Way in 1913.
Hugh Thomson walks the route from the other end and writes with warmth, wit and knowledge as he weaves together archaeology, literature, art and history with people, place and personal reminiscence. With an easy lightness of touch he takes us with him in his free spirited explorations and is wonderful company. As the FT review puts it "I love to read Macfarlane.. I would love to walk with Thomson".

[Don · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although this book has some merits, I found it rather disappointing, on the whole. It is primarily a memoir, a series of personal reminiscences hung on an account of the author’s journey, mainly on foot, from Dorset to the north-west coast of Norfolk in about 2010. On the good side, through his comments on the sites that he visits, Thomson spins a reasonable tale of English history from the Neolithic, through the Bronze Age and Iron Age, skipping over the Romans to the Anglo-Saxons. He draws on the accounts of some notable English writers: Richard Jefferies, Edward Thomas, Kenneth Grahame and George Orwell, to good effect.

Also, Thomson has some skill in talking to people that he meets along the way, some by acquaintance or arrangement, others incidentally – and these encounters give a flavour of what southern rural England is like in the early 21st century.

However, what could have been a more interesting and authoritative book, and one that would perhaps have been more evocative of the countryside that he traverses as well as giving us greater insights to its history, is overladen with matters from Thomson’s own life and preoccupations. I find these elements a not particularly interesting distraction, even where they were possibly intended as an amusing aside. On top of this, a lot of the historical research seems to have been rather shallow (here he would have done well to follow the example of his friend William Dalrymple, not least by including a list of sources): Thomson seems to be very taken with the idea that the Bronze Age was a period of widespread clearance and agriculture all over England, but seems to give very little evidence in support of the idea other than noting the thin soils over the Chalk downs of Salisbury Plain (which could well be natural). He then dismisses the English Iron Age, opining that ‘Iron … was not a commodity with which England was particularly blessed’. He thus casually overlooks the Wealden iron workings, active in Roman and pre-Roman times, not to mention the Jurassic ironstones of Northamptonshire and Teesside. Elsewhere he repeats the discredited notion that the Stonehenge bluestones may have been glacial erratics.

Thomson seems to know little about English wildlife. While granting himself the entitlement to walk amongst the stones at Stonehenge (he arrives equipped with a tie and clipboard to give himself an air of authority), he claims to see ravens nesting there. Although I have read about jackdaws nesting amongst the stones, I find the idea of the much shyer raven hanging about there very unlikely. Elsewhere he writes fondly of wood pigeons, remarking that he has also heard and seen them approaching 12 000 feet up in the Peruvian Andes. I expect that while any local bird guide would have shown him several species of Columba that can be found in Peru, C. palumbus is not one of them. So I find it ironic that (on page 105) he describes Richard Jefferies (1848-1887) as a writer with ‘the rare patience to wait, and observe, and record the details that a more casual visitor to the countryside might miss’. Thomson is, it seems to me, a casual visitor of that kind. His walk is dotted with well-worn historical references, and with personal recollections that add little of interest. Even where describing his home at Little Stoke ‘on the edge of what the locals call the prairie’, he doesn’t explain why it is so called. (I was brought up in the next parish, so I know: it is an area of huge arable fields with few hedgerows, trees or houses, on the lower slopes of the Chilterns escarpment, just east of the Thames).

He is remarkably uncritical about some of the opinions that he relates. One of his neighbours is convinced that foxes are captured in London and released from the train near Goring. Such nonsense has no place in a book that treats itself at all seriously. And later we hear again the old tale that increasing numbers of raptors have led to the decline in songbird populations. Nothing to do with the widespread use of pesticides and herbicides, nor of autumn tillage and flaying (or removal) of hedgerows, it seems.

To cap it all, the copy editing seems sloppy; there are more typos that one would expect (on page 127, Cholsey becomes ‘Cholsea’, for example), Thomson is allowed to walk away from solstice activities at Avebury into a ‘crisp spring morning’, and do daffodils in Ogbourne St George really remain in flower in June? These all may seem to be trivial details but to this reader they undermine the credibility of much else that is written.

Leaving Royston, in the northern Chilterns, Thomson leaves the Icknield Way to visit Ely (about which we learn only that the cathedral is large, cold and quiet while the town is rather small, and that Thomson visited it as a student, so we read more of his reminiscences than about what he considers ‘the most striking of all the English cathedrals’) and Peterborough, where he visits two Bronze Age sites. While these are interesting additions to his historical narrative, he then walks across the fenlands to Kings Lynn and complains that ‘Norfolk’ is so flat that he had to put in his earphones out of boredom. Perhaps he, and we, would be more entertained if he’d learnt something about the ‘Saxon shoreline’, the saltern mounds and other aspects of changing sea and land level in that region, or if he’d stuck with the ancient route and taken us to Brandon and Grimes Graves. The latter site is of great significance to the Neolithic world as the mined source of the best tool-making flint in England, and possibly anywhere. As such it is one of the most important cultural sites near the Icknield Way. His northward path could then have been along the ancient Peddar’s Way, of which there is no mention.

This book could have been so much better.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

A walk taken from coast to coast along the Icknield Way (with a couple of detours), beginning in pretty Dorset and ending in the open expanses of Norfolk. Thomson makes even the industrial estates he passes through, sound interesting. Along his route he passes through Maiden Castle, Stonehenge, Avebury, Uffington (my personal favourite)etc. All throughout we are treated to his thoughts on the sites he visits and the peoples that created them, together with wonderful snippets of history and conversations from local residents.

[Cathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's a growing genre of books about travelling slowly through England, and this is a lovely example. The author starts the Ickneild Way somewhere near Chesil Beach in Dorset, and meanders to the North Sea, and the coast at Hunstanton, visiting friends, pubs and archaeological sites along the way. Makes me want to get out and walk!

[Chris Wares · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book. Previously I'd read Thomson's books about South America and enjoyed them immensely but I hesitated about this book as compared to discovering Inca temples or driving cars across Central America walking across England sounded rather pedestrian.

I was wrong. This book highlights Thomson's superb ability as a writer. His walk along the Ickneild Way proved to be a fantastic vehicle for him to muse on a variety of things and in particular write about Britains prehistoric landscape. He makes the past seem much more understandable. I particularly liked his thoughts about falconry being like an ancient Xbox. Pointless fun.

A great book.

[Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book Hugh Thomson walks the Icknield Way from Dorset to the Norfolk coast. On the way he encounters archaeological sites from Neolithic times onwards, and also meets many of the locals living in small villages and on farms. Both encounters are full of interest and he writes compellingly about the landscape, often of areas which are not much visited but are just as attractive as many on the tourist trail. It's a thoughtful and very likeable extended essay on England, its ancient (and not so ancient) sites and the people who still try to make a living from the countryside.

[John Shortland · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book ticks so many boxes and is unlike so many of the genre. These often just plot a journey adding anecdotes of the people they meet along the way. Although this book does the same to an extent they are interspersed with thoughts on life generally, and the history and wildlife that can be found when travelling on foot along one of the oldest routes that traverse England. Having walked much of this route myself it proved to be an interesting read viewing it through the eyes - and feet - of an International explorer.

[Andrew McClarnon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good choice for these times, roving across time and place, digressing on the way as people and experiences come to mind. The author will have walked about a mile from my front door at some point, where the chalk path shows the way across the slippery downs. It's presence is a treasured aspect of this country, a survivor of centuries, threading its way through the everyday to direct your attention to wider horizons.

[Larn E · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reads exactly like you want this sort of book to read- full of facts, history, and pub recommendations. Thomson clearly did his research properly for the locations he visited. The author is opinionated, and I don't agree with all of his opinions, but I would guess from the amusing letter from a copy editor at the end of the book that he wouldn't mind that.

[Hilary Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable and interesting book about Hugh Thomson's walking of the Icknield Way, starting in Dorset and going across to Norfolk.Lots on pre Roman history, hill forts etc, interesting literary links, Arthurian legends,nature, rivers , all sorts of ideas which kept me reading. ( and the section about looking for Great Bustards on Salisbury Plain made me laugh out loud!)

[Shelly Dennison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable and interesting account of a walk along the Icknield way laced with autobiography, history, archeology, myth and legend. Lots of good stories and character sketches but it didn't always feel like there was a proper narrative thread holding it all together.

[Andrew Cox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some beautiful moments & some thought provoking passages. What strange lives these travel writers lead. I'm not envious!!!!!

[Sarah G · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, combining history and the English countryside as it does. Some of the 'facts' were less factual than I'd have liked but still an entertaining read all-in-all.

[Celia · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enjoyable read. Part travel log, part internal reflections. Hugh Thomson not only reflects on the English country side and it's rich archeological history but modern life. His past and family and people he met on the way and movements that shaped our modern lives. Hugh Thomson is well read and had some fascinating comments and insights. Really good book.

[Renita D'Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just wonderful

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable walk from Dorset to Norfolk on a route I’d never heard of.

[Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is perfect for me. Further expansion on Flag Fen and the Norfolk end of things would have been preferable but I enjoy the archaeological style of writing.

[Robin Helweg-Larsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feels like walking through the modern-day landscapes in which Kazuo Ishiguro set his post-Roman 'The Buried Giant'. Interesting (sometimes), anecdotal, incomplete... i.e. a travel book.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pleasant amble across England, or the southern part of it anyway, with some interesting insights into our pre-history and how we tend to dismiss anything pre-Roman as uncivilised.

[Steve Chilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is nominally a diary of a walk along the Icknield Way from Dorset to the East Coast. It includes literary and historical comments on people and places on the way. Whilst it is amusing at times and failed to hold my interest at times. There was much material quoted from other writers, and not enough of the author's thoughts and experiences - but plenty about food eaten.

[Paul Gallear · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have like to hear a little more about the walking and the camping side of things but I realise that is a personal preference rather than a criticism of the book. Well written, insightful and an overall good read

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always with armchair travel books it is the wonderful asides that the author includes on the journey that keep the reader interested. His descriptions of the countryside are good but it is his views and biographical stories that make him a delightful companion.