36 Islands: In Search of the Hidden Wonders of the Lake District and a Few Other Things Too

by Robert Twigger

'A Swallows and Amazons adventure for the modern day by one of the most interesting travel writers working today' Bijan Omrani, author of Caesar's Footprints

' A headlong plunge into the deep, dark waters of the Lake District and its islands. Packed with curious historical facts, philosophical and literary footnotes ' Shaun Bythell, author of Diary of a Bookseller

Robert Twigger, poet, artist and travel author, is a lover of uninhabited islands. A lifelong passion for the Lake District led him to embark on a mission to visit all 36 islands of the region - some little more than rocks, some home only to wildlife, some the perfect spot for a night of wild-camping. Armed only with an inflatable canoe, and inspired by Arthur Ransome, Wainwright, Wordsworth and other writers of the region, he journeys beyond the tourists and the busy roads, beneath the surface, to islands both real and remembered. Here the low tide of the unconscious reveals itself through the strange flotsam that it leaves on the shore - a new sense of discovery, about himself and the world we live in.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Nature

288 pages, Paperback

Published February 27, 2024

About the author

Robert Twigger is a British author who has been described as, 'a 19th Century adventurer trapped in the body of a 21st Century writer'. He attended Oxford University and later spent a year training at Martial Arts with the Tokyo Riot Police. He has won the Newdigate prize for poetry, the Somerset Maugham award for literature and the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award.

In 1997, whilst on an expedition in Northern Borneo, he discovered a line of menhirs crossing into Kalimantan. In 1998 He was part of the team that caught the world's longest snake- documented in the Channel 4/National Geographic film and book Big Snake; later he was the leader of the expedition that was the first to cross Western Canada in a birchbark canoe since 1793. Most recently, in 2009-2010, he led an expedition that was the first to cross the 700 km Great Sand Sea of the Egyptian Sahara solely on foot.

He has also written for newspapers and magazines such as The Daily Telegraph, Maxim and Esquire, and has published several poetry collections, including one in 2003, with Nobel Prize winner Doris Lessing.

Robert has published Real Men Eat Puffer Fish (2008), a humorous but comprehensive guide to frequently overlooked but not exclusively masculine pastimes, while his latest novel Dr. Ragab's Universal Language, was published to acclaim in July 2009. Robert now lives in Cairo, a move chronicled in his book Lost Oasis. He has lead several desert expeditions with 'The Explorer School'.

Robert has given lectures on the topic of 'Lifeshifting', an approach which emphasises the need to centre one's life around meaning-driven motivation. Drawing on experiences working with indigenous peoples from around the world, he has spoken on 'work tribes' and polymathy. He has also spoken on leadership. Some of these talks have been to companies such as Procter and Gamble, Maersk Shipping, SAB Miller and Oracle computing.

Reviews

[Julian Worker · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons and the English Lake District then this is the book for you. Even if you don't, then this book is well worth reading. It's an unusual travelogue about visiting 36 islands in some of the lakes of the English Lake District.

As you will have worked out, anyone visiting these islands has to paddle there and it's not always easy to get to the lake shore to start out on the journey to the island. Not all the lakes in the Lake District are conveniently located close to a car park, and part of the entertainment in the writing relates to the nights spent in cars and the trekking through the undergrowth to find the lake, accompanied by an inflatable packraft.

The book is packed with fascinating historical footnotes and philosophical insights.

[Ulrika Eriksson · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Island hopping slows time right down. A day can seem like a week does in the ordinary world of laptops and lattes"
Equipped with packraft, waders and tent, Twigger, sometimes alone sometimes with friends, visits the Lake District north of Manchester to escape the grip and routine of everyday life, to slow down time and perhaps find an island to escape to if everything breaks loose in our society. His lightweight packraft takes him out to the 36 islands, which he explores and draws simple maps of. Quite nice and "scouty". For me, a swede, grown up with "allemansrätten", the right of public access, it feels strange to realize that mostly it is forbidden to put up a tent when you're hiking in England – and many other countreis. Twigger is tenting anyway but feels uncomfortable and makes sure no one is around when he puts it up. Unless he sleeps in the car in a parking lot where it is forbidden to park all night. So many prohibitions!
He writes about Arthur Ransome, a favorite childhood author, describes skilfully crafted outdoor equipment, tells the history of places and reflects and sighs about our modern electronic age.
"Chooce the change you want to be a part of. Don't confuse more information with real change."
"It is this reliance on the scientific invisible which has displaced the real invisible, the subtle and mysterious wonders of the natural world experienced first-hand"
I love this book because it gives me the urge to get out of my head and into the woods.

[Josh Murphie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5. Flew through it - familiar locale maybe. I didn’t enjoy it much, it felt like the focus was in the wrong place. Tangents felt very much like tangents, moments of true clarity few and far between. Very bold of me to say, but didn’t understand the lakes (or maybe I just didn’t like the understanding) except in small bursts. Agreed with a lot of sentiment however, so 2.5.

[Jbondandrews · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well I'm not sure what rating to give this book. I did hope that it was going to be a book about the islands in the lake district and they didn't feature very much. The author seemed to be very enthused about Arthur Ramsome and his book 'Swallows and Amazons' and Enid Blyton. So that didn't help and the sentence 'that children learn at a young age about sexual attractiveness'. I'm not sure where he gets his information from or how relevant it was to his book.

[Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

selles raamatus oli palju rohkem, kui ma oodata oskasin - tagakaanetekst ja põgus sirvimine lubasid, et üks mees külastab kõiki Lake Districti järvedes olevaid saari, ja juba see oli piisav põhjus lugeda. aga lisaks oma seiklustele (mis, tõsi, muutuvad veidi üksluiseks juba tükk aega enne, kui saartega järved otisa saavad - kui mitu korda me peame kuulma sellest, kuidas sa naudid oma kummiparve täispumpamise mehhanismi või mida arvad rahvuspargi liiklus- ja parkimiskorraldusest?) räägib Twigger meile siin väga palju Arthur Ransome'ist, nii "Swallows and Amazons" raamatusarja loomeloost ja prototüüpidest (inimeste, saarte, järvede, paatide jne osas) kui kirjaniku muust elust, mis oli mulle kõik suureks üllatuseks (mängis Leniniga malet ja abiellus Trotski sekretäriga).

kokku saab juba täitsa tummine lugu ja minu meelest oleks võinud sellega piirdudagi. või, okei, muud asjassepuutuvad kõrvallood (Lake Districti järvedel kiirusrekordite purustamised, Wordsworth, Beatrix Potter) muidugi sobisid sinna ka. aga aegajalt toimus lehekülgede kaupa üleüldist heietamist lapsepõlve, saarte ja matkamise üldisest olemusest, ja noh... ma saan aru küll, et omaette looduses kilomeetreid läbival inimesel tuleb igasugu mõtteid pähe ja mõned neist tunduvad väga erilised ja kirjapanemist väärt, aga sellele raamatule nad midagi juurde ei andnud.

mis andis juurde, olid pildid - käsitsi joonistatud kaardid ja muud sketšid sellest, kuidas seal kõik oli ja välja nägi. kasulikud ja meeleolukad!

mõne Ransome'i raamatu võtan nüüd Twiggeri tuules ka jälle ette, mul on neist umbes pooled veel täitsa lugemata.

[Miriam James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really interesting book, especially for someone who has spent many great holidays in the Lake District. I was expecting it to be more about the journey than it was, but I did enjoy the historical tangents and feel like I learnt a lot. I liked the author's sense of humour and attitude towards life. Also really liked the illustrations a lot!

[Nigel Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book represented 2022's Christmas gift that leapt straight to the front of my "next book to read" list & it didn't disappoint. The Lake District is one of our favourite places to visit, I love a travel book & who doesn't want to trespass onto a dense island, light a fire & camp overnight ? You could say, he pretty much had me at "Hello".
I'd never read of Robert Twigger's previous books & probably won't read anymore which may sound strange seeing as I loved this book, although I generally put that down to simply finding the challenge that Robert set himself perfect.
I'll avoid describing the book as this can be found elsewhere but Twigger has an easy-going writing style, threading his personal adventure with related history & at times, un-related narrative detours. Whilst I generally lapped up every page, had his adventure not been quite so reflective of something I'd love to do, in an area not so beloved to the reader (that's me by the way) I wouldn't have enjoyed it anywhere as near as much.
A huge part of why I enjoyed this book quite so much however, is Robert's inclusion of dozens of perfectly sketched, annotated maps of the lakes, islands & other noteworthy observations, whether they be birds, footprints or water-craft. Not only are the sketches both gorgeous to look at, theyr'e often funny but always informative. They really do provide the reader with a wonderful insight into size, layout & anything else that Twigger feels worthy of recording.
The one thing which I loved but do think the blurb fails to mention adequately is how much of the book refers to writer Arthur Ransome & his Swallows & Amazon's series of books. I found it fascinating but can imagine many not familiar with the Author or his work, maybe not so much.
Twigger does get a little too deep for this reader at times & this is probably the primary reason for maybe not grabbing a copy of another of his books but I think that says more about what I'm looking for in a bedtime book than the Writer. Despite the fact that Twigger does describe sleeping in a car, raft inlation & tea-drinking, I still would have loved a little additional detail to truly feel like I was there alongside him but again, perhaps many other readers would prefer the clever stuff over what time he went to sleep or what flavour pot noodle he favoured.
Overall I really enjoyed this book. Yes I gave it five stars but perhaps a better indicator was the fact that I bestowed it as my favourite Christmas present last year, no mean feat when you learn my wife also got me a mixed slab of craft beer from my favourite brewery ! Praise indeed eh.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a Travelogue but maybe better!

I’m off to paddle the Lakes next week and got this for any pointers from an author I like.
I did note some practical elements of use to me as a traveller, but in truth not many.
Was I disappointed? No!
The book is essentially about the need to adventure, the Twigger’s signature philosophy of doing so (on a relatively small scale), pack-rafting practicalities and so on.
Intertwined are very interesting facts about the various lakes, islands and associated characters. Most fascinatingly the Author Arthur Ransome.
It’s also about childhood, the pressure to grow up and all that entails, but retaining the need to seek simple pleasures in the outdoors, as an antidote to modern life. With many related cartoons and hand drawn charts.
It contains all this and more in a reflective, humorous style. Less one star due only to the somewhat random order of things (although representative of the whole maybe!)
Personally I loved it… but be aware a travel guide it isn’t - but so much instead!!! :)

[Brenda Greene · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming book exploring the lake district while reflecting on the life and books written by Arthur Ransom. Twiggers tries to capture, like Ransome did, that first time innocence of childhood, fantasy and exploration. He wonders if our childhood did not contain these essential features then for our own health it is not too late to reclaim it.

Twiggers states he wants to explore forks in life's roads however this intent seems lost to romanticism about island exploration on his part. The islands of the lake district are tiny, completely overrun and stripped of any proper wildness by people and history. There is not really that much courage, determination etc needed to navigate such forks in this account.

There are anecdotes about notable events, such as the flooding of settlements to form a lake, its subsequent use as a water reservoir, jet boat speed records. Aggresive pooing swans, former fish stocks, shitty shags, a golden eagle, some deer tracks, birch and other trees get a mention. It is a peopled landscape and it is people he tries to avoid.

Twiggers invokes a sense of escape, exploration, reflection and even philosophy. It would help to have read and enjoyed "Swallows and Amazons", or pehaps to have visited the Lake district so as to see either in a different light. It's easy armchair travel illustrated with child like maps of each island.

There are disjuncts to the island narrative. For a man who has undertaken more extreme adventures, Twiggers is strangely neurotic. His quasi parallel journey with Ransome leads to deep analysis of the latter's life more akin to an English essay than for a book on islands. The link between islands as bolt holes on which to survive inevitable societal collapse during war is tenuous as the Lakes islands had no military purpose.

Twigger's expositions on the state of society, while accurate, seems more like a rant at sheep as he concludes that nothing really changes due to our short life spans with respect to earth system change. Intense and lengthy internal monologues like this are not balanced with the action that he states is needed to enjoy life.

Perhaps Twiggers wants to compare the childhood dream he has of re-enacting the Swallows camping adventures to his own and Ransome's reality where the "fork" and "childhood" are blasted to smiterheens by potential and real war?

Twiggers reflects on wars and the climate crisis but fails to link fossil fuel use to the rapidly diminishing native wildlife of Britain or its concurrent alarming food insecurity. He mentions, for example how Lyme disease is spreading due to increasing tic populations in the Lake district but simply ignores the cause.

36 islands it is, in the footsteps of Ransome, a gentleman's adventure with occasional reflections from other historical literary giants who visited the area with the environment mia.

[Stephen Dunstan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Following two five star reviews I wonder about my three stars, but I liked it and wouldn't go further than that.

I've seen on reviews on other platforms that some have thought the title isn't clear about the fact that this is something of a homage to Arthur Ransome. I would agree with that, the inside cover does in one line say it's inspired by Ransome, Wainwright and Wordsworth but I can't even remember a reference to Wainwright in the whole book. Whilst some of the 36 islands referred to are very small I thought there would be more on them, and less on Ransome's eccentricities and foibles.

Strengths of the book include some sound advice about the importance of being with nature, and some very impressive turns of phrase in places. The major issue with it for me isn't the Arthur Ransome thread, but the large amount of repetitive account about inflating and using a 'packraft' which is interesting enough for the first island but not by the end.

(Not reflected in the score but for accuracy - the author makes reference to seeing two separate Golden Eagles and illustrates one on page 9. Golden Eagles are extinct in the Lake District so this seems extremely improbable.)

[Bryan Waters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall really enjoyable and fun to read. My perspective changed a bit, as a motorcyclist, when he admitted keying a motorbike's shiny petrol tank out of rage/outrage, but otherwise it was a fairly whimsical journey around the lakes visiting, or trying to visit, the generally tiny islands on the lakes. It was interesting for me as someone who lives nearby and regularly visits the locales he mentioned. The whole book was centred around some sort of parallel/quest relating to Swallows and Amazons and, while this was sometimes really interesting and informative, I felt it was given so much emphasis in the book that you'd really have to be a big fan of that book to enjoy this book to the max. I didn't come in to it from that angle and so at times the frequent meandering segues about that book, its characters and its author, became a little tiresome. But it definitely made me pay more attention to the islands on the lakes after reading it!

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here is a wanderful/wonderful quote from '36 Islands.... and a few other things too'. 'It was like being on a stakeout in a Le Carré novel but one which made no sense and smelt of socks. Wet socks.' Continue on to the foaming toothbrush. And 'In memory of Norman Burkett' whose name I was pleased to see since I like those cross examinations of Burkett's that I have read. It's the kind of book you can read when you are tired. The damp, the water, the tent and the 'boat' or 'boats' with their attendant mental reflections providing comfort. Only the new and mournful presence of ticks breaking the spell. Ransom's feet of clay were vaguely known to me so that was not a disappointment. Liked it very much. Recommend it.

[Andy Horton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Twigger visits the islands - all 36 of them - in the Lakes. Detailed description of paddling and hiking and camping appeals to readers like me who do such but to a lesser degree. But mainly this is a work of reflection - on childhood favourite author (Twigger’s and mine) Arthur Ransome, on the experience of exploration, on how we interact with nature and the world around us.

[Ruth Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspired by Arthur Ransome, and armed with a packraft and a canoe the author visits all the islands in the Lake District. The book is part blog, part history, part philosophy and most definitely an ode to Arthur Ransome. I loved the hand drawn illustrations of the Lakes and Islands.

[Rakie Keig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is great when it's about the islands; it's less wonderful when the author wanders off onto his little tangents and opinions. Your tolerance may vary.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very much enjoyed the islands and the lakes but it felt more like a book about Ransome.

[Emily Watkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Makes me excited for my next Lake District adventures

[Stephanie Chinneck · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh

[Tom Sanders · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to hear more about the experience of getting older while staying open minded. As much as I enjoyed learning about the author of swallows and amazons, I would have focussed on that as much

[Steve Chilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a conventional travel book about the Lake District, but if you have read any other Twigger books you might have expected that. He merges his childhood memories of Arthur Ransome’s ‘Swallows and Amazon’ and his own exploration of watery places in the Lakes. He explores 36 small islands, mostly by canoe, and describes these places you are unlikely to have actually been to, with many a cross-reference to Ransome's world.