Never Eat Shredded Wheat: The Geography We've Lost and How to Find it Again

by Christopher Somerville

Bognor Regis...Aberystwyth...Glasgow...Can you place them on a map? Most people can't these days. What kind of countryside do you pass through on your way to the Cairngorms, or the Fens, or Northumberland? What's north of the Pennines? And what's it like when you get there? Most folk wouldn't have a clue. Increasing numbers of us don't have a basic geographical notion of these islands. Blame it on a decline in formal geography teaching, or Sat-Nav and other 'A to Z and nothing in between' devices that make us lazy -- we are becoming the best travelled and least well orientated Britons ever seen. Now Christopher Somerville, bestselling author of Coast and many other books of UK exploration, presents the basics of what belongs where, which counties border one another, and what lies beyond the Watford Gap. He reminds us of the watery bits, the lumpy bits and the flat bits, and gets to grips with the smaller islands surrounding Britain -- and much more. Never Eat Shredded Wheat is a reminder of all the fascinating British geography once learned at school - geography that brings our islands vividly to life - geography which we have forgotten, or never even knew.

Genres: Nonfiction, Geography

230 pages, Hardcover

First published August 19, 2010

About the author

Christopher Somerville is a travel writer & 'Walking Correspondent' of The Times. His long-running ‘A Good Walk’ series appears every Saturday in the Times Weekend section. He has written some 40 books, many about his travels on foot in various parts of the world

Reviews

[Helen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not quite sure what to think about this - some nice things and some irritating features. I'm not sure what I was expecting - the beginning makes it sound as if it might be suitable for secondary school children needing some geographical inspiration - but having read it all it is more of a light-hearted gallop round the country for adults, perhaps even aimed at older adults. The annoying things first: obviously I paid particular attention to the bits about places I know, and I was a bit baffled as to why, having said that he doesn't approve of the new counties (and I'm with him there, 100%!) the author used the short-lived 1974-1996 local authority areas for the whole section on Wales. Either use the current ones, or the historical ones, surely? Also, obviously, the blithe statement that you have to go 100 miles into Wales before you hear Welsh being spoken much is not very accurate these days (there were over 10,000 people at Cardiff's recent local Welsh-language festival Tafwyl, for instance). There are some odd things about the way England is carved up too - it's unusual to have North & South Midlands rather than West & East, and although people do do it I personally wouldn't let a Cornishman hear me saying that Cornwall is part of the West Country of England! Worse by far is the use of "The South Country" as if it's a commonly accepted term for the Southern counties (from Dorset to Kent). I have never, ever, heard this used, and I'm sure he has made it up!

However, this book is full of interesting facts imparted in a light-hearted way and it has nice line drawings and maps (and some terrible jokes and odd choices for famous people). After a quick run through the various areas of Britain he fills in a bit more detail on specific places (cities, rivers &c.), and there's a good section on geographical and geological terms which I liked very much (there's also a section of pub quiz type questions). If you really have trouble with points of the compass you might also have trouble grasping the very often used "CRCS" (County of Rutland Comparison Scale), but if you can visualise it it's quite useful for getting a sense of the scale of everything else. I think this is really a book to dip into rather than read straight through.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I made the mistake of picking this up in a bookshop, be warned, because I didn't understand the title and then just had to bring it home. It is a fun read, aimed at getting us outside our cyber-bubble so that we can appreciate the wonders of the country that we live in. If you just bought this book just because:
you didn't understand why “Mr Matt” (Somerville's geography teacher) described The British Isles as looking like 'an old hag with a big nose, wearing a bonnet, shouting at a parrot and riding on a pig';
or, for the great regional jokes;
or, for the pub quiz at the end;
you will not have wasted your money and will enjoy finding out the strange reason why the first McDonald's in Glasgow was boycotted, how many Stranraer fans it takes to change a light bulb (or Oxford undergraduates), how the Devil's punchbowl was formed or even, just that J. K. Rawling came from Bristol.

[Tony Lawrence]

This is Somerville's attempt to make geography (and a bit of geology) interesting, and to fill in the gaps from his lost education. I however was paying attention at school and continue to enjoy travelling and gathering facts AND experiences ... the key to a lot of learning success. This is fun, but will probably not convert anyone, who doesn't already 'get' it. That said I like his informative and informal writing style and useful maps and diagrams :)

A couple of things of note, I like the CRCS (County of Rutland Comparison Scale), an unofficial guide to the size of things measured as multiples of Rutland, England's smallest county. For example Lough Neagh in Northern Island is x1 CRCS and the Trent and Ouse in Yorkshire combine to drain x40 CRCS into the River Humber. And, now that I am living in Wales I would like to point out that the handy 'Never Eat...' mnemonic doesn't work in Welsh, which is unfortunate for native speakers who would need to do something with GDDG!

[John Ollerton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do like a list. Love the drawings especially the one of the little Christopher Somerville daydreaming in geography class.

[Roger Woods · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent layman's guide to the geography of the United Kingdom.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Looking at the book I assumed it was about Geography as a subject. Actually it’s a description of the UK, first the areas, then some towns, rivers, islands. It’s OK at what it does I just feel the cover is slightly misleading.

[Caleb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer 1- I'm a geography dork. Disclaimer 2- I am far more interested in Britain than most people. With those disclaimers, this was a great fun little read about the geography of the UK (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Island). A fun book with lots of great facts and a whole list of new and interesting places I'd love to visit when I get back there. It's a fast read but a great change of pace. Plus, there's a trivia quiz at the back which will show once again that Americans are morons compared to our former colonizer.

[The Bookish Wombat · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is more of a reference book to dip into than something to sit down and read from cover to cover. It provides an overview of UK geography interspersed with some nice little sketches. Probably the very definition of a "bathroom book".

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting book which reminds me on how I was taught geography at school

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mildy amusing tramp around the geology and geography of the British Isles. Has a series of wonderful little sketches scatted throughout the book. And some truly dreadful jokes.

[Lizzy · Rating 2 out of 5]

half the book (so it seemed) was a quiz with answers. boooring. liked the run down of the islands.

[Joe Lloyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent little book to read. Use as a refresher to your memory and you will enjoy the facts it has within.

Love this book, easy to read and follow.