Literature

The King Charles Coast Path, which opened last Thursday, goes around the entire edge of Wales and England. [pictures and 1800 words, 7 mins

Mar 25 • Ronald Turnbull

Yes, but does it wuther?

It's what all of us lovers of peat and gritstone are asking ourselves about Emerald Fennell's "Wuthering Heights" [900 words, 4 mins

Mar 4 • Ronald Turnbull

The man who changed his name to Thunder

The sin of Pride it was, renaming himself in such a fancy way. But did it truly deserve such punishment? [short story 800 words

Feb 18 • Ronald Turnbull

Quiz: Hills and Literature

Not all our literary heroes are mountaineers. But some of them are… A quiz to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of this Substack, not to mention Christmas…

Dec 24, 2025 • Ronald Turnbull

Enid Blyton hikes

I was going to post about Coleridge again. But then I stopped at my local café for a haggis-and-cheese toastie. [1000 words, 4 mins

Dec 3, 2025 • Ronald Turnbull

Emily Bronte and the Bog Burst of 1824

A near-death experience for two little girls may have helped inspire 'Wuthering Heights'. [1800 words 7 mins

Jul 30, 2025 • Ronald Turnbull

Five days from London to Canterbury following English literature's first ever long-distance trail

Apr 16, 2025 • Ronald Turnbull

Lily Briscoe, who isn't Alpine climber Lily Bristow

Is Virginia Woolf’s ‘To the Lighthouse’ a book about mountains? Well yes, sort of ….

Apr 9, 2025 • Ronald Turnbull

Charles Dickens climbs Carrock Fell

Carrock being a 2174ft high hill in the Lake District. Meanwhile Wilkie Collins is doing all he can to keep up ... [1200 words 5 mins

Feb 19, 2025 • Ronald Turnbull

Bolt-on emotion: Romanticism part 2

English Romanticism trickles through into mountain writing of today [1300 words 6 mins

Jan 29, 2025 • Ronald Turnbull

Leslie Stephen climbs Mont Blanc

Leslie Stephen was knighted for his services as a Victorian man of letters, in particular as the first editor of the Dictionary of National Biography.

Jan 15, 2025 • Ronald Turnbull

Jane Austen Walks

What are men to rocks and mountains? The importance of the Outdoors in the 1810s. [1500 words 7 mins

Jan 1, 2025 • Ronald Turnbull

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