Together they sum up a region whose problems are many, but whose enchantments are still unmatched for walkers in these islands. Join our community to get personalised book suggestions, extracts straight to your inbox, 10% off RRPs, and to change children’s lives. From Penrith and back, via Ullswater, Keswick, Derwentwater, Bassenthwaite Lake, Cockermouth, Eskdale, Coniston, Grasmere and Windermere, plus many places in between, Tom Chesshyre puts on his walking boots and sets forth along the trails in a “big wobbly circle”, drawn onwards by the dramatic scenery that attracts more than 19 million visitors each year.

This is the Lake District seen from its walking paths – with just a backpack, an open mind… and a spring in the step. A new vision of the Lakes as a capsule history of the kingdom as a whole, with its ambivalent approach to 'nature' (worshipful but predatory), its rapacious extraction of resources, its many migrations and, inevitably, class.

Whether this engages with the Insta crowd and the inappropriately-dressed selfie takers remains to be seen. Explore towering mountains, wide-open valleys and magnificent lakes – stopping off at a cosy inn or two along the way – on a 379-mile hike around the Lake District. He is not obsessed by “bagging Wainwrights”, the peaks made famous by Alfred Wainwright (1907-1991) in his excellent Pictorial Guide series, though he does clamber up a few from time to time. But, seeing as here he totes Coke Zero and elsewhere online says he remembered the wine, just how did he lubricate his night in the bothy? By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions.

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Had I done so, it would have been toasty and perfect, not that I had particularly minded with an engrossing book to read by candlelight – and a good bottle of red wine. Our author chats to all the people he can – just the first couple of days alone he pops by so many eateries you fear for him ever managing to get to his digs for the night – and looks at what is making them tick.