Last week saw the launch of Walking the Amazon – Ed Stafford’s breathtaking account of his world-first expedition along the length of the Amazon River from source to sea.

Waterstones Piccadilly’s 5th view was bursting at the seams with over 120 of Ed Stafford’s friends, family, and fellow Leicester man and England Rugby coach Martin Johnson.Watch a video from the launch event below:

Ed and his walking partner Cho were much in demand, posing for photos and signing copies of Walking the Amazon. Cho has fulfilled his dream of living in the UK and has been living a quintessentially English life with Ed’s Mum in Leicestershire, playing Rugby for the local team. A lively auction of expedition memorabilia and signed prints by the expedition photographer Keith Ducatel also took place to raise money for Cho’s return to Peru, raising over £1500.

Ed’s not only a remarkable man but also a fantastic writer. His blunt and self-effacing honesty shines through Walking the Amazon and he gives a real insight into the psychological pressures as well as the excitement and adventure of a daily routine which involved wading through swamps full of piranha, fishing in caiman-infested lakes, passing through some of the most notorious drug-trafficking zones in the world and staying with indigenous tribes.

If you’d like to get your hands on a signed copy of Walking The Amazon we have 10 to give away to the first ten people to email Jenny on jrowley@eburypublishing.co.uk.

After London events at The National Geographic Store and Escape the City, Ed is now off on a national tour, which he will be blogging about on MSN Travel. You can catch Ed at the following venues:

• Tues 14th HALIFAX Victoria Theatre;
• Wed 15th DERBY Assembly Rooms ;
• Thurs 16th SALFORD The Lowry;
• Fri 17th LLANDUDNO Venue Cymru;
• Sat 18th DURHAM The Gala;
• Mon 20th BUXTON Opera House;
• Wed 22nd TELFORD The Place;
• Thurs 23rd MALVERN Malvern Theatres;
• Fri 24th BRECON Brychieniog;
• Mon 27th INVERNESS Eden Court.

With the double bank holiday weekend upon me and no plans in place I was happy when a copy of the first Time Out Kent & Sussex Guide found its way to my desk. I now had plans to explore a little bit of the south east.

When it comes to touring I am from ‘the head where the road takes you’ school. I jump in a car and take off with little actual thought to where I am heading, only a vague notion of general direction. Jake Lingwood, our Publisher, had suggested that I might enjoy the photographic opportunities that Dungeness has to offer so I decided to head there first and explore from there.

Never a big fan of motorways, I was happy to turn off once I got down to Ashford and take the country tours down winding lanes, past fields bright with canola, past 12th century churches and through forests lined with a carpets of bluebells all the way to Dungeness.

There isn’t much to Dungeness, you could be excused for not having heard of it, and at first glance there is a bleak end of the world feel but this is what attracts the numerous photographers that scurry over the pebbled beaches looking for the perfect picture. I spent hours crawling about the pebbles looking for the best angles and lining up shots of broken down boats, random railway tracks and other machinery with vast blue skies as the perfect backdrop.

Later, standing amongst all the abandoned boats and shacks I began to get hungry so pulled out the Time Out for recommendations. I ended up at a great little fish and chip shop before jumping back in the car for some further exploring. I took further recommendations about nearby towns and stopped by Camber Beach on my way to the picturesque Rye before heading home for the day.

A late start to the day, I decided to stay close to home drive to Rochester to take a look at the castle. I had spied the turn off on the motorway the day before and when I looked it up, Time Out had recommended it as one of the top castles in Kent. The castle is rather well preserved with all of the outer walls, stairs and walkways intact meaning that you get a better sense of the castles working spaces. But the most spectacular thing about the castle was the amazing view from the battlements.

I finished the weekend off with a visit to Hever Castle on Monday, which rounded off all of the Kent Castles recommended by Time Out in Kent. It was stunning and the drive through the countryside to get there almost as enjoyable as wandering the vast gardens. The Tudor Style house was renovated by the Astor’s and along with the gardens is open to the public. Many others had also taken advantage of the beautiful weather to pack a picnic, row the lake, ran the mazes and laze about on the lawns.

With the weekend over I have already turned to Time Out Norfolk & Suffolk to plan the next long weekend.

Kasi - Press Officer

Time Out Kent & Sussex is out now

Last week our wonderful I Never Knew That… series sold its half millionth copy. Championed by Sarah Kennedy on her BBC Radio 2 show, the series began in April 2005 with the publication of I Never Knew That About England. It has expanded to eight titles with companion books on Scotland, Wales, Ireland and London, as well as the English, Irish and Scottish and, most recently, I Never Knew That About Britain: The Quiz Book.

Researched and compiled by Christopher Winn, each book is beautifully illustrated with line drawings by his wife, Mai Osawa. A professional quiz-setter, the idea for the I Never Knew That… series emerged when Christopher was travelling around the country looking at country house venues to host a play he was working on, Ancestral Voices. Christopher’s first car was a Morris Minor which frequently overheated, and any journey had to be on country roads so that he could stop from time to time to let the car cool down, giving him plenty of opportunity to investigate the fascinating stories of towns and villages along the way. For instance, I bet You Never Knew That…

• British stamps are the only ones in the world not to include the country of origin
• The traffic cone was first produced in Edinburgh
• Llanwrytd Wells, home to the World Bog Snorkelling Championships, is also the smallest town in Britain, with a population of just 700
• Lincoln Cathedral was the first building in the world to be constructed taller than the Great Pyramid

To celebrate this landmark sale, we have 5 copies of I Never Knew That About England and I Never Knew That About Britain: The Quiz Book to give away. Just answer this question, taken from one of Christopher’s books, in the comments:

- Apart from the City of London, what is the smallest city in England?

Caroline - Deputy Publicity Director

Ebury author and comedian Dave Gorman is undertaking a back-breaking trip around the four corners of mainland Britain – on his bike! And if that wasn’t hard enough he’s performing a one-man comedy show every night too, taking in a weird and wonderful variety of venues along the way. Here’s a round up of what’s been happening on his blog. Ebury will be publishing the full story of his adventure next summer.

Day 29:

I was preparing to do this ride alone. Scot - my guide for the past couple of days - had given me some good advice for the journey and I was pretty sure I could find my way as a result. But as it happened, when I was chatting with the audience after the show in the train carriage one of them said, “I suppose you’ve got someone to show you the way tomorrow?”… I explained that I hadn’t and so… step forward, my short-notice Human Sat Nav, Campbell:

Day 30:

I’ve not really mentioned much of the extra-curricular activity but this is what we - my tour manager Ed and me - got up to this morning. A powerboat trip on Loch Ness. We saw no monster.

Meanwhile back at the bike ride… We stopped off to take a look at the Falls of Foyer…

… and also at Dores where this man lives in a converted mobile-library, hoping to spot the monster that doesn’t exist. Ah.

Day 31:

I had my first taste of the Scottish speciality, a macaroni-cheese-pie:

It tastes exactly like cold macaroni cheese in a pie.

Day 32:

What journey am I on again?

… oh yeah… this one:

There are fifteen miles to go. So close…

Day 33:

That’s how many miles I’ve cycled. From the southernmost point of the British mainland to the easternmost point to the westernmost point to the northernmost point. With a full show each and every night along the way.

I’m exhausted. I’m also exceedingly proud.

There’s not much of an internet connection here so I can’t offer pictures or maps or whatever but I’ll catch up when I’m back in London. I’m going to take a couple of days off before that happens though. Lots to sit and think about.

It’s been an amazing month - the most exhilarating of my life - big thanks to everyone who came to a show (no spoilers now, it tours again in the spring!) and to everyone who’s offered encouragement along the way. It’s been much appreciated.

Read more about Dave’s travels on his blog

Find out about Dave’s books

Ebury author and comedian Dave Gorman is undertaking a back-breaking trip around the four corners of mainland Britain – on his bike! And if that wasn’t hard enough he’s performing a one-man comedy show every night too, taking in a weird and wonderful variety of venues along the way. Here’s a round up of what’s been happening on his blog. Ebury will be publishing the full story of his adventure next summer.

Day 22:

The start of this ride made me very aware of how much my fitness has improved. We were climbing for quite a while and I wasn’t really aware of it. Granted it wasn’t a very steep climb but even so… I know I would have felt it so much more a few weeks ago. After yesterday’s drizzle I was expecting the weather to get worse from here on in but as it was it was a little crisp and cold but with mainly clear blue skies and amazing views.

Day 23: 

We must have taken a bit of a detour… because here I am in Moscow…

Day 24:

The urban sprawl spreads all the way from Glasgow to Dumbarton but we hardly saw any of it because we followed a ribbon like path of green, through a big park, along a canal towpath and eventually on to a cycle path that threaded its way between the mountains and the river, the road and the railway.

There were showers, there was sunshine, there was a howling gale… and there was a big bike…

Day 25:

Ardlui is a strange place. In that it’s not really a place. There’s a hotel there… and that’s pretty much it. There isn’t anything resembling an actual village that I could see. Quite how it’s got a place name all to itself I dont really know… still the gig wound up being fun.

Day 26:

You’d think the downhill that followed would be really exciting… and in good weather it might well have been. As it was the wind was so strong that I could’t really freewheel as I came down into Glencoe. Oh well. Here’s what most of today looked like:

Day 27:

I’m really very, very happy right now. I’ve finally made it to the westernmost point: Ardnamurchan.

I can’t believe I’ve got this far. It’s been an incident packed 28 days that have taken me from the southernmost point to the easternmost point to the westernmost… and now the end is in sight. Just 5 more shows and 6 more rides and I’ll be at the northernmost point.

Day 28:

I’ve generally avoided blogging about the shows for fear of it becoming a procession of “nice gig tonight” blandness - but it’s worth mentioning this one because of its oddness. It was in a railway dining car. That means that half the audience are facing one way and the other half the other. There’s no stage. There’s no obvious focus. But what happened felt really special. Instead of trying to force a 3 gallon show in to a pint pot I tried to turn it into a pint pot shaped show. Everyone there was up for it because it was different and entered into the spirit wonderfully. It doesn’t feel like a gig that I did and they watched, it feels like an experience that the 33 of us shared. I’ll never do another gig like it and I liked it for that very reason.

Read more about Dave’s travels on his blog

Find out about Dave’s books

Ebury author and comedian Dave Gorman is undertaking a back-breaking trip around the four corners of mainland Britain – on his bike! And if that wasn’t hard enough he’s performing a one-man comedy show every night too, taking in a weird and wonderful variety of venues along the way. Here’s a round up of what’s been happening on his blog. Ebury will be publishing the full story of his adventure next summer.

Day 15

The ride today wasn’t hill-free but what climbing there was rewarded us with spectacular views…

Day 16

We stopped for lunch in a glorious tea-rooms just before the climb into the Moors began.

Day 17

The shortest and easiest ride of the lot so far… a mere 27 miles. (Mind you, it’s not so long ago that the word ‘mere’ wouldn’t have sat before ‘27 miles’ without looking ridiculous to me.) Mind you, I think I ought to enjoy this run of easy rides because the Lake District is coming soon and that surely means that pain is just around the corner.

Here we are at the finishing line, The Grand Theatre… a truly lovely old building:

I love old theatres and this one’s been here since 1782. Mind you, I think some of the plumbing has been too…

Day 18

I’m really enjoying the way each day’s ride is shaped by the nature of my guide as much as it is by the landscape. Some people want to mooch around and sup tea and somehow get the ride done in between time. While others just want to get me there as quickly and safely as posssible.

Anyway… there was more tea to drink but here we are at the finishing line in Kendal…

Day 19

After a couple of days of short and relatively flat riding Day 19 provided a reminder of what it is I’m actually doing. The ride might have only been 35 miles but my life did it involve some climbs:

Day 20

I knew my Boardman bike was due a bit of a service - it has done nearly a thousand miles on this journey already plus another six or seven hundred in training… but I wasn’t expecting the man himself - Chris Boardman - to start making the adjustments himself…

Day 21

Two big things happened today. I completed my thousandth mile of the ride… and I crossed the border into Scotland.

I’ve had so much good fortune with the weather so I really can’t complain about the grey skies and brief showers that came today. It might not have shown the landscape off at its best but we were never drenched.

We took a little detour to take in a nice stretch of coastline…

Here we are at the finishing line:

Read more about Dave’s travels on his blog

Find out about Dave’s books

I would have to say that The Tent, the Bucket and Me by Emma Kennedy is one of the funniest books I have ever read - but it will always be special to me because I won the competition for a weekend’s luxury camping at a Featherdown Farm promoted on the front of the book!

Featherdown Farm camping is “glamping” – it’s “the most unique family holiday experience you can find in Britain today” and it was certainly an experience for myself and my husband Roy. Unfortunately we didn’t have any little people to take with us – just 2 dogs – as our daughters have long since flown the nest and the grandchildren are a little bit too young.

We chose to go to Knaveswell Farm in Dorset, between Swanage and Wareham and almost in the shadow of the dramatic Corfe Castle, mainly because we don’t know this area and wanted to explore.

All Featherdown sites are on working farms – part of the experience – this farm is set in an area of outstanding scenery. The tents can sleep 6 and are fully equipped with a woodburning stove and toilet. Proper beds too (!) that were so comfortable we slept for 10 hours solid one night! There’s no electricity, just candle and gas lamps!!

We certainly did as much sightseeing as we could in four days - Swanage – a lovely seaside town with an old-fashioned feel to it and the best fish and chips we’ve had for a long time. The beaches at Studland stretch for miles and the views nearby over to Poole Harbour and Sandbanks were spectacular. Corfe Castle, Tyneham, the village evacuated in th1940’s, Wareham market – it was all a delight to us. The weather was wonderful – warm autumn sunshine – so our breakfasts were spent eating “al fresco” outside the tent along with pub lunches and picnics.

One memory will stay with me for along time - we caught a spectacular sunset at Kimmeridge Bay – certainly worth a photo.

So a huge thanks to you all at Ebury - it was a wonderful prize to win.

Stephanie Blakey

Ebury author and comedian Dave Gorman is undertaking a back-breaking trip around the four corners of mainland Britain – on his bike! And if that wasn’t hard enough he’s performing a one-man comedy show every night too, taking in a weird and wonderful variety of venues along the way. Here’s a round up of what’s been happening on his blog. Ebury will be publishing the full story of his adventure next summer.

Day 8:

High Wycombe to Cambridge.  I’m not sure where my human sat navs disappeared to here…

Day 9: 

Cambridge to Ipswich. Here we are at the end of the ride, outside Regent’s Theatre:

Day 10:

I’ve been getting a few messages from people on Twitter asking me what time I’m going to arrive at places and what route I’m taking and so on. The answer is always that I don’t know. I’m letting my Human Sat Navs choose the routes and I really can’t predict how long any given ride is going to take - especially when I don’t know where we’re going.

The first coast to coast is complete… I’ve gone from Lizard Point to Lowestoft Ness:

… and now I start the long haul up to Ardnamurchan…

Day 11:

I was cycling from Lowestoft Ness to King’s Lynn today and I honestly hadn’t realised how far it would be. I think in that London-centric way where things out in that part of the world just have to be close to each other I hadn’t taken in how far apart the two cities were. Even taking the main road between Lowestoft and KL - the A47 - would put the ride at more than 70 miles but no sane cyclist would want to do that.

I haven’t lost much weight but another more obvious change to my body comes in the form of my tan lines. I wear gloves while I’m cycling so there are two ends to the tan. Ridiculous:

Day 12:

I’m pretty sure my fitness has improved enormously over the last few days. I know it was flat (and there was only the occasional headwind) but I was really surprised when Peterborough suddenly loomed up. I wasn’t expecting to see it for another hour or so and it really didn’t feel like I’d cycled 50 miles. I expect there’ll be some hills on the ride to Leicester. Boo them… I’ve enjoyed the flatness.

Day 13:

Day 14:

It happened in Ipswich and it happened again in Leicester… the person who’d agreed to be my Human Sat Nav for the next ride just went AWOL. I called, I left messages, I sent a text and I tried their e-mail address… no reply at all.

In Ipswich when that happened I asked the audience if anyone there could help me and got the excellent Dave so I thought I’d try the same in Leicester. I wasn’t disappointed… I got the brilliant: Kirstie and Mike

I don’t remember it being called that when I was a lad:

Read more about Dave’s travels on his blog

Find out about Dave’s books

Ebury author and comedian Dave Gorman is undertaking a back-breaking trip around the four corners of mainland Britain – on his bike! And if that wasn’t hard enough he’s performing a one-man comedy show every night too, taking in a weird and wonderful variety of venues along the way. Here’s the latest from his blog. Ebury will be publishing the full story of his adventure next summer.

Day 1:

Yesterday, someone asked me on Twitter if I was planning a big send off or not. I found myself confused by the question. The start was always going to be a 38 year old man cycling uphill and I wouldn’t know how to turn that into a big send off. But to my surprise a small number of strangers did gather in the cold and the drizzle to wave us off from Lizard Point. There may have been only four of them but it was really appreciated and it was another, lovely boost to my morale - so thanks for that.

Day 2:

Day 3:

I’ve decided there simply isn’t going to be time to add daily commentary of any substance on the rides and shows… doing the ride and the tour concurrently turns out to be pretty exhausting. Who knew?

So maps and facts and the occasional photo will have to do. I will say this though… cycling across Dartmoor was bloomin’ ace.

Day 4:

Day 5:

Blow out on my rear tyre - inner tube and tyre shredded and rear wheel ruined - but - with the aid of a spare bike, the ride was completed. I had a great guide and a lovely gig to top it off. Bosting.

Day 6:

Guided by Richard and several other folk who work for Sustrans. They have a magic knack for avoiding traffic. An ace route. (But be careful on the Fosse Way - it’s a rough surface that I wouldn’t want to take a pure road bike down.)

I wouldn’t have thought cyclists were the target market for kebabs but here’s me doing what the sign tells me…

Day 7: 

Here I am with my Human Sat Nav - the fab Andrew as well as my mate Lloydy Junior who joined me on the ride for a couple of days…

We will reach the easternmost point tomorrow…

Read more about Dave’s travels on his blog

Find out about Dave’s books

India’s Unending Journey by Mark Tully

One of the world’s leading writers and broadcasters on India takes us on a thought-provoking journey through this spectacular country, while considering his own evolving relationship to it.

Sue -Commissioning Editor