RIDING A HOBBY HORSE  

Review by Olive Braman


RIDING A HOBBY HORSE by Geoffrey King is described as "around the world celebration by walking".

While a number of retired people celebrate with a round the world cruise Geoffrey and Betty King decided to do it on foot. Both are lifelong and experienced walkers and climbers and when they reach the age of 70 they set off on a celebratory walking holiday in America, Australia and New Zealand.

The book covers these and other subsequent journeys and is illustrated by some rather charming sketches and photographs. Unfortunately the latter are clustered together on four centre pages so that they lose their impact. I assume this was done for reasons of economy but fewer and larger would have given a better idea of the terrain the doughty walkers traversed. It was obviously quite tough going some of the time so they had obviously attained a level of fitness which many who are far younger might envy. They are certainly to be congratulated on completing these tough journeys and it appeared they needed quite a bit of courage to tackle some of the climbs
 

The book is written as a travel diary which is a distraction from the text. For the reader the dates are an irrelevance and it would have worked better without them. Diaries are seldom interesting unless they are leading up to a climax, like reaching the peak of a mountain, or are scandalous, which this one is not. The writer is also enamoured of adjectives "magnificent, pretty, stupendous, wonderful, sensational" which summarise the author's reaction rather than enabling the reader to envisage the scene he is describing. More detail is needed.

I would have liked a little more reflection on their experiences and some contemplation on what these journeys meant to the two of them. Sadly Betty remains a shadowy figure. Presumably in the course of three months they had some kind of interaction, one wonders for instance, if they had any differences of opinion in this time.

The author states that he "sets out to encourage people to enjoy landscapes by walking in them, particularly for those whose senior years may seem an obstacle". It is a cosy read and possibly its publication may encourage more of us to join the Ramblers Association. On deep and sedentary reflection, I feel that this book will be of interest to other intrepid walkers who wish to follow in the footsteps of this energetic couple.

RIDING A HOBBY HORSE: GEOFFREY KING: MELROSE BOOKS

?12.99 ISBN 1#905226-52-7



Previous book reviews:-

The contented Retirement

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