How to Read the Landscape - Softcover

Patrick Whitefield

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1856231852 ISBN 13: 9781856231855

Publisher: Permanent Publications, 2015

Synopsis

Patrick Whitefield spent a lifetime living and working in the countryside and twenty years of that taking notes of what he saw, everywhere from the Isle of Wight to the Scottish Highlands. This book is the fruit of those years of experience.

In How to Read the Landscape Patrick explains everything from the details, such as the signs which wild animals leave as their signatures and the meaning behind the shapes of different trees, to how whole landscapes, including woodland, grassland and moorland, fit together and function as a whole. Rivers and lakes, roads and paths, hedgerows and field walls are also explained, as are the influence of different rocks, the soil and the ever-changing climate. There's even a chapter on the fascinating history of the landscape and one about natural succession, how the landscape changes of its own accord when we leave it alone. The landscape will never look the same again. You will not only appreciate its beauty, it will also come alive with a whole new depth of appreciation and understanding.
The lively text is supported by 50 colour photographs, 140 line drawings by the author, and extracts from his notebooks illustrating actual examples of the landscapes he describes. Opening How to Read the Landscape is like opening a window on a whole new way of seeing the living world around you.

About this title

Review:

The book is well organised thematically and, while it deserves reading from cover to cover, and re-reading, it is a book easily dipped into if you just want to brush up on one aspect, such as hedges, heathland or how to recognise the signs of wild animals. If you're really in a hurry, turn to the end of each section for a summary of the important points. --Stuart Anderson, Permaculture magazine

This introduces the reader to secrets of the outdoors: the clues left by wildlife, and the ecology of the landscape. Find out how elements harmoniously combine and gradually evolve. --Discover Britain Magazine

About the Author:

Patrick Whitefield (11th February 1949 27th February 2015) was an early pioneer of permaculture, adapting Bill Mollison s teachings with a strong Southern Hemisphere bias to a cooler, maritime climate such as the British Isles. He wrote a number of seminal books, Permaculture in a Nutshell (1993), How to Make a Forest Garden (1996), a new edition of Tipi Living (2000), The Living Landscape (2009), How To Read the Landscape (2014) and his magnum opus, The Earth Care Manual (2004), an authoritative resource on practical, tested, cool temperate permaculture.

Patrick was born in Devizes, Wiltshire and brought up on a smallholding in Somerset. He qualified in agriculture at Shuttleworth College, Bedfordshire and after several years working in agriculture in the Middle East and Africa, he settled in central Somerset.

Patrick has appeared in several BBC TV programmes, made popular YouTube videos and was a consulting editor of Permaculture magazine since its launch in 1992. Patrick taught many permaculture and other practical courses with his wife, Cathy, and was one of the first teachers in the world to develop an online Permaculture Design Course.

After Patrick's death, there were obituaries in The Telegraph, The Guardian and on BBC Radio 4, and tributes to him from all over the world on social media. Patrick Holden from The Sustainable Food Trust wrote, "It is only towards the end of his life that the wider significance of permaculture ideas began to emerge... the true significance of Whitefield s ideas was not adequately acknowledged during his lifetime, but his influence will survive him..."

About this edition

• Publisher: Permanent Publications
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1856231852
• ISBN 13: 9781856231855
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240