When I pick up a travel book that involves walking I expect to find the author following a tangible and visible trail or path.
This, however, was not the case with Nick Hunt’s book Where the Wild Winds Are (£). Although his feet are definitely on terra firma he follows a path that is invisible. The book’s subtitle Walking Europe’s Winds from the Pennines to Provence was intriguing enough for me to hit the “Buy Now” in the Kindle store. How, I wondered, can you walk the wind?
Hiking where the wild winds are
In Where the Wild Winds Are (£) the author sets out to encounter four of Europe’s named winds by walking routes that will most likely bring him in contact with each of them.
The Mistral, ‘the wind of madness’ which tormented Vincent van Gogh most people have heard of. It howls along the Rhône Valley in France shaping the lives of those living in its path.
The UK’s only named wind, the Helm he embarks on a frustrating chase on Cross Fell in the Pennines to experience some of its terrifying ferocity.
In Slovenia and Croatia, he walks along the path of the Bora, a bitter northerly wind that hurtles down the Adriatic Coast.
The warm snow-eating, mind-altering Foehn he encounters in the alpine valleys of Switzerland.
Meteorology meets legend
Where there are wild winds there will be myths, mystery and legends. The author meets science and meteorology mixed with history and hearsay along the way and brings it all together in a very readable way.
He meets with a colourful cast of characters, traverses landscapes that are shaped by, and simultaneously shape the wind and notes the vernacular architecture influenced by the winds.
All this is presented to the reader in clear, plain language that engages immediately. Throughout his journey, Nick Hunt brings the visible influence of the invisible to life for his readers.
The visible and invisible
You cannot see the wind but you can see the effects, hear the sound and feel the blast or the breeze. Even as far back as Biblical times this invisibility of the wind was recognised and used as an illustration of the unseen.
The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.
Nick Hunt in Where the Wild Winds Are (£) takes us on a journey through landscapes and cultures shaped by these four winds. In this book, he brings the invisible to light.
Paperback
Kindle
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