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Rambler’s Rewards – Cooking from Coast to Coast
by Elizabeth Guy & Pat Kirkbride (photos by Derry Brabbs)
ISBN: 978-0-7112-3079-8
Frances Lincoln £20.00 (£16.00 to Society Members)

Over the last eight years, Footsteps has included reviews of various types of books: walking and travel guides, biographies and nature books to name but a few, but I believe this is the first time that we have reviewed a cookery book.

This is no ordinary cookery book, however, because its recipes use local produce sourced from around the route of AW’s Coast to Coast Walk which the authors say gave them their inspiration – such as a pie made with the meat of Cumberland sausages or traditional lamb from the Yorkshire Dales – and from the north of England generally; there is a marvellous fish pie from Whitby.

The book is a collaboration between Elizabeth Guy and Pat Kirkbride. Elizabeth was until recently the owner of Humble Pie, a delicatessen and fresh food takeaway in Wensleydale; in 2006, she gave cookery demonstrations in ten editions of the BBC TV’s Countryfile. Pat, a friend of Elizabeth since the 1990s, has a passion for walking and shares a love of good food with her mother, Doreen Whitehead. Doreen is well-known as the author of a definitive guide to accommodation for the Coast to Coast Walk and is often referred to as ‘The Queen of the Coast to Coast’. She appeared in the original BBC TV series with AW and Eric Robson and more recently in the third series of Wainwright Walks with Julia Bradbury. Elizabeth and Pat live a few miles from each other in Wensleydale.

Starting with breakfast, the book moves through to lunch at home or on the move, to some mouthwatering cake recipes for tea-time and then to suggestions for supper. These are quick and easy recipes for those with busy lives, and for walkers to enjoy on return home from an energetic day. In total the book includes 136 recipes of all types and some very interesting articles about food producers whose products are used in many of the recipes. Rambler’s Rewards is illustrated by Derry Brabbs’ superb photographs, both of food and of scenes along the route of the Coast to Coast walk. As one review said: ‘Derry Brabbs provides the final ingredient with photographs that tempt you to eat the food and walk the fells. You can decide which you want to do first.’

reviewed by John Burland - Member No. 2