Tracks

In over 140 superbly reproduced artworks, the artist Philip Hughes records eleven iconic walks across the length and breadth of Britain, from Allt Coire Pheiginn in Scotland to Zennor Head in Cornwall. Inspired and informed by maps, aerial photographs and electronic survey techniques, Hughes’s clean, spacious artworks, with their arresting blocks of colour, make contemporary some of the most ancient and formidable landmarks of the British Isles. Hughes’s artworks – often incorporating written notes, archaeological scans and contour maps – feature important heritage sites, including Neolithic settlements such as Maes Howe in Orkney, standing stones such as Stonehenge, the Three Peaks in Yorkshire, or places of particular mystery and beauty such as Silbury Hill, the oldest and tallest artificial mound in Europe. Notebook spreads contain exquisite drawings and paintings made on the spot and vivid extracts from Hughes’s diaries and notes, help to evoke the mood and atmosphere of the awe-inspiring landscapes. Complete with an enlightening introduction by writer Kay Syrad and short prefaces to each of the sections by Hughes himself, this beautiful, reflective book will resonate with artists, walkers and anyone who shares a love of ancient sites in the landscape.