Tom Chesshyre – författare

Join acclaimed travel writer and incurably curious hiker Tom Chesshyre in this celebration of the Peak District, Britain’s first National Park, on its 75th anniversary 'Funny, fair and honest, and effortlessly readable' Matthew ParrisIn the heart of England lies a fascinating landscape of rugged dark gritstone plateaus and gentle green limestone valleys: the Peak District. But this national treasure hasn’t always been open to all.On a spring day in 1932, 400 disgruntled ramblers embarked on a ‘mass trespass’ of Kinder Scout, the Peak’s highest point. Their aim? To establish a right to roam across the land, against the wishes of wealthy owners. And in 1951 they finally got what they wanted: the Peak District was established as Britain’s first national park. Home to striking dragon-back ridges of rock, vast expanses of peat, farms and villages, cloughs and caverns, the Peak is much more than the ‘howling wilderness’ described by Daniel Defoe three centuries ago.To mark the park’s 75th anniversary, celebrated travel writer Tom Chesshyre hit the trails on a 360-odd mile ramble to find out how this dramatic landscape has fared – and to celebrate this symbolic home of hiking.Wild Peaks follows winding paths, pausing at old inns and mountain huts, and along the way meeting a rich cast of landowners, farmers, historians, mountaineers, publicans, rangers, right-to-roamers, travellers, mountain-rescue members, mystics, dreamers and fellow hikers.Don your cagoule, grab a compass and join Tom as he explores how this place has changed, and how we have too.

Join acclaimed travel writer and incurably curious hiker Tom Chesshyre in this celebration of the Peak District, Britain’s first National Park, on its 75th anniversary 'Funny, fair and honest, and effortlessly readable' Matthew ParrisIn the heart of England lies a fascinating landscape of rugged dark gritstone plateaus and gentle green limestone valleys: the Peak District. But this national treasure hasn’t always been open to all.On a spring day in 1932, 400 disgruntled ramblers embarked on a ‘mass trespass’ of Kinder Scout, the Peak’s highest point. Their aim? To establish a right to roam across the land, against the wishes of wealthy owners. And in 1951 they finally got what they wanted: the Peak District was established as Britain’s first national park. Home to striking dragon-back ridges of rock, vast expanses of peat, farms and villages, cloughs and caverns, the Peak is much more than the ‘howling wilderness’ described by Daniel Defoe three centuries ago.To mark the park’s 75th anniversary, celebrated travel writer Tom Chesshyre hit the trails on a 360-odd mile ramble to find out how this dramatic landscape has fared – and to celebrate this symbolic home of hiking.Wild Peaks follows winding paths, pausing at old inns and mountain huts, and along the way meeting a rich cast of landowners, farmers, historians, mountaineers, publicans, rangers, right-to-roamers, travellers, mountain-rescue members, mystics, dreamers and fellow hikers.Don your cagoule, grab a compass and join Tom as he explores how this place has changed, and how we have too.

Over the years, authors, artists and amblers aplenty have felt the pull of the Thames, and now travel writer Tom Chesshyre is following in their footsteps.He's walking the length of the river from the Cotswolds to the North Sea - a winding journey of over two hundred miles. Join him for an illuminating stroll past meadows, churches and palaces, country estates and council estates, factories and dockyards. Setting forth in the summer of Brexit, and meeting a host of interesting characters along the way, Chesshyre explores the living present and remarkable past of England's longest and most iconic river.

Do you love trains? Do you love adventure? If so, join Tom Chesshyre on his meandering rail journey across Europe from London to Venice.Escaping the rat race for a few happy weeks, Chesshyre indulges in the freedom of the tracks. From France (dogged by rail worker strikes), through Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Poland, he travels as far east as Odessa by the Black Sea in Ukraine. With no set plans, simply a desire to let the trains lead the way, he heads back via Hungary, the Balkans and Austria. Along the way he enjoys many an encounter, befriending fellow travellers as well as a conductor or two.This is a love letter to Europe, written from the trackside.

Between soaring mountains, across arid deserts, parched plains and valleys of fruit orchards and olive groves, down glittering coastlines and along viaducts towering above plunging ravines... there is no better way to see Spain than by train.Tom Chesshyre hits the tracks to take in the country through carriage windows on a series of clattering rides beyond the popular image of "holiday Spain" (although he stops by in Benidorm and Torremolinos too). From hidden spots in Catalonia, through the plains of Aragon and across the north coast to Santiago de Compostela, Chesshyre continues his journey via Madrid, the wilds of Extremadura, dusty mining towns, the cathedrals and palaces of Valencia and Granada, and finally to Seville, Andalusia's beguiling (and hot) capital.Encounters? Plenty. Mishaps? A lot. Happy Spanish days? All the way.

Between soaring mountains, across arid deserts, parched plains and valleys of fruit orchards and olive groves, down glittering coastlines and along viaducts towering above plunging ravines... there is no better way to see Spain than by train.Rail enthusiast Tom Chesshyre, author of Slow Trains to Venice, Ticket to Ride and Tales from the Fast Trains, hits the tracks once again to take in the country through carriage windows on a series of clattering rides beyond the popular image of "holiday Spain" (although he stops by in Benidorm and Torremolinos too).From hidden spots in Catalonia, through the plains of Aragon and across the north coast to Santiago de Compostela, Chesshyre continues his journey via Madrid, the wilds of Extremadura, dusty mining towns, the cathedrals and palaces of Valencia and Granada, and finally to Seville, Andalusia's beguiling (and hot) capital.Encounters? Plenty. Mishaps? A lot. Happy Spanish days? All the way.

"Tom Chesshyre is the consummate traveller, who makes you want to experience all his adventures and mishaps for yourself." - Christian Wolmar, author of British Rail: The Making and Breaking of Our TrainsFrom London via Paris, Naples, Nuremberg, the Swiss Alps, Budapest, Athens and into the furthest corners of Eastern Europe across Romania and Bulgaria, join Tom Chesshyre on his fascinating journey to Istanbul and backEver dreamt of dropping everything and adventuring cross-country to the edge of Asia? That's just what rail enthusiast Tom Chesshyre did, hitting the tracks for a 4,570-mile adventure on 55 rides, shadowing the old Orient Express route.Interrailing was once the realm of young backpackers setting off to "find themselves" - and for many, it still is. But it's also a joyful and eco-friendly twenty-first century adventure that's open to us all, no matter our age or agenda. Dodging striking train drivers in Germany, getting stuck by the Bulgarian-Greek border, and negotiating tricky passport officials in Turkey is all part of the fun in this illuminating and meandering journey around Europe.Europe by rail awaits. The freedom of the lines awaits. Why not hop on board?

LAKELAND BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 - THE BILL ROLLINSON PRIZE FOR LANDSCAPE & TRADITION RUNNER UPJoin travel writer Tom Chesshyre for a Lakeland adventure like no other. Explore towering mountains, wide-open valleys and magnificent lakes - stopping off at a cosy inn or two along the way - on a 379-mile hike around the Lake DistrictFrom Penrith and back, via Keswick, Cockermouth, Coniston, Grasmere and Windermere, plus many places in between, Tom Chesshyre puts on his walking boots and sets forth in a "big wobbly circle" around the Lakes, drawn onwards by the dramatic scenery that attracts more than 19 million visitors each year.Across landscape that so inspired the Romantic poets, he takes in remote parts of the parkland that many tourists miss - enjoying encounters aplenty with farmers, fell runners and fellow hikers, while staying in shepherds' huts, bothies and old climbers' hotels along the way, and even going for a (chilly) dip in Derwentwater.This is the Lake District seen from its walking paths - with just a backpack, an open mind... and a spring in the step.

"Easy-going, discursive and digressive, even those to whom trains are a closed timetable will find this a charming travelogue." - Stuart MaconieJoin travel writer and self-confessed "train nut" Tom Chesshyre as he celebrates 200 years of passenger railways on a zigzagging tour around the UK - where trains (proudly) beganIn a small market town in the northeast of England in 1825, something momentous happened: ticket-bearing human beings started moving along wrought-iron tracks on a contraption with engine-powered wheels. The contraption was called a "train". What happened in Darlington, along a 26-mile line to Stockton, would kickstart the worldwide railway revolution. Today, 1.3 million miles of tracks crisscross the planet.To celebrate the 200th anniversary of this groundbreaking event, Tom Chesshyre embarks on a journey around the country that invented trains, taking in many heritage lines maintained by armies of enthusiasts. On a long, circular series of rides beginning and ending in Darlington, Chesshyre enjoys the scenery, seeks out the history, dodges delays (as best he can), reports on the current (often shambolic) state of British railways, and lets the rhythm of the clattering tracks reveal what it is about trains - especially wonderful old trains - that we love so much.

"Tom Chesshyre is the consummate traveller, who makes you want to experience all his adventures and mishaps for yourself." - Christian Wolmar, author of British Rail: The Making and Breaking of Our TrainsFrom London via Paris, Naples, Nuremberg, the Swiss Alps, Budapest, Athens and into the furthest corners of Eastern Europe across Romania and Bulgaria, join Tom Chesshyre on his fascinating journey to Istanbul and backEver dreamt of dropping everything and adventuring cross-country to the edge of Asia? That's just what rail enthusiast Tom Chesshyre did, hitting the tracks for a 4,570-mile adventure on 55 rides, shadowing the old Orient Express route.Interrailing was once the realm of young backpackers setting off to "find themselves" - and for many, it still is. But it's also a joyful and eco-friendly twenty-first century adventure that's open to us all, no matter our age or agenda. Dodging striking train drivers in Germany, getting stuck by the Bulgarian-Greek border, and negotiating tricky passport officials in Turkey is all part of the fun in this illuminating and meandering journey around Europe.Europe by rail awaits. The freedom of the lines awaits. Why not hop on board?

The 10th anniversary of Tom Chesshyre's bestselling, whistle-stop tour around the globe in 49 unique train journeysWhy do people love trains so much?Tom Chesshyre is on a mission to find the answer by experiencing the world through train travel - on both epic and everyday rail routes, aboard every type of ride, from steam locomotives to bullet trains, meeting a cast of memorable characters who share a passion for train travel.Join him on the rails and off the beaten track as he embarks on an exhilarating whistle-stop tour around the globe, on journeys on celebrated trains and railways including:- India's famed toy train- Sri Lanka's Reunification Express- The Indian Pacific across the Australian outback- The Shanghai maglev- And the picturesque rail journeys of the Scottish HighlandsPlus trains through Kosovo, North Macedonia, Turkey, Iran, Finland, Russia, America and France, with short interludes in North Korea, Italy, Poland, Peru, Switzerland, England and Lithuania. All aboard!

"Easy-going, discursive and digressive, even those to whom trains are a closed timetable will find this a charming travelogue." - Stuart MaconieJoin travel writer and self-confessed "train nut" Tom Chesshyre as he celebrates 200 years of passenger railways on a zigzagging tour around the UK - where trains (proudly) beganIn a small market town in the northeast of England in 1825, something momentous happened: ticket-bearing human beings started moving along wrought-iron tracks on a contraption with engine-powered wheels. The contraption was called a "train". What happened in Darlington, along a 26-mile line to Stockton, would kickstart the worldwide railway revolution. Today, 1.3 million miles of tracks crisscross the planet.To celebrate the 200th anniversary of this groundbreaking event, Tom Chesshyre embarks on a journey around the country that invented trains, taking in many heritage lines maintained by armies of enthusiasts. On a long, circular series of rides beginning and ending in Darlington, Chesshyre enjoys the scenery, seeks out the history, dodges delays (as best he can), reports on the current (often shambolic) state of British railways, and lets the rhythm of the clattering tracks reveal what it is about trains - especially wonderful old trains - that we love so much.

Tired of airport security queues, delays and all those extra taxes and charges, Tom Chesshyre embarks on a series of high-speed adventures across the Continent on its fast trains instead. From shiny London St Pancras, Tom travels to places that wouldn't feature on a standard holiday wish-list, and discovers the hidden delights of mysterious Luxembourg, super-trendy Rotterdam, much-maligned Frankfurt and lovely lakeside Lausanne, via a pop concert in Lille. It's 186 mph all the way - well, apart from a power cut in the Channel Tunnel on the way to Antwerp. Is our idea of 'Europe' changing as its destinations become easier to reach? And what fun can you have at the ends of the lines? Jump on board and find out!

Experience the world by train alongside best-selling travel writer Tom Chesshyre, as he takes a whistle-stop tour around the globe in 49 unique journeysWhy do people love trains so much?Tom Chesshyre is on a mission to find the answer by experiencing the world through train travel - on both epic and everyday rail routes, aboard every type of ride, from steam locomotives to bullet trains, meeting a cast of memorable characters who share a passion for train travel.Join him on the rails and off the beaten track as he embarks on an exhilarating whistle-stop tour around the globe, on journeys on celebrated trains and railways including:- India's famed toy train - Sri Lanka's Reunification Express - The Indian Pacific across the Australian outback - The Shanghai maglev - And the picturesque rail journeys of the Scottish Highlands Plus trains through Kosovo, North Macedonia, Turkey, Iran, Finland, Russia, America and France, with short interludes in North Korea, Italy, Poland, Peru, Switzerland, England and Lithuania. All aboard!

Away from the five-star hotels and beyond luxury hideaways, Tom Chesshyre travels to see the real, unexplored Maldives, skirting around the archipelago's periphery, staying at simple guesthouses, and using cargo ships and ferries. He discovers that beyond the glossy brochures lies an almost undiscovered country that is brimming with life, yet also a paradise teetering on the brink of trouble.In the Maldives outsiders used to be banned from islands not officially endorsed as tourist resorts, but now a thousand sandy shores can be visited in this remote nation deep in the Indian Ocean the flattest on Earth.This is island-hopping for the twenty-first century, sailing around 600 miles of the most beautiful islands and atolls on Earth, often to communities that have not seen an outsider for decades, ...and gatecrashing the odd posh hotel.

LAKELAND BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 - THE BILL ROLLINSON PRIZE FOR LANDSCAPE & TRADITION RUNNER UPJoin travel writer Tom Chesshyre for a lakeland adventure like no other. Explore towering mountains, wide-open valleys and magnificent lakes - stopping off at a cosy inn or two along the way - on a 379-mile hike around the Lake DistrictFrom Penrith and back, via Keswick, Cockermouth, Coniston, Grasmere and Windermere, plus many places in between, Tom Chesshyre puts on his walking boots and sets forth in a "big wobbly circle" around the Lakes, drawn onwards by the dramatic scenery that attracts more than 19 million visitors each year.Across landscape that so inspired the Romantic poets, he takes in remote parts of the parkland that many tourists miss - enjoying encounters aplenty with farmers, fell runners and fellow hikers, while staying in shepherds' huts, bothies and old climbers' hotels along the way, and even going for a (chilly) dip in Derwentwater.This is the Lake District seen from its walking paths - with just a backpack, an open mind... and a spring in the step.