Reading this book in rainy Cardiff, trudging over concrete littered with Subway wrappers and discarded vapes, is a fine reminder to look around and outwards, and at least try to situate yourself in Wales’ grand and varied landscapes. With Tir, Carwyn Graves lays out the ecology and history of this country by exploring each layer – mynydd (mountains), cloddiau (hedgerows), rhos (moorlands) and so on – and leaves you with an aching for hillwalking and tree climbing, fittingly for a book keen to stress the role of people in shaping these spaces.
Though Tir can at times be a little dry and over-technical, its great strength lies in its fusion of cultural, historical and scientific elements. Sixteenth-century poetry appears alongside the history of squatting land, before an explanation of how puddles created by animal hooves develop ideal conditions for insect life. Field trips to present-day farmers and perry-makers add needed colour, before Graves outlines the inevitable proposals for protection and renewal of the land.
There’s little romanticism or nostalgia here, simply a faith in the knowledge and skills of the population, free from damaging government schemes and capitalist extraction. Tir succeeds in spreading that hope like manure.
Tir: The Story Of The Welsh Landscape, Carwyn Graves (Calon)
Price: £18.99. Info: here
words WILL STEEN