Country Diary Wales by John Gilbey, published by Graffeg 2023. Text and Photograph Copyright © John Gilbey 2023. Book Copyright © Graffeg 2023. 

John Gilbey has contributed to the Guardian Country Diary column, established back in 1906, since 2006. From his home near Aberystwyth, he sets out to provide a monthly image of the rural landscape across Ceredigion, Powys, Pembrokeshire and Gwynedd. These walks, reached by bus or train and occasionally concluding with a quiet pint, seek to capture the key notes of the season and give others an opportunity to join him on his travels.

These fifty Country Diary columns are presented by season, in order of date, and accompanied by photography throughout to immerse the reader within a year in the Welsh countryside.

To request review copies, interviews or images for use with editorial, please contact: media@graffeg.com/02922 404970. 

John Gilbey is a writer and photographer based in west Wales. His work has appeared in the New Scientist, Geographical, Times Higher Education and the science journal Nature, as well as the Guardian newspaper.His career in environmental research, and a lifelong interest in landforms and ecology, give him a solid base on which to build the story of the varied landscapes of Wales.

Review by Richard Hartnup (A review from www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Books Council of Wales.

After 45 years of living near Aberystwyth I’m happily familiar with almost all of the wonderfully inspiring places that John Gilbey leads us through in this well produced book. The format is familiar as these are extracts from the Guardian’s well-loved and ever seductive Country Diary column. Photographs are a welcome extra, and are skilfully melded with the text for the armchair enjoyment of a countryside that is not readily accessible to every reader. Prose and picture capture the spirit of disparate places, mainly in the area within 40 miles of Aberystwyth, in Ceredigion, Powys and south Meirionnydd – places which are a tortuous road journey away from great centres of population.

In gently soporific sentences the reader is lulled into listening mode. It’s as if you are accompanying this agreeable and unfussy companion on pleasant rambles through delectable countryside. You will soon become aware that your friendly guide has special qualities that very much enhance the experience. He is a naturalist, somewhat in the tradition of Gilbert White and William Condry. (The latter of these, author of The Snowdonia National Park [Collins New Naturalist Library, Book 47], wrote contributions for the Guardian’s Country Diary column for many years.) Gilbey’s style reminds me a little of Romany of the BBC, who, some 90 years ago, wandered the fields and woods with his dog, and described his walks on radio programmes and in books. His real name was George Bramwell Evens, a country vicar, and Gilbey’s precise grammatical sentences bring it all back! Out with Romany Again was published in the 1930s, and was one of the few books that we had in the house when I was nine or ten.

The book is a celebration of ‘standing and staring’ in the tradition of W. H. Davies (‘Leisure’, 1911). No doubt, like all of us, John Gilbey has cares, but he is wise enough to leave them behind when he sets off. A good example, perhaps to all of us! We simply relish the feeling of being out and about with him, quietly observing what is around us, and enjoying a pint of good ale at the end of a delightful and fulfilling day.

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