The Bristol Channel by Brian Waters lands on the shelves of my shop, where it will be found in my Transport Nautical section.
London: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd., 1955, Hardback in dust wrapper.
Contains: Black & white photographs; Maps to the endpapers and blanks; Portraits;
From the cover: The Bristol channel, the drowned valley of our longest river, is the title to the third volume of Brian Waterss trilogy of the Severn. As with Severn Tide and Severn Stream he explores the secrets of the main channel, and those estuaries where the tide runs far inland to the industrial heart of Wales, to the home waters of the Carmarthenshire coracle men, the salmon fishermen, and the down-homers of the little ports of North Devon and West Somerset, Appledore, Bideford, Barnstaple, Ilfracombe, and Lynmouth, as well as Porlock, Minehead, and Bridgwater.
For the first time within the compass of one book, the largest inlet to our islands coast is surveyed as a whole, from the mouth of the Wye to beyond Tenby, across to Lundy, and from Hartland Point to Bristol.
This is a book rich in local lore and human personalities, which gives all the colour and life of familiar places, as well as of remote solitudes. The author, with the eye of a poet, as well as feeling for the past, is keenly receptive to the immediate impression of the present. One of his themes is that the channel now constitutes an obstacle to transport, whereas within living memory the sea served as a link between South Wales and the West of England, and no part of Britain, while retaining its original character, has changed more completely during the last hundred years than Severn Sea.
Mr Waters has known the channel all his life, much of it intimately; and the more recent impressions of a mature mind jostle with the recollections of childhood and youth. This is a book the author has lived. Those who dwell upon the channel shore will find in it much that is fresh and revealing, with many fascinating surprises round the corner; to the visitor this book is indispensable for an understanding of these coasts in their detail, as well as in their diversity.
Very Good in Good Dust Wrapper. Unlaminated dust wrapper a little edgeworn and faded with nicks to the spine ends and head of the lower panel. Heavily faded at the spine of both the dust wrapper and the binding with a little mottling to the external joins of the boards. Previous owners’ name and blind-stamped address to the verso first blank. Text complete, clean and tight otherwise.
Blue boards with Gilt titling to the Spine. [XVII] 206 pages. Index. 8½” x 5½”.
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