A. Wainwright finished this, his last book, shortly before his death in January 1991. As his eyesight failed, Wainwright relied on his memories of the landscape he loved. This book is full of personal reminiscences of happy explorations in the days when Lakeland had fewer visitors. Wainwright travels through 42 principal valleys and their side valleys, from the best known and most beautiful to the lesser known or more remote valleys. Throughout he finds happiness in nature, which is disturbed only when he perceives man's negative effect on the landscape.