The Walker's Guide to Outdoor Clues and Signs: A must-have for all nature lovers - perfect for your winter adventures

Being a country boy through and through, and always itching to soak up more about my surroundings, I picked up this book thinking I might learn a tidbit or two. Well, I surely have, and since I’m only about halfway through, there’s still plenty more wisdom heading my way. Some of it is so obvious it’s practically wearing overalls and waving from the front porch—but maybe that’s just me. After all, as I mentioned, I’m a country boy; a city slicker might find these nuggets downright revelatory. All in all, a recommended read for folks of all stripes—boots optional.

I keep this in the bathroom and just dip into it sometimes. It is packed with all sorts of useful info. He has a conversational manner of writing BUT it is full of really useful info and facts. His conversational style is NOT just a filler (as with some other authors) but just makes it very readable. I would definitely recommend.

I wanted this book for someone who loves walking and nature but is dyslexic. Sadly, although the book has lots of interesting facts it was unsuitable because there are very few pictures in relation to the written words.

This morning, looking west in Sainsbury's car park I saw a rainbow and exulted as I recognised the 42 degrees and antisolar point. 42 degrees is just over four extended fists widths according to Mr Gooley, so imagine the humorous looks I received from early morning shoppers as I made Dalek-at-a-funk-disco arm movements to calculate the angle! A crack in the sky displayed picture-postcard beams of light across a bright-green grass hill in the distance while a modest sleepy group of travellers head for the entrance in a bid to start the bank holiday before anyone else. Turning to my wife I said "It's going to rain, take your time" and I grabbed my copy of "The Walker's Guide to Outdoor Clues and Signs" opened the car window a tad and began reading with anticipation. It wasn't long before light taps on the car roof and windscreen grew into a throng of pouring rain. With a smug-know-it-all grin on my face I watched as roof-racked car owners struggled with tarpaulins and the faces of grumpy young children contorted as they squashed their noses up against the glass clearly not jubilant at the prospect of a day in the car rather than on the beach. Had I been twenty years younger, I too would be packing the car and preparing for a sodden day at the beach so truly I feel for the people in my morning’s entertainment. Twenty years ago navigation on land, sea and the air was an important part of my business and I had become so dependent on technology that looking at a cloud, flower or even cows in a field to tell direction or pending weather would have been a ridiculous idea. The problem with technology is it leaves no puzzles unsolved so why look anywhere else? Before I read any of Mr Gooley’s books I would have described my own pitiful natural navigation tools as mere tricks. This book demonstrates the knowledge our ancestors took for granted and used for accurate and reliable understanding of direction and weather, and all without a battery. In Crocodile Dundee the hero grabs Wally’s arm for a glimpse of his wrist watch so he can show off to the reporter by giving an accurate estimation of the time. Imagine being able to do this without cheating any time of day or night, to use everything from animal and plant to the landscape in front of you? Furthermore, imagine being able to deduce during the same glimpse the direction you are facing and what weather to expect? Granted none of this is easy....at least not until you understand why and how which is the purpose of this book. Mr Gooley speaks to his readers as equals. His focus is on facts you can understand from your surroundings to tell the imminent weather, time passing and how to find your way. This means he covers a wide selection of subjects. Consequently, I needed support to help identify trees, wild flowers, mosses, mushrooms and lichens and found the Collins "Complete Guides to British..." "Wild Flowers" and "Trees" most helpful. There are others in the series such as birds and animals too. Collins Complete Guides provide a useful visual reference with an index of common and Latin names and make an excellent companion to this book. Mr Gooley has given us an insight into total natural navigation and the comprehension of surrounding conditions. A few subjects warrant books of their own, but nevertheless this book remains a reassuring compendium of serviceable clues.

This is a delightfully rewarding book to read and is laid out in such a way that you can take it as a reference or as a narrative. Practically every page taught me something new and presented it in such a way that i immensely enjoyed looking out to 'prove' what i was reading and was well rewarded. I can see the trees in my garden, or the wildlife on walks in a different light now. The illustrations where provided are practical and effective. Some of the authors observations may seem trivial but the way he has written and collected them is enlightening in itself and has certainly encouraged me to explore his work further. There is a lot of detail to encourage deeper research about a topic without it becoming too heavy handed so the work can cover many areas. The observations are based in the western hemisphere (which suits me) but there is also some investigation and stories of the authors adventures and nature in other climates which i found authentic and very interesting. 10/10

This book should be fascinating. I read about it in the Metro and thought must read it. But rather like a walk through thick overgrowth, this can be at times slow, sometimes lose the footpath and yet you keep going knowing there is always the chance to find something round the corner that stuns you. Tristan is a survivalist, if that is a word, able to get around without a map, compass or anything other than what nature supplies. And that is the fascination in this book. It even helped me find a rainbow recently. I knew there would be one, then I remembered what I had read about the sun, rain and rainbows. And yet there is something missing. Maybe I have not reached the Wow corner yet, but rather like a track where the fern has turned brown it is dry. There is something of the look how clever I am about the book. Adding personal anecdotes in should enliven rather than stall yet for some reason it does. I suspect this book will be a ramble rather than a stroll, will take a while to complete but when I do I suspect I will be grateful. And lets face it,if we know our trees we want to know what side the moss grows or what side has a thicker canopy, it is always useful to know which direction our weather comes from, or what flowers prefer dry to damp soil, it adds to our enjoyment around us, and this does that... Do read it, because I suspect like a canal footpath walk whilst some will admire the flowers on the river bank so others will enjoy the sight of a former factory falling into disrepair There will be something for everyone just not everything.

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Tristan Gooley writes for people who have never walked or left a city. I bought the book thinking it would be useful to me, but I found the observations pretty obvious and the style a severe obstacle. At least he is walking. That is a good thing.

Une mine d'informations sur notre merveilleuse nature (celle qui subsiste !!!!). L'auteur ne se prend pas la tête, il nous apprend à observer et nous invite à faire nos propres découvertes. Où que vous soyez : verte, ville, plaine, montagne .... observez, observez, observez...

Very engaging. Not pompous at all. Well worth it. SORTED

Old knowledge, worth preserving, and worthy of knowing.