CROSSWORDRead more about Britain in these great new hardbacksFootnotesby Peter Fiennes
Magazine publisher and author Peter Fiennes
posits here that to tread any well-travelled path is
to step upon layers of history and to add to them.
It is not the history books that he delves into here,
but rather the pages of English literature as he
chooses the likes of Enid Blyton, Charles Dickens
andThe Woman in Whiteauthor Wilkie Collins
as his “companions” for a series of illuminating
walks around the British Isles. (Oneworld, £16.99)Gentlemen of Uncertain Fortuneby Rory Muir
An eldest son of a rich family was in a privileged
position in Regency England, safe in the
knowledge that he would inherit the fortunes
while his younger brothers were left to find
a way to retain their wealthy lifestyle. Jane
Austen’s brothers are among the examples
considered here, as the options are explored in
fascinating detail. (Yale University Press, £25)The Land of the White Horseby David Miles
The White Horse at Uffington is one of Britain’s
most elusive icons, carved into the green of the
North Wessex Downs for almost two millennia
and yet still never truly understood.
Devoting an entire book to the landmark is
a bold move, yet archaeologist David Miles has
dug up enough in the way of fanciful myths and
historic detail to satisfy even a casual reader.
(Thames & Hudson, £24.95)Across
9 Plaster of lime, cement and gravel,
used on outside walls (9)
10 Empress of ———, title assumed
by Queen Victoria in 1876 (5)
11 Village of Upper Swaledale, once a
centre for hand knitting (5)
12 Town in Kent opposite Tilbury (9)
13 Leading 20th-century architect who
designed the Cenotaph in Whitehall (7)
14 Historic county town of Suffolk (7)
17 The Tale of Timmy (^) ———,
a Beatrix Potter story (7)
20 Castle in the Cotswolds, once the
home of Catherine Parr (7)
21 Edith ———, poet born in
Scarborough in 1887 (7)
22 Royal residences (7)
24 Apiarist (9)
26 Scotland’s national poet (5)
28 Sections of a canal closed off to
control the water level (5)
29 Celebrated victory of King Henry V
against the French in 1415 (9)
Down
1 Drake’s (^) ———, an oft-quoted
patriotic poem by Sir Henry Newbolt (4)
2 A long-barrelled muzzle-loading gun
formerly used by infantrymen (6)
(^3) ——— Park, superb Tudor house and
deer park in Warwickshire (10)
4 Traditional Scottish dish (6)
5 Small city in Pembrokeshire (2,6)
6 River that flows through Malhamdale
in the Yorkshire Dales (4)
7 The first pitched battle of the English
Civil War (1642) (8)
8 Archbishop of Canterbury executed
for treason in 1645 (4)
(^13) ——— Cary Manor, National Trust
property in Somerset (5)
15 Mountain in Cumbria, also known
as Blencathra (10)
16 Town, historically part of Middlesex,
now part of the London Borough of
Hillingdon (5)
18 A Gilbert and Sullivan operetta (8)
19 Pertaining to Shropshire (8)
(^22) ——— Warbeck, 15th-century
claimant to the English throne (6)
23 Cloud formed at high altitude as
delicate white wisps (6)
24 Acton, Currer and Ellis ———,
pen-names of the Brontë sisters (4)
25 The Gaelic language, especially
Irish Gaelic (4)
27 A paving block of stone or wood (4)
Crossword no 212
Solutions to crossword 211
Across: 9 Charlotte, 10 Poole, 11 Egton, 12 Kedleston,
13 Balfour, 14 Vanessa, 17 Cobbler, 20 Rutland,
21 Staines, 22 Whitsun, 24 Pen-y-ghent, 26 Groat,
28 Epsom, 29 Trafalgar.
Down: 1 Acre, 2 Mantel, 3 Llangollen, 4 Stoker,
5 Wendover, 6 Apse, 7 Southsea, 8 Dean, 13 Bucks,
15 Nottingham, 16 Aidan, 18 Beau Nash, 19 Rossetti,
22 Witham, 23 Slough, 24 Pier, 25 Game, 27 Tarn
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