So this arrived at the weekend: the paperback of Between the Chalk and the Sea, out 25th April. I love the fresh new colours on the cover and the map of my walking route on the inside which the hardback didn’t have. At a RRP of £12.99 it’s much cheaper than the hardback as well. I’m doing a series of events to tie in with the paperback release, including Canterbury Waterstones on 8th May, Lewes Waterstones on 9th May and the Grosvenor Arms in Shaftesbury on 10th May, plus more events over the summer and early autumn (watch this space). It would be lovely to see you a one of these.

My latest feature for the Sunday Times telling the story of my walk along the Old Way (the journey described in my book Between the Chalk and the Sea, paperback out 25th April) plus five other modern pilgrimages. If you’ve been watching the latest series of Pilgrimage on the BBC, following the North Wales Pilgrim’s Trail to Bardsey, you might recognise part of this walk amongst my choices. It might disappear behind a paywall at some point but currently it’s free to read, so here’s the link to the feature.

Very belatedly I’ve discovered that Between the Chalk and the Sea was reviewed in the TLS (Times Literary Supplement) in May last year.  If you’d like to read it, click here. Or read the print version below:

Earlier this summer I walked last third of the Ridgeway path, Britain’s oldest continuously used road (5,000 years old to be exact). The Times wanted a piece to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Ridgeway national trail, and my piece appeared in the Sunday Times on 22 October, and also online.

Times articles are usually behind a paywall, but this one seems to be free to view.

If you happen to be in Somerset on 31st October why not join me in conversation with The Times walking correspondent Christopher Somerville? We’ll be discussing Between the Chalk and the Sea at the Wells Festival of Literature, and there’s the option of a ‘literary lunch’ beforehand. Tickets available here.

An intelligent and sensitive review of my book in this month’s edition of Resurgence & Ecologist, alongside Tom Bullough’s Sarn Helen (on my reading list):

“the episodic structure, with each section hinged to an ancient festival – Ostara, Lughnasa, Samhain, Imbolc and Beltane – creates a lovely sense of shifting seasons as Simmons moves across the chalk landscapes of southern England … this is a happy book, perfectly capturing the invigorating airiness of a slow journey across an elevated landscape.”

You can read the whole review here. And to buy a print copy of the magazine, click here.

On Thursday 16th February Between the Chalk & the Sea was finally published – a whole year later than originally planned, due to various  lockdowns delaying my walking journey to Canterbury.

To celebrate, I held a launch at Stanford’s Travel Bookshop in Covent Garden, London, where my family, close friends, some students and colleagues, plus other people connected with my book gathered. Here’s a few photos of the event:

A particular highlight of the evening was Guy Hayward of the British Pilgrimage Trust singing an impromptu medieval pilgrim’s song. Click this link to listen to it.