Reading Robert Macfarlane by the internet

There's an old fashioned pleasure to reading on a wet August afternoon. Robert Macfarlane's The Old Ways takes you – in imagination – out into the wilder (or indeed not so wild) parts of Britain. What increases the pleasure and depth of the experience is reading with the internet by your side. With the internet we get so much further …

First, the maps – Ordnance Survey if you have paid for them, or Google maps if not. Walking along the Broomway in (or rather off) Essex takes you to that footpath along the sands, right next to the "DANGER AREA" signs. In the Hebrides, we can find the islands on Google maps – and satellite view - unnamed, but unmistakable from his descriptions. And then to wikipedia to see what gannets look like and read about the peculiar anatomy that sustains their deep dives into  the ocean, making the story of the gannet that pierced the hull of the boat but kept it plugged entirely believable.

And then onto Harris itself. Trying to negotiate the walk he makes – again we have topography and named lakes, but no hill names – but hills cast shadows on the satellite picture, and photographs culled from somewhere (even street view was here) show the picture from the ground. Then we can look at Steve Dilworth's art and read about what Iain Sinclair says about him.

Awe-inspiring.