John Walker's Commonplace Book: A Traveller in the 1670s, edited by Anthea Jones
Travelling for pleasure in the 1670s required plenty of stamina. John Walker, a well-to-do country gentleman in his early thirties, rode many miles on horseback through England, Wales and Scotland, and not always on good horses, as he commented. Twice he journeyed through France, and he went also to the Low Countries and the Channel Islands. Walker kept notes as he journeyed, subsequently writing longer accounts of ten of his travels in a Commonplace Book which is preserved amongst the records in Somerset Heritage Centre. Everywhere he took an interest in the commerce of the towns and the harbours, and in their defences. He made some pertinent political observations. As he rode, he observed the nature of the land, and he commented on the buildings which a modern tourist, too, might visit. Not many accounts by travellers in the seventeenth century have been published. John Walker’s Commonplace Book is wide-ranging and full of interesting observations. It is a welcome addition to the Hobnob series of travellers’ books. April 2025, viii + 150 pages, maps, paperback, £14.95, ISBN 978-1-914407-86-4
Travelling for pleasure in the 1670s required plenty of stamina. John Walker, a well-to-do country gentleman in his early thirties, rode many miles on horseback through England, Wales and Scotland, and not always on good horses, as he commented. Twice he journeyed through France, and he went also to the Low Countries and the Channel Islands. Walker kept notes as he journeyed, subsequently writing longer accounts of ten of his travels in a Commonplace Book which is preserved amongst the records in Somerset Heritage Centre. Everywhere he took an interest in the commerce of the towns and the harbours, and in their defences. He made some pertinent political observations. As he rode, he observed the nature of the land, and he commented on the buildings which a modern tourist, too, might visit. Not many accounts by travellers in the seventeenth century have been published. John Walker’s Commonplace Book is wide-ranging and full of interesting observations. It is a welcome addition to the Hobnob series of travellers’ books. April 2025, viii + 150 pages, maps, paperback, £14.95, ISBN 978-1-914407-86-4
Travelling for pleasure in the 1670s required plenty of stamina. John Walker, a well-to-do country gentleman in his early thirties, rode many miles on horseback through England, Wales and Scotland, and not always on good horses, as he commented. Twice he journeyed through France, and he went also to the Low Countries and the Channel Islands. Walker kept notes as he journeyed, subsequently writing longer accounts of ten of his travels in a Commonplace Book which is preserved amongst the records in Somerset Heritage Centre. Everywhere he took an interest in the commerce of the towns and the harbours, and in their defences. He made some pertinent political observations. As he rode, he observed the nature of the land, and he commented on the buildings which a modern tourist, too, might visit. Not many accounts by travellers in the seventeenth century have been published. John Walker’s Commonplace Book is wide-ranging and full of interesting observations. It is a welcome addition to the Hobnob series of travellers’ books. April 2025, viii + 150 pages, maps, paperback, £14.95, ISBN 978-1-914407-86-4