Welsh Journals

Bodmin Moor. E. C. Axford. David and Charles, 1975, 188pp. Price: £ 4.95. Bodmin Moor occupies less than 100 square miles of central Cornwall, and in the mind of the average visitor to the West Country, is rather an uninteresting moorland area to be negotiated en route to the coastal resorts of the south and west. Yet, as the author of this book demonstrates, such a view is well wide of the mark, for if the tourist were to turn aside from his headlong rush to the sea he would find within this granite upland a fascinating variety of scenery, and a record of the presence of man stretching back to the prehistoric period. To the enquiring visitor this volume is essential reading, for within its covers Mr. Axford skilfully describes the Moor, portraying its many moods and painting a vivid and evocative picture of a timeless landscape that has survived the effects of man throughout his long history of occupation, and yet which has never lost its character and beauty. The opening chapters outline the geology and physical geography of the Moor, and there are useful accounts of the evolution and distribution of the tors, and of the natural history of the region. Succeeding sections deal with the prehistory of the area and the cultural remains in which the Moor abounds, with the more recent past including the eighteenth and nineteenth century mineral exploitation, and with the changing landuse pattern of more recent times. In a particularly charming chapter the villages of Bodmin Moor are described in a pleasing mixture of legend, anecdote and history. Finally, the conflict between conservation, recreation and resource use which bedevils all areas of great natural beauty is con- sidered in a thought-provoking discussion of the future of the Moor. As would be expected from a scholar of English, the book is beautifully and sensitively written. The photographs are well- chosen, although the quality is variable; the line drawings are few, and the volume would have been enhanced by better cartography and more numerous maps. Nevertheless, this is a pleasing contri- bution, and will provide the educated layman (who is also equipped with the 1 50,000 Ordnance Survey Map) with a useful guide to this hitherto neglected area of Cornwall. M. J. C. Walker