WHEN We Were Eagles and other stories by John Hawson (Over Longtail Publishing, Bowness) ISBN 0-9544195-0-2.

Windermere GP John Hawson has assembled a collection of tales and reminiscences from his travels over the last few decades in a volume called When We Were Eagles.

The 11 stories tell of travels such as walking in Scotland, climbing in Kenya and trekking through the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

Illustrated with a scattering of the author's own landscape oil paintings, the autobiographical tales display a love of the Great Outdoors. And in his travels from epic mountain treks to the market town search for "the most beautiful woman in France", the characters encountered are rendered honestly, straightforwardly and with boundless and genuine affection.

Anyone who has camped in Scotland will understand exactly the problem of the midges and could not fail to like Dr Hawson's portrayal of his friend, the wiry and redoubtable Dick Opsahl.

Indeed, some of Dr Hawson's patients in this area may recognise Dick Opsahl from his apparently frequent appearances in the doctor's surgery anecdotes.

When We Were Eagles is available from Fred Holdsworth's bookshop in Ambleside. Justin Hawkins