A YEAR in the Life of the Langdale Valleys by Bill Birkett. Published by Frances Lincoln, price £14.99 (hardback).

My first sight of the Langdale Valley remains such a vivid memory and I am still filled with awe every time I visit. It is, without doubt, my favourite of all the Lakeland valleys and I never tire of the ever-changing views of those majestic mountains that prove such a lure. In this quite wonderful book, Bill Birkett a climber, photographer and writer who is lucky enough to be a native of the valley has managed to capture the seasonal moods through his camera lens to show just what makes the area so special. The subtle interplay of man and nature shines through with Birkett's truly superb photography picking out the breathtaking colours and shades of the landscape, the vast variety of flora and fauna and the fact that it is very much a working valley.

Mike Addison