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Hugh Thomson uses his experience of hiking with pack mules across the Andes

to have what he calls ‘a South American adventure in England’.

 

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One Man and a Mule:  Across England with a Pack Mule
(published Preface, Penguin Random House, June 22, 2017)

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For centuries mules were used to transport goods across Britain.
Strong, sturdy and able to carry a great deal of weight, they made
ideal walking companions – as long as you didn’t ask them to do anything
they didn’t want to do!

Inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson’s Travels with a Donkey – the bestselling
19th Century travel book – Hugh takes his stubborn, cantankerous,
yet ever trusty mule Jethro across England from the Yorkshire Moors
to the Lake District, using old drovers’ roads and mule tracks that have
fallen into disrepair.  These wild parts of the North of England used mules
extensively in the past and by recreating that experience, Hugh pays tribute
to the forgotten muleteers who once roamed these hills.

Recounting the stories of the characters he meets along the way, this
wonderfully vivid and witty account brings to life the ancient landscape
of the north in a way few other contemporary travel writers attempt.

This is an unashamedly personal story, combining Hugh’s trademark
insight and humour with lyrical intensity. One Man and a Mule paints
a stunning portrait of Britain and its history.

Jethro the mule becomes very much a character in his own right
during this trip, as Hugh travels from one coastline of Britain to the
other across some of its most spectacular landscape.  Jethro now has
his own Facebook page and Twitter account, @JethrotheMule,
but is unavailable for interview.

Reviews

‘Hugely enjoyable’  The Observer

‘Another enchanting book by Hugh Thomson, who is fast becoming one of the leading players in the British travel writing scene… I quite often found myself laughing aloud.’
Robin Hanbury-Tenison, Country Life

‘It is the encounters Thomson has which show it is people, no less than places, that make England what it is.’  Brian Viner, Daily Mail

‘Terrific fun.’  Eileen Battersby, Irish Times

‘A magnificent meander.  The harder the road, the more engaging the writer.  Thomson has the stamina of Wainwright, the comic touch of Jerome K. Jerome, and the mischievous curiosity of Norman Lewis.’  John Gimlette

‘As in the author’s previous book, The Green Road Into the Trees, which described a walk in southern England (and won the Wainwright Prize), there is evocative writing of nature and the landscape beyond the entertainment. Mules are not the only things that have disappeared from our countryside and Thomson takes on the issues: the curse of EU subsidies that leave fields bare, the hardships of sheep farming, the breakdown of rural community life and the increasing restrictions of access to land that we could all have walked across not so long ago.’ Anthony Sattin, Observer

‘’Evocative and wonderfully observed… One Man and Mule‘ is a lovely, good-natured and highly informative journey through the hinterland, emphasizing the human scale of England in all its peculiarities.’   Paul Theroux

 

Those who want to hear Hugh having a ‘a South American adventure
in South America’ can listen to his exploits with Benedict Allen
in Two Men and a Mule, as broadcast by the BBC 

 

 

see Goodreads reviews for One Man and a Mule

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