Sparky Books - UK long distance trailwalking guidebooks

The HOW...

Sparky Guides make the HOW of planning and walking a long-distance trail (or selected parts of it) intuitive and easy. All the practical information you need is here, and is quick to find and simple to understand.

Tough, slimline, pocket-sized, with flaps to mark your page
The latest 1:25,000 OS maps, with the trail clearly marked
Packed with planning ideas – overview maps, itineraries, stage overviews, accommodation ideas, transport advice
No waffle – a less-is-more approach, allowing you to find everything you need with ease

The WOW...

Sparky Guides are unique in their focus on the WOW of walking trails - the memorable experiences you create by walking mindfully through some of the country's most beautiful, interesting and inspiring landscapes.

Bite-sized information boxes on the maps, bringing alive the people, places and stories along the trail as you walk
Engaging and entertaining writing, getting under the skin of each trail
A lavishly illustrated, stylish and distinctive design
Resources to deepen your understanding, from flora and fauna guides to interesting books and websites

There is so much to love here; a perfect fit in the hand with folded flaps, and a very attractive and stand out front cover design, and clean interior layout. Lots of things that wow – the ease and honesty of the writing; great suggested itineraries and alternatives; fabulous flora and fauna photographs and 100 pages of full page maps with fascinating text caption overlays
Amazon Customer
Thames Path guidebook by Sparky Books

This guidebook has really enriched our experience of the Capital Ring Walk, especially as newbies to London. It's the perfect size: there's loads of little facts on every page (natural and cultural history), the maps are really clear (we appreciate the cafes and public toilets being marked when walking through longer stretches of parkland), and the book is a comfortable size for keeping in hand while walking. Definitely pick this one up!
Amazon Customer
Capital Ring walking guidebook by Sparky Books

From guides to the flora and fauna, to suggestions of other books about the path and walking in general, to the history of the wall and of course annotated OS maps, the guide feels good in the hand and inspiring to the mind.
Amazon Customer
Hadrian's Wall Path guidebook by Sparky Books

I’m absolutely delighted with this! I’ve walked stages of a number of these national trails with the help of guides, and this genuinely offers something different. As well as useful background and advice regarding how to approach the walks, it provides a very useful overview of each stage. The OS mapping for each stage clearly highlights the route, and I love the fact that interesting information is included on each of the maps that will unquestionably enrich the whole walking experience. Clearly a lot of thought has been given to how this information is presented, both via the maps and on the more general info pages. This not only makes it easy to use, but appealing to. Added to which it's also really well written – engaging and informative, so overall this guide is a definite 10 out of 10 for me. I'm looking forward to collecting the others!
Amazon Customer
The Ridgeway walking guidebook by Sparky Books

I was recently gifted a Sparky Walking guide to help tackle the South Downs Way. As a fairly novice walker it made the entire trip so much better. The route info broken down helped plan my days with practical tips that were spot on and easy to follow. My absolute favourite section was the coastal stretch from Alfriston to Eastbourne as the scenery was breathtaking. I really enjoyed the walk from start to finish. I highly recommend this guide to anyone planning to take on this iconic trail. I especially loved the WOW and the HOW detail !
Lianne
South Downs Way walking guide

Sparky Books Thames Path Guide Highly Commended

We're delighted to announce that our Thames Path guidebook has been Highly Commended in the Outdoor Writers and Photographers Excellence Awards.

The judges praised our fresh approach to the walking guidebook, highlighting its neat, portable format, innovative cover design and the depth of information packed into its pages.They particularly liked the way clear, easy-to-follow Ordnance Survey maps work alongside inset points of interest, bringing together practical navigation and fascinating details about the places you'll discover along the way.

As the judges put it:

“This is a book that can really inspire you to plan your next walking trip, and provide all the info you need to do it.”

That's exactly what we set out to achieve at Sparky Books: guidebooks that help you find your way while encouraging you to discover more about the places, history and stories along the trail.

We're thrilled to have this approach recognised.

ABOUT US

Sparky was created by two old friends, Jon Cox and Peter Burton, who decided to tackle the Cotswold Way to reconnect, and subsequently fell in love with walking long-distance trails.

We were – perhaps naively – astonished by the richness of the landscapes we walked through: their beauty and complexity, the rich layers of natural and human history that surrounds us all. But we were unable to find a guidebook that was both reliable on the practicalities of trail walking AND, most significantly, able to bring alive the stories all around us as we walked.

With backgrounds in publishing and writing, it seemed a logical next step to try to create the guides we wanted ourselves – ones that go beyond the practical to inspire, inform and entertain – to truly capture the WOW-ness of walking.
Central to this for us is the placing of pithy information boxes on the maps themselves, removing the need to flick backwards and forth. Everything you need as you walk is there on the page.

Our goal is to make Sparky guides stylish, distinctive and visually attractive, highly practical but also conveying our own sense of wonder in the wealth of interest that lies around us in the landscape.

In short, we aim to create inspiring guides for curious walkers.

sales@sparkybooks.co.uk

The how of walking

The wow of walking

Trail Guides

London Loop

Norfolk Coast Path

Hadrian's Wall Path

Capital Ring

South Downs Way

The Ridgeway

Thames Path

Cotswold Way

Reviews

Blog

Sparky Books Thames Path Guide Highly Commended

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