BOOK REVIEW: Northern Soles by Steve Ankers

£8.99

Here is a coast to coast book with a difference. Liverpudlian Steve Ankers decided to walk across England from the Mersey to the Humber stopping at various places en route to meet people doing valuable work in the community.

He begins in the Merseyside Maritime Museum’s display of the slave trade – which once provided the city with much of its wealth and ends in Hull at the one-time home of William Wilberforce – the politician who made it his lifemission to have slavery abolished.

He also visits Dixons – a family firm making ice cream – the family have been making ice cream since 1961 from locally sourced milk without the usual additives “so you can make your beard messy and feel you are doing your but for the planet”.

It is a vastly entertaining book highlighting people and features across the country which are not always evident or given the publicity they deserve. Great value – even if you don’t fancy crossing the country on foot.