Across England in a Punt

Downstream

One man and his boat take a trip up the river Trent

In Downstream, Fort sets out by punt to explore what he describes, in a characteristically lovely phrase. as 'the concealed dimension' of water. Fort is a quintessentially English guide. A pleasingly unstructured ramble through the history of the Midlands.

For the river-lover, who likes to  pause and look over bridges to see what is going on beneath (and alongside), and who likes to think of the past and the present continually flowing into the future, this book will be a delight.

The story of the river that bubbles up throughout the narrative is told with the quiet authority of one who knows about the hidden flow beneath the riverbed. Well-referenced scholarship lies behind Fort's lively accounts of the history of this part of Middle England. Erudition with a light touch, cleverly interwoven with stories of pints downed, clean sheets and greasy breakfasts appreciated and characters met; what fun it all is and how impressive is the learning that lies behind it.

Sitting contentedly in a backwater with a glass of Rioja or a fishing line, Fort bestows an almost lyrical beauty on rivers both actual and archetypal, whether explaining the carved intricacies of the watercourse of simply peering deep into its "flickering being".

It is difficult not to like Fort, if not simply for his encyclopaedic knowledge of all things fluvial then for his wit and irony too. Once engaged it is difficult to escape. He has stirred a latent fondness for oxbow lakes and wandering streams.

A well-observed travelogue. [Fort] has cleverly constructed the book to reflect the river's characteristics. Tom has written a charming book that cannot fail to give pleasure.

Fort is an amiable companion, whether investigating the river's pubs, observing its wildlife or finding an enviable freedom camped out on its banks

A jolly, colourful, well-written travelogue, it is a good read

Downstream is a double delight; a celebration of the River Trent itself and a humourous exploration of its historical, geographical, industrial and cultural curiosities.

Tom Fort read English at Balliol College, Oxford before going on to work as a reporter on a newspaper and then on to the BBC where he worked for over 20 years. He is married with five children and is the author of four other books. (Under the Weather published by Century and The Grass is Greener, The Far From Compleat Angler and The Book of Eels, published by Harper Collins).

Downstream is a celebration of rivers: an exploration of what they mean to us and an account of what we owe to them. Tom Fort followed the course of our third largest, and one of our least known rivers from source to the sea -- the River Trent. Travelling partly on foot and bicycle, but chiefly in a plywood fifteen foot punt, Fort journeyed through the unsung heart of Middle England, showing him the unseen face of his own country. His journey taught him about the land and moving water, its mysteries and magic. 
 
Rivers are special to us and the landscape we inhabit. They shape and define our world. They give us power and nourishment. They were the first highways, routes for conquest and flight. They acted as barriers and connections. they stir the imagination and reach into our souls. 
 
This is an exploration into the historical, geographical, social, cultural and industrial aspects of a river filled with the curiosities, forgotten characters and departed ways.

Us and the Elements

Under the Weather

A humorous journey around Britain discovering the history of the eccentrics, crackpots and visionaries who have tried to measure and predict the weather, meeting people obsessed with the weather today and trying to define the effect of the weather on our national character.

Tom Fort has put together a delightfully discursive book: a gentle rambling through the printed sources interlaced with meetings and outings to give it topicality.

... an entertaining survey of the history of man's ceaseless struggle to answer the big question: do I need to take my Mac?

... Good humoured and quietly ... The exchange between Johnson's Englishmen may not, in the end, arrive anywhere in particular, but it goes on to this day.Under the Weather is a worthy addition to that long-lived conversation, and a reminder of how compelling it remains.

A great little book about the British obsession with the climate, it's full of fruitful parcels of meteorological lore.

... The writing possesses an affable charm and Fort has an appealing layman's enthusiasm for the subject.

Tom Fort read English at Balliol College, Oxford before going on to work as a reporter on a newspaper and then on to the BBC where he worked for over 20 years. He is married with five children and is the author of three other books. (The Grass is Greener, The Far From Compleat Angler and The Book of Eels, published by Harper Collins). He is currently writing his next book.

Tom Fort, whose writing has been variously described as 'jocund', 'slightly loopy', ' unbelievably poignant' and 'deeply peculiar', travels around Britain experiencing some of its extremer climates and some of its more typical with a view to explaining what we make and have made of the British weather and what it has made of us. 
There are two interlocking strands: the story of those who - moved to an exceptional, sometimes obsessive degree by the fascination felt by so many of us - sought to know and understand our weather; and the story of its impact on us - our history, our culture, the way we think and behave.He focuses on the people - the clergymen, the gentlemen of leisure, the crackpots, visionaries, charlatans and shysters, all now largely or utterly forgotten - who volunteered and toiled for the cause, telling their stories by tracking them down to the places - usually their own gardens - where they indulged their quite passion for measuring rainfall, scrutinising dewdrops, tapping their barometers and peering at their thermometers.Once their age - of the amateur scientist - was over, and the business of weather forecasting was annexed by professionals with state backing it became a less colourful affair. 
The historical strand is, in part, a straightforward chronology; an account of the part played by climate in our history; how, when the sun shone and rain fell in gentle abundance, we prospered and multiplied; how, when the climate cooled, bringing wet summers and savage winters, we perished by plague and famine and retreated from places made unbelievable; how in time, as we matured from a rural, peasant society, our weather became less a matter of life and death (though always on absorbing interest).But beyond that there is another dimension to its influence on us - the moral and spiritual one.This is contentious, but intriguing: the extent to which we share as view of 'our weather', and the extent to which it may have shaped us into the people we are.

Tom Fort

Elegantly written, filled with fine phrases, wit and provoking thoughts, and with glorious descriptions of dark, brawling rivers and the joys of fishing.

'You have to be on your guard when you go back to special places. You may be able to locate them easily enough on the map, but maps tell only one story. Times change and places and people with them. The memory plays curious tricks, and things aren't always as you remember or expect.' 
 
Twenty years ago, Tom Fort drove his little red car onto the ferry at Felixstowe, bound for all points east. Eastern Europe was still a faraway place, just emerging from its half-century of waking nightmare, blinking, injured, full of fears but importantly full of hope too. Things were different then. Czechoslovakia was still Czechoslovakia, Russia was the USSR and the Warsaw Pact had not formally dissolved. But what did exist then, as they do now, were the rivers: the nations' lifeblood. It was along and by these rivers that Fort travelled around Eastern Europe meeting its people and immersing himself in its culture. 
 
Since that trip though, much has changed and in more recent years around one million Poles have settled in Britain. Fort's local paper has a Polish edition, his supermarket has a full range of Polish bread, sausage and beer and an influx of Polish businesses opened in his town centre. And it's not just the Poles, his gym has a Lithuanian trainer and the woman who cuts his hair is from Hungary. 
 
As a tide of people began to leave Eastern Europe and settle in the UK, Tom Fort started to wonder about what they were leaving behind and whether the friends he had made all those years ago remained. And so he decided to make the journey again, travelling against the flow of the steady human stream to explore the once familiar places. As he did so, many began to return as the recession took hold of Western Europe. Tom was keen to find out what had changed and how the places, people and way of life had moved on and of course fit in a spot of fishing along the way.

Tom Fort

Praise for Against the Flow

Elegantly written, filled with fine phrases, wit and provoking thoughts, and with glorious descriptions of dark, brawling rivers and the joys of fishing.

Books by Tom Fort

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