Books by Rob Cowen

From two bestselling and award-winning writers onlandscape comes a luminously illustrated meditation on our relationship withthe natural world and each other through four unprecedented seasons & aglobal pandemic.

After moving from London to a new home in Yorkshire, and about to become a father for the first time, Rob Cowen finds himself in unfamiliar territory. Disoriented, he ventures out to a nearby edge-land: a pylon-slung tangle of wood, hedge, field, meadow and river that lies unclaimed and overlooked on the outskirts of town.

Skimming Stones and Other Ways of Being Wild is a book of simple skills that can help us to interact with nature, achieve a deeper connection with it and even step inside another dimension.Rob Cowen and Leo Critchley teach us, for example, making and flying a kite, making an elder whistle, damming a stream and building a den - and at the same time teach us about life.Their techniques are intended to be not only of practical value but also techniques for meditation. They help us to live in the moment, recover ancient insights and rhythms and encourage nature to reveal to us her secrets and treasures.They write that '...there are forces deep in everyone's subconscious that find a pure expression in the simplest of activities. This book explains why we should be taking the time to do them. It is born out of a wish to share our passion for our landscape and the contemplative, reflective pleasures and joys that were well-known to our grandparents, but which are in danger of being lost and forgotten. They will help us get back to a place where we all belong'.