Nature Book Reader June 2020 - Flipbook - Page 92
A Nature Book Reader
MARTIN NOBLE
Martin Noble is guitarist with British Sea Power
The Shining Levels by John Wyatts
The Shining Levels is John
Wyatts’ personal diary of
when he left the city to live
a frugal life, in a modest
hut, in the wilderness of the
Lake District.
It’s a lovely, charming,
easy book to read, and
thankfully there isn’t a TV
crew or camera in sight.
On Johns arrival, he pulls
water from a well with a frog
in it (“if it’s good enough for
the frog, it’s good enough for
me”) and makes the best cup
of tea he’s ever had.
He shares his experiences
with the plants and animals
he encounters, both their
practical uses, and as
things of beauty, and later,
as companions, when he
befriends a buck Roe Deer.
He becomes a
connoisseur of wood smoke,
goes on bug hunts, gets
stuck in a bog on his way
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home from a pub lock-in,
sleeps rough and constantly
marvels at the minutest
details that surround him.
Up there on the mountains,
the reflective lakes appear
as shining levels.
Living amongst wildlife,
his simple existence becomes
magical and grandiose.
Further Reading
In The Shadow
of Man by Jane Goodall
Birds and People:
Bonds in a Timeless
Journey by Nigel Collar
