A few months ago we reviewed the rather excellent Touring Guide to Northern Spain, penned by our very own Dick Henneman. At the time we hinted that Dick had another book up his sleeve, but this time he has surpassed himself.

The Touring Guide to England and Wales is very good for a number of reasons. First of all, because it is all about the UK, those of us fortunate enough to live here can dispense with the “how to ride in foreign places” stuff and get straight into the nitty gritty of the routes. Secondly, of course, the routes don’t require a passport or hard won permission from the spouse or boss to take a few days off – they can often be covered in a day including getting there from home with a bit of luck.

There’s a third reason why Dick’s choice of venue is so good. His reduced travelling time meant that he could cover more routes. Enough, in fact, to produce a second book – the Touring Guide to Scotland and Ireland – and to release it at the same time.

So what do you get for your money? You get an A5 size ring bound book (so you can fold it flat to pop in a tankbag top pouch without wrecking it) with the first few pages dedicated to telling visitors about the quirks of riding here. There are some interesting facts about the UK itself – the geology explains a few things about how the country ended u the shape it is – and then we get onto the routes. As in Dick’s Spanish book, each route takes a facing pair of pages and consists of a simplified strip type roadmap, a set of directions to match and several anecdotal and historical titbits about the routs and places along it. Dick is also good about pointing out hazards that existed when he rode the routes, but do bear in mind that roads are ever changing and evolving so there could be something new and scary along that road which wasn’t there when Dick rode it.

There is a smattering of photographs through the books which serve more to illustrate things along the route than as items of high art in themselves but which serve the very useful purpose of confirming that yes, you are indeed where you expected to be. The paper is of a pleasing weight, the text is large enough to read through a wet visor without being entitled to a Large Text label in the library. In fact, the publishers should be commended for producing these books at this quality for the price. After all, would you want to risk getting a beautifully printed full colour £30 hardback wet and damaged on your bike? Me neither.

These books offer something for everyone. For the established tourer they promise new routes and give information about what to see and to look at. For the new tourer they offer real routes with objectives and points of interest to see and as such are an ideal entry to the idea of riding a bike just for the journey, especially as no overseas travel is involved. And for the rest of us they offer an insight into some of the things that made Britain what it is today as well as the opportunity to try some interesting roads we may never otherwise have bothered with.

Highly recommended.