Sarn Helen: A Journey Through Wales, Past, Present and Future

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Sarn Helen – Helen's Causeway – is the old Roman Road that runs from the south of Wales to the north. As Tom walks the route, sometimes alone, sometimes in company, he describes the changing landscape around him and explores the political, cultural and mythical history of this country that has been so divided, by language and by geography. Running alongside this journey is the story of Tom's engagement with the issue of the climate crisis and its likely impact on the Welsh coastline. From one of Wales' most celebrated younger writers, Sarn Helen is at once a vivid and immersive portrait of a nation, and a resonant meditation upon the way in which we are shaped by place and in turn shape the places – potentially irrevocably. Tom’s passion and intelligence is inspiring and I learnt so much about Extinction Rebelion which he is a member of. His speech when he’s in court is a lesson for us all.

The trail passes through some of the most beautiful and breathtaking scenery in Wales. You will traverse the crags of Eryri, ride the spine of the Cambrian Mountains, pass over Bannau Brycheiniog, and cross The Gower, a ll in one week. More has changed in the past fifty years than the past six thousand. We are on target for reaching catastrophic global temperature increases, meaning the collapse of societies. Sarn Helen also includes alarming scientific detail. Over Zoom, Bullough speaks with a range of experts who provide information about the climate and ecological emergency and what it means for Wales: how best can we use the land so steeped in farming traditions; the upland, lowland and middle grounds; the defence of the coastline and future worries for coastal villages, transport and infrastructure; drought, storm surges, flooding. The statistics are absolutely terrifying. Deeply moving... If nature writers want to draw more people to the environmental cause, this book makes clear that love works much better than fear * Spectator *His account of the disasters that threaten his country also stands as a wider warning to the rest of us. As Bullough says: “A glimpse into the future of Wales could give a glimpse into the future of us all.” Sarn Helen is accomplished and stunning in every one of its many personalities: as history, as memoir, as eco-parable, as impassioned call to arms”

A crucial book for now... Bullough has produced a multilayered and compelling account of his home's imperilled future... Stunning -- Gwyneth Lewis His fears for the future of Wales have prompted him to join Extinction Rebellion, and he has been convicted and fined for civil disobedience. Radical action is not the only available solution to global warming. Nevertheless, Bullough makes a persuasive case for it here, in and around his rich depictions of the homeland he loves so much. And, of course, its plight is far from unique. Bullough has produced an urgent logical and lyrical call for climate action, using his deep knowledge of Wales, past and present, as a catalyst. This is a stunning book”

Thrilling. I was bewitched by the experience of seeing as Tom Bullough does, with such insight, such deep learning, such humour and such urgency. This is the finest kind of travel writing: a book that makes you see what is really there, and fills you with the author's passion to defend it -- Horatio Clare The joy of the book is in its attention to smaller things, from the flight patterns of birds to the gleaming Subaru Imprezas on housing estates... Bullough is a master craftsman * Prospect *

I have much enjoyed reading Tom Bullough’s novels Addlands and Konstantin, and am looking forward to reading The Claude Glass, which a friend recently gave me. My husband and I went along to our local and most excellent library to hear Tom give a Creative Forum reading from his latest, non-fiction book Sarn Helen, and we bought two copies – one for my birthday and one for our son’s. The Sarn Helen, or Wales Coast 2 Coast, is a 430km epic trail that ebbs and flows its way from Conwy in North Wales, to Worm's Head on the Gower, South Wales. What has changed, I think, is awareness – a question of degree. Age and experience come into it, no doubt, but the change I mean is a wider change, the (very slow) awakening of society at large to the single, central question: how do you make sense of yourself in the face of the Climate and Ecological Emergency (CEE)? After all, on our current course, we will leave to our children a world whose average temperature will have increased by 3°C or more: a world of conflict and starvation, mass displacement and mass extinction. What, then, is there left to discuss except how we change that course? Looming environmental catastrophe lies at the heart of Bullough’s book. Interspersed with his travelogue is a series of in-depth interviews with scientists from Welsh universities, whose predictions for the country’s future are by turns dispassionate and chilling. An impassioned book that rings with beauty, grief and urgency. As he journeys through Wales’ past, present and future, Bullough sounds a clarion call for us all to play our part in averting global catastrophe”During his research for this book he hiked its full length as best he could (parts of the exact route are disputed by historians). The result is a state-of-the-nation portrait of Wales, encompassing its past, present and future. “The road,” he says, “was the perfect spine from which to flesh out a picture of the country.” It is of interest to me, not only as a Welsh learner who is keen to learn more of Welsh culture, history and landscape, nor as a lover of Roman roads and good writing, but also as a grandmother who is keenly aware of the climate breakdown and what it will mean for our beloved small granddaughters.