Mott The Hoople and Ian Hunter

In 2003, Mott bassist Overend Watts walked the South West Coast Path. This is thought to be one of the most challenging (although not the longest) of the walks in the UK. Parts of his journal of that walk have been serialised in Two Miles From Heaven, but with that publication now defunct, fans have been hungry for more.

After years of waiting, Overend's comprehensive tale of his walk was finally published in 2013. And what an enjoyable read it is too.

Overend has a way of drawing the reader in and taking you with him, so that it feels as if you are doing the walk with him. His wry sense of humour shines through as well, taking us through his ups, his downs and the numerous times he got lost.

Despite professing to "hate" pretty much every member of the human race, he finds time to stop and chat with virtually every one he meets on this challenging walk. He also finds time to fill us in on a little bit of the history of the places he walks through, doing this in a manner that is informed and informative and not in the least bit dry.

I said his humour shines through, and there are numerous laugh-out-loud moments in the book, usually from his many "tantrums" (mostly the result of getting lost) and his vivid imagination (the result of the situations he gets himself into).

If you've ever visited the south-west of England you'll find yourself thinking "I remember that place..." As his walk progresses, his days get more and more detailed, mainly because as his fitness improved he covered more and more distance. The people he meets are interesting and varied too, not just fellow walkers but landlords of various B&B establishments, passers-by, shopkeepers... at times I'm amazed he did any walking at all as he seemed to spend all his time chatting!

Fascinating and utterly un-putdownable.