o u t d o o r
FOCUS
winter 2018
FROM THE EDITOR...
David Taylor
I
t’s good to have things to look forward
to. Christmas, birthdays (though that’s
more debatable the older I get), and of
course there’s also the annual OWPG
AGM weekend. Thanks to Stan Abbott we
can already look forward to next year’s
AGM weekend (see page 4).
Reminiscing about past times is fun
too. This issue of OF is largely given over
to this year’s weekend, held in Simonsbath
in the Barle Valley at the heart of Exmoor.
Find out what OWPG members got up to
over the four days (it’s no secret that rain
is involved), and see who came away with
the top honours at Saturday evening’s
award ceremony.
Contents
3 Wordsmith
4 AGM Weekend 2019
5 New members
6 Book reviews
8 Dr Rennie McOwan
Kev Reynolds fi nally gets to meet the brothers Ravier after
twenty fi ve years’ correspondence.
Make a note in your diary now to attend next year’s AGM
weekend, with details here of the date and location.
OF says hello to four new members of OWPG: Huw
Kingston, Ian Wyatt, Francis Davis and Sabi Phagura
Roly Smith and Tom Waghorn review the latest books
recently published by OWPG members
Roly Smith leads the tributes to Rennie McOwan, champion
of access to the Scottish hills
10 OWPG AGM Weekend
28 Our associate members
A 16-page special were you can read about this year’s
award winners and why they richly deserved their prizes.
An introduction to the companies and organisations that
share our aims and values. In this issue: Cicerone
3
6
8
14
The Barle on a sunnier day | Graham Swanson
If you’d like to submit ideas for articles for the
spring issue please contact me by email -
[email protected] for further details. The
deadline for all contributions is 15 February 2019.
Cover star
Chris Howes
The River Cave of Xe Bang
Fai. Chris is this year’s
Photography Award winner.
See page 21 for more details.
www.wildplacesphotography.co.uk
1 Sunrise time 07.44
Sunrise direction 125° Sunset time 15.54
Sunset direction 234° JAN Sunset time 16.02
Sunset direction 233° 1 Sunrise time 07.38
Sunrise direction 117°
DEC 1 Sunrise time 08.06
Sunrise direction 128° FEB Sunset time 16.49
Sunset direction 243°
15 Sunrise time 07.59
Sunrise direction 128° 15 Sunrise time 07.59
Sunrise direction 124° 15 Sunrise time 07.14
Sunrise direction 110°
DEC
Sunset time 15.51
Sunset direction 232°
JAN
Sunset time 16.20
Sunset direction 236°
FEB
Sunset time 17.15
Sunset direction 251°
Sunset/Sunrise times and direction correct for London. Times in GMT
The Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild is the only UK-based association of media professionals
working largely or entirely on outdoor subjects. Our members cover every fi eld of activity and all
corners of the globe. They include writers, journalists, fi lm makers, photographers, publishers and
editors, all with a passionate interest in the outdoors. For more information visit www.owpg.org.uk.
All images and text copyright the authors. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material
without express and written permission is strictly prohibited.
2 Outdoor focus | winter 2018
Editing/design: David Taylor
[email protected]
ISSN 2043-8591 (print)
ISSN 2043-8605 (online)