When is the best time to spot a shooting star or a glow worm? Where does a 'ha-ha' get its name? Why were yew trees planted in churchyards? Where would you find a green man or a Sheila-na-gig?

In the 1960s Geoffrey Grigson, a poet and author, travelled around Britain writing the story of the secret landscape all around us. This book, his exquisite classic of the countryside, is the result.

From weathercocks to rainbows, place names and poets to mazes, dene-holes, crypts and sham ruins, via avenues, Roman roads, dewponds and village greens, The Shell Country Alphabet will help you look beyond the familiar sights of our landscape and discover the hidden, magical world that remains, just off the motorway.

Introduction by: Sophie Grigson