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CAUTIONARY PILGRIM:

WALKING BACKWARDS WITH BELLOC

This is an entrancing book, in the literal sense of the word. Nick Flint introduces us to his three ‘imaginary companions’ – though they soon become completely real to the reader – as they journey through Sussex, telling tales, reciting songs, drinking ales and unearthing forgotten mysteries. I’m not a believer, but I found the stories of saints and medieval histories and the secret places of the landscape absolutely gripping. The book has an extraordinary atmosphere; when you finish the walk you will be disappointed it hasn’t been longer. So, like me, you will just start again.

John Bird

Satirist and Comedian from television’s Bremner, Bird and Fortune

A work of engaging wit and style peppered with delightful anecdotes and asides into the history and folklore of Sussex. Nick’s love of Sussex – and Sussex ale – shines through, and with the help of amusing illustrations and a cast of delightfully eccentric characters he perfectly captures the atmosphere and enigmatic beauty of the Sussex countryside – Belloc would be proud.

Christopher Winn

Author of the I Never Knew That... series of books, now a television series.

This is a lovely book, soaked in the lore and animated by the Spirit of Belloc’s celebrated work ‘The Four Men’. Nick Flint and his companions retrace Belloc’s steps across Sussex, following his path back to its beginning, but this is no mere ‘In the steps of...’ travelogue. Rather than simply repeating a journey and commenting on changes between then and now, the formula of many such works, Flint has made a new work, which like Belloc’s, teases us with incipient allegories, with suggestions and mysteries as to who he and his companions really are, but all lightened and brightened with quirky, irreverent, and yet spiritually strengthening humour. A very good read.

Malcolm Guite

Author of Faith Hope and Poetry, and Sounding the Seasons

Cautionary Pilgrim is the story of Nick Flint’s journey through the highways and byways of Sussex, in the company of three larger-than-life companions, as they reflect on their ‘Sussex patrimony’. Not only is this an affectionate travelogue, punctuated with delightful drawings by the author, it is peppered with unexpected spiritual insights, drawn from the legends of numerous Sussex saints. Nick Flint tells us that the mud through which he trudges ‘knows its own and will always gently, lovingly tug us back.’ This enjoyable book may well have the same effect.

Nicholas Frayling

Dean Emeritus of Chichester Cathedral