I first used it to start off a revisiting-journey around North Wales and Anglesey. A little later I used it to plan the start of a Cornwall trip.

It's a thing of beauty and a thing of its time. The gazetteer is a great introduction to the better, more accessible sites in the various areas it covers. Like all books it has shortcomings, but the insane look of the thing and its monumental size make up for that. To think that we had to lug something that large around, because there was nothing else available is the biggest surprise! The inaccuracies just added to the adventure.

These days there are good books covering smaller areas (for some of them) that are much easier to manage in a rucksack. Many of these books exist thanks to TMA. I can't say that it was responsible for my return to the stones after a 10 year gap, but it was certainly useful in reacquainting myself with them! It took me to places I'd not been to before and reminded me of times and places I enjoyed enormously. For those reasons alone I think fondly of it.

There should have been two books in the slipcase, though: the essay and the gazetteer.