As the book will tell you, Jon Sparks first read Swallows and Amazons at the age of nine and has returned to it, and the rest of Arthur Ransome’s ‘lake country’ books, at regular intervals ever since.

Jon enjoyed a 30+ year career as a photographer and writer specialising in landscape, travel and outdoor pursuits, especially walking, climbing and all varieties of cycling. He even won a few awards. He’s authored guidebooks for all the above activities as well as travel guides to Finland and the Baltic – which gave him opportunities to visit locations that were pivotal in Ransome’s life.

In the last few years Jon has been channelling his inner Dorothea and concentrating on fiction. He’s published three novels so far, with more to come. There are rocks and mountains in all of them, and in Book 2 there’s quite a lot of sailing too. Pehaps it’s the Ransome influence…

He lives in Lancashire and is a regular visitor to the Lake District, especially Ransome country.

For more information and lots more images, see www.jon-sparks.co.uk and https://www.jonsparksauthor.com.

Jon is on Facebook. There is also a dedicated Facebook page for Exploring Arthur Ransome’s Lake District.