A Most Wonderfully Suitable Book: ‘A Portrait of the River Medway’ by Roger Penn

“I believe that during certain periods in our lives we are drawn to particular books—whether it’s strolling down the aisles of a bookshop with no idea whatsoever of what it is that we want to read and suddenly finding the most perfect, most wonderfully suitable book staring us right in the face. Unblinking… Books have the ability to find their own way into our lives.”
Cecelia Ahern

It’s amazing, the chance encounters you can have in bookshops.

In December, I was in Barter Books in Alnwick.

Alnwick is a town in Northumberland, probably most famous nowadays for being the home of the castle that’s used as Hogwarts in the Harry Potter movies – Alnwick Castle.

A view of the exterior of Alnwick Castle on a cloudy day. The castle stands on a low grassy hill. The hill is dotted with trees and there is a river at the bottom. — *Alnwick Castle/Hogwarts, December 2023*

Barter Books is one of the best bookshops in the whole world.

That’s not an exaggeration. Go there for yourself and you’ll see what I mean.

Barter Books is a cavernous second-hand bookshop housed in a building that used to be Alnwick train station, with its own miniature railway, roaring open fires, a tea shop and rooms upon rooms of books.

Exterior of Barter Books in Alnwick. — *Barter Books in Alnwick (Victuallers, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)*

I go to Barter Books every time I visit Alnwick, usually not looking for anything in particular, and usually leaving with at least one book. This time was no exception. As I was wandering down the shop, I happened to glance to one side, and saw this book sitting in the centre of a narrow shelf, cover facing outwards.

Cover of 'A Portrait of the River Medway' by Roger Penn. — *‘A Portrait of the River Medway’, by Roger Penn*

‘A Portrait of the River Medway’, by Roger Penn. In a bookshop in Northumberland. Now here was a book that was far from home!

And it was just resting on the shelf. Quietly. Unassumingly. Like it knew I was coming and was just going to sit there, patiently waiting for me to spot it.

I had gone into the shop with no intention of buying anything, but I had suddenly found “the most perfect, most wonderfully suitable book” for a Medway writer staring me right in the face. Fate, in book form.

Photographs from 'A Portrait of the River Medway'. Image shows a black and white photograph of the sailing barge Mayflower at Ham Green, near Upchurch in April 1980. — *Images from ‘A Portrait of the River Medway’ by Roger Penn*

This edition of ‘A Portrait of the River Medway’ was published in 1981. Roger Penn was born in Kent and walked the entire length of the river to write the book, which covers the history, geology and present-day life (as of 1981) of the area. The introduction on the cover flap starts by saying,

“The River Medway is living proof that South-eastern England has not yet become engulfed with London commuters, housing estates and crowded roads.”
Roger Penn, ‘A Portrait of the River Medway’.

Well, that’s certainly changed since 1981.

Naturally I had to buy the book. It’s now been repatriated to Gillingham, where I’ll be reading it to find out what else has changed in Medway since the 1980s – come back for more details and a full review later on!

View of the River Medway on a sunny day, taken from Rochester Castle. The river curves away towards the horizon. There are several lines of boats moored on the river. Rooftops of Rochester are in the foreground. The Medway City Estate and Cuxton are visible in the background. — *View of the River Medway, from Rochester Castle*