Out now from Bassman Books

In 1968, Freda Bassindale quit the Edinburgh City Police and boarded SS Iberia for a new job as a telephonist. For the next five years she cruised the world with P&O, enjoying her life at sea and the exotic destinations she explored along the way.

Fifty years later, the discovery of a forgotten box of letters, booklets, diaries and photographs brought memories of people and places flooding back – of a time before mobile phones and internet, when travel was still an adventure, chronicled in her latest book, Hold the Line, Please.

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“My aim is to get as close as I possibly can to the wildlife and I can spend hours photographing my subject. I love being able to make eye contact with the animals and birds as I feel that looking into their eyes helps me see into their souls.”

Eoghain Maclean is fortunate that the wildlife he loves is all around him – some of it almost on his doorstep in Kinlochewe. In Highland Wildlife Through My Lens he introduces us to his favourites and describes how he captures images of birds and mammals everywhere from seashore to mountaintop.

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Life is never easy at Munlochy Animal Aid – feral kittens to catch, abandoned dogs to rehome, injured guests of all shapes and sizes to care for, funds to be raised and grants to be sought. The work never ends, but founder Iona Nicol would not have it any other way (although a little more sleep would be nice).

In her second book, Loving and Living with Animals, Iona takes us through six months of triumph and heartache at the charity. We meet Eddie the Eagle, Scotland’s friendliest dove; Pudding and Hoggy the hungry hedgehogs; Tara, the boisterous and permanently happy German Shepherd puppy; and follow the endless battle of wills between the kitchen cats and the bedroom cats.

All profits from this book will go towards the work of Munlochy Animal Aid.

Take a look here at more titles to enjoy from Bassman Books - the publisher on the Black Isle.