The thirty circular walks in this all-colour guide combine some of the most rural and picturesque scenery in the area with the opportunity to enjoy a meal and a drink in a good local pub. The routes vary in length between 1.5 and 5 miles and there is information about how to get to the start by road and by public transport, where to park, and places of interest to visit nearby. In addition, there are photographs of the pubs and sights along the way, and sketch maps with numbering to match the text.

The area offers many different landscapes to explore. These include the lakes, rivers and reservoirs around Staines; the 14,000 native British trees planted since 1993 by Hillingdon Council in Stockley Country Park; the Chelsea Physic Garden, founded in 1673 to grow medicinal plants; Hounslow Heath, once a training ground for Cromwell's army; and Harrow-on-the-Hill with its school and spectacular views. There are also opportunities to visit Harmondsworth Moor with its abundance of wildlife, meadows and wildflowers, all thriving despite the proximity of Heathrow Airport and the M25; Bentley Priory from where the RAF ran much of the Battle of Britain; William Hogarth's house in Chiswick; Kensall Green cemetery with its magnificent gravestones; and Monken Hadley Common, at one time part of the royal hunting forest of Enfield Chase.

The walk locations are: Staines; Stanwell Moor; Harmondsworth Moor; Cowley; Ruislip Lido; Hayes Town; East Bedfont; Hatton and Hounslow Heath; Cranford; Norwood Green; Bentley Priory; Harrow; Horsenden Hill; Hanwell; Twickenham; Hampton Wick; Ealing; Kingsbury; Gunnersbury Triangle; Chiswick; Welsh Harp; Barnet Gate; Kensal Green; Fulham; Little Venice; Finchley; West Finchley; New Barnet; Chelsea; Southgate.

If you enjoy both walking and visiting good pubs, this book should appeal. All the inns are in Middlesex or what is now west and north west London. Each has an excellent walk, some urban, others rural, based on it. They vary in length from 3 to 6.5 miles and all are easily accessible by public transport. Each route is described in detail with its own accompanying sketch map.

There are waterside walks by the Thames, the Grand Union Canal and the Welsh Harp Reservoir, strolls around literary Hampstead and Twickenham and visits to stately homes and attractive villages. The routes explore some of the area's rural pockets and wildlife oases. Some are well known, such as Hampstead Heath and Trent Country Park, and some are unexpected, such as Camley Street Natural Park and Kensal Green Cemetery.

All 30 pubs are described and details include opening times, speciality menus and their range of ales. Cousins David Hall and Rosemary Hall are both keen walkers and have contributed to several popular guides to walking abroad.

London is a collection of villages. This is as true today as it was a hundred years ago and more. Within those in the Middlesex and West London area, or close by, lies a rich heritage of Georgian houses, timber-framed buildings, Victorian terraces, village greens, parish churches, open spaces, canals, rivers and footpaths. And one of the best ways to explore this varied landscape is on foot.

The twenty routes in this book also introduce the walker to a country park near Harefield, nature reserves near Arkley and Totteridge, and a nature trail near Enfield. The villages have been carefully chosen for their interesting features and proximity to large parks and open countryside. Among the most picturesque are Shepperton, Sunbury, Harrow and Mill Hill.

Each walk instruction also includes details on how to get to the start by public transport and by car, where to park and what food and drink are available locally. The walks vary in length from 1.75 to 7 miles. For greater clarity, the route descriptions are divided into numbered paragraphs which correspond with the numbers on the accompanying sketch maps. In addition there is a seperate section about places of interest to visit nearby such as Osterley House designed by Robert Adam; the small zoo in Brent Lodge Park; Headstone Manor, a 14th-century moated manor house in the grounds of Harrow Museum and Heritage Centre; and the Royal Air Force Museum at Hendon.

Cousins, David and Rosemary Hall, are both enthusiastic walkers and are the co-authors of two other local walking guides.