Unknowingly, too, they both approximate the emblematic figure of the flâneur as defined by the poet Charles Baudelaire in his 1863 essay The Painter of Modern Life. For Baudelaire, the flâneur was a “passionate spectator”, part idler, part aesthete, who was entirely at ease “in the heart of the multitude, amid the ebb and flow of movement, in the midst of the fugitive and the infinite”. A child explores her neighborhood on a late-night walk with her dad, finding delight and comfort in moments of quiet and the warm windows into other people’s lives. When a little girl can’t sleep one night, her dad asks if she’d like to go for a walk. They tiptoe through the silent house and step out into the dark. It’s strange and exciting to be out so late. Walking down the street, the girl can see inside the lit-up windows of apartment buildings and houses where people’s lives are unfolding. Kids are having a pillow fight in one house, while a family has gathered for a festive meal in another. She and her dad reach the still-busy shopping area, walking past restaurants and enticing store windows, then stop for a tranquil moment in the park before returning home. Sara O’Leary has captured a child’s nighttime wonder as she explores her neighborhood and comes to the comforting realization that she belongs. Ellie Arscott’s illustrations, luminous and rich in color, perfectly complement the story. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.6 Set on a tiny Hebridean island, Night Waking is the story of Anna, academic and mother of two small children, who is working on a book about childhood in the eighteenth century while her own children are driving her to distraction and her aristocratic husband studies puffins, oblivious to the demands of domestic life. The already precarious balance of their lives is disturbed still further by the discovery of the bones of an infant buried in their garden. The other main strand of Beaumont’s argument involves showing why nightwalkers are such popular literary figures. This results in plenty of cultural history, such as a magazine article from 1780 that gravely advised its readers not to adopt “the sauntering gait of a lazy Spaniard”, but it also means showing how often authors themselves have been creatures of the night. Their number include Samuel Johnson and Richard Savage, who spent impoverished parts of the 1730s engaged in various “midnight rambles”, or what Johnson’s Dictionary would later define as “noctivagation” (“the act of rambling or wandering in the night”), and William Blake, whose nocturnal wanderings seem to have been designed to discover the limits of the Enlightenment. Experience the quiet majesty of Snowdon by moonlight, with a guided sunrise, sunset or dark skies walk.

Chris’s existing and extensive fan-base, the anglers, will find a freedom in Nightwalk…I believe this is [his] finest work to date…What is certain, though, is that Nightwalk will delight for many, many years to come.’ Kevin Parr, Caught By the River It’s easy to think that having a bright light is better for exploring the darkness. However, for short night time walks, their extensive use can wreak havoc on your night vision.Another of my favorite London night walks is one in the area around London Bridge. This part of the city is for you if you enjoy history, food, and riverside scenery in equal measure. The winner of the Landerneau Children’s Book Prize, this French import is a deep and amazing read. It invites us all to think about adventuring out into the world in the dark, discovering how the world feels with nature around us, darkness, summer heat and wonder. The text in the book is simple, guiding us through the night’s adventure, pointing out what can be seen and heard, and allowing us all to marvel at the world covered in night. The text never gets in the way of our amazement, instead encouraging us to see more and play along. Last November, the sudden appearance of a hundred wintering ravens in a wood in Cranborne Chase, where I have lived for twenty-five years without seeing more than a few solitary specimens, reminded me that there is always something ready to flame up again in the landscape, just when it seemed the fire had gone out.”

I found the multitude of themes running through Night Waking really interesting - motherhood, dysfunctional families, post-natal depression, the division of work and home - but I didn't really feel like Moss really ran with any one of these topics. There would be moments of brilliance dotted throughout, but then she wouldn't really take those strains of interest anywhere, and I just felt the story crumpling around me. I still don't really see the point of the story overall. Since then the flâneur has, if anything, assumed an even greater importance as a cultural arbiter of urban experience, most recently in the 90s, when contemporary psychogeographers such as Iain Sinclair and Will Self explored even the most pedestrian-unfriendly city zones on foot. The city can become a character in itself, dramatising a protagonist’s sense of alienation, fear or paranoia Another of my favorite London night walks is in Covent Garden. One of the most colorful central London areas, this part of the city is famous for its covered piazza, markets, shops, and restaurants. All three challenges are linear walks starting and finishing in the village of Llanberis. You will be walking for about 9 miles/14.5km and climb a total of 3560 feet/ 975 metres during your walk. Snowdonia National Park is one of only 18 International Dark Sky Reserves in the world, offering a rare opportunity to escape light pollution and soak up the magic of a truly dark sky. Our experienced Mountain leaders regularly run Snowdon by Night walks, guiding hikers carefully along paths they know intimately. It’s a powerful experience that will connect you with your fellow walkers, the mountain itself and nature for an unforgettable experience. Take a moment to turn off torches and see if you can spot the milky way!All the angst is rendered in both eloquent and laugh-out-loud terms. I giggled with recognition and comradery. I admired the honesty. That was in winter. The screaming of a tawny owl echoed off the bare trees. For all of our street-lamp civilization, you can still hear the call of the wild. If, if, you go out after the decline of the day... Keep an eye out for wildlife: Any night time wildlife encounters in the UK are almost certainly likely to be benign, but if you’re worried it’s worth researching which animals are common to your local area so you know what to expect. Foxes, owls, bats, badgers and deer are more common at night, but the main thing is just to try to be aware of your surroundings. Listen and look for animals, not only so you can enjoy seeing them but also so you can respond if necessary.