Almost ready!
In order to save audiobooks to your Wish List you must be signed in to your account.
Log in Create account
Shop small, give big!
With credit bundles, you choose the number of credits and your recipient picks their audiobooks—all in support of local bookstores.
Start gifting
Limited-time offer
Get two free audiobooks!
Now’s a great time to shop indie. When you start a new one credit per month membership supporting local bookstores with promo code SWITCH, we’ll give you two bonus audiobook credits at sign-up.
Sign up todayThe Gathering Place
This audiobook uses AI narration.
We’re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.
Learn moreBloomsbury presents The Gathering Place written and read by Mary Colwell.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE EDWARD STANFORD TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024
'Deeply poetic.' CAROLINE LUCAS MP
'A masterpiece of storytelling.' NICK MAYHEW-SMITH
'Mary Colwell is a candle of open-minded curiosity.' PATRICK LAURIE
'An unforgettable story.' MICHAEL MCCARTHY
-
Mary Colwell makes a solo pilgrimage along the Camino Francés winding through forests, mountains, farmland, industrial sprawls and places of worship.
Pilgrims have always walked in times of upheaval, pitching themselves against weather, hunger, thirst and sometimes pain as they tread the paths their ancestors once followed. In the winter of 2020, author, nature campaigner and veteran solo walker Mary Colwell walked a 500-mile pilgrimage along the Camino Francés in northern Spain.
In a typical year, many thousands of people walk this route, but Mary had it virtually to herself at a unique historical moment – a time of profound political change, escalating climate and biodiversity emergencies and global pandemic.
The modern world weaves in and out of the Camino’s worn trackway, providing a focus for contemplation and a place for memories and experiences to gather. In her delightful book, Mary weaves experiences from her solo winter pilgrimage with stories from a walk millions have undertaken over the centuries. Her thoughtful and, at times, humorous journey of body and soul includes moments of intense spirituality, meetings with a demon slayer, strange goings-on and magical tales, and Mary’s exquisite descriptions of the constant backdrop of nature in all its complexity and wonder.
Mary Colwell is an author, producer and campaigner for nature. Her articles have appeared in the Guardian, BBC Wildlife Magazine, The Tablet, Country Life and many other publications. She has made documentaries for the BBC Natural History Unit in both TV and radio and has published three books: John Muir – the Scotsman Who Saved America’s Wild Places, Curlew Moons and Beak, Tooth and Claw. In 2009 she won a Sony Radio Academy Gold award and in October 2017 she was awarded the Dilys Breese Medal by the BTO for outstanding science communication.
Mary has won a Sony Radio Academy Gold Award, the David Bellamy Award for her conservation work on curlews, the WWT Marsh Award for Conservation, the BTO Dilys Breese Medal for outstanding science communication, the prestigious RSPB Medal and in 2024, the Zoological Society of London's Silver Medal for outstanding contributions to the understanding and appreciation of zoology. In March 2021, she was appointed Chair of the government-supported Curlew Recovery Partnership England, a roundtable of organisations charged with restoring curlews, their habitats and associated wildlife across England. In 2020, she set up the charity, Curlew Action.
Mary Colwell is an author, producer and campaigner for nature. Her articles have appeared in the Guardian, BBC Wildlife Magazine, The Tablet, Country Life and many other publications. She has made documentaries for the BBC Natural History Unit in both TV and radio and has published three books: John Muir – the Scotsman Who Saved America’s Wild Places, Curlew Moons and Beak, Tooth and Claw. In 2009 she won a Sony Radio Academy Gold award and in October 2017 she was awarded the Dilys Breese Medal by the BTO for outstanding science communication.
Mary has won a Sony Radio Academy Gold Award, the David Bellamy Award for her conservation work on curlews, the WWT Marsh Award for Conservation, the BTO Dilys Breese Medal for outstanding science communication, the prestigious RSPB Medal and in 2024, the Zoological Society of London's Silver Medal for outstanding contributions to the understanding and appreciation of zoology. In March 2021, she was appointed Chair of the government-supported Curlew Recovery Partnership England, a roundtable of organisations charged with restoring curlews, their habitats and associated wildlife across England. In 2020, she set up the charity, Curlew Action.
Give audiobooks, support local bookstores!
Libro.fm for Business
Start a membership, get two free audiobooks