Nicholas Crane (born 6 May 1954) is an English

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

, writer and broadcaster. Since 2004 he has written and presented four television series for

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

: ''

Coast A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

'', ''Great British Journeys'', '' Map Man'' and ''

Town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

''.

Early life and education

Crane was born in

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

, East Sussex, but grew up in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

. He attended

Wymondham College Wymondham College is a coeducational day and boarding school in Morley, Norfolk, Morley, near Wymondham, Norfolk, England. A former grammar school, it is one of 36 state boarding schools in England and the largest of its type in the country, wit ...

from 1967 until 1972, then Cambridgeshire College of Arts & Technology (CCAT), a forerunner to

Anglia Ruskin University Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is a public research university in the region of East Anglia, United Kingdom. Its origins date back to the Cambridge School of Art (CSA), founded by William John Beamont, a Fellow of Trinity College at the Unive ...

, where he studied Geography. In his youth he went camping and hiking with his father and explored Norfolk by bicycle, which gave him his enthusiasm for exploration.

Career

In 1986, whilst travelling with his cousin Richard, he located the

pole of inaccessibility In geography, a pole of inaccessibility is the farthest (or most difficult to reach) location in a given landmass, sea, or other topographical feature, starting from a given boundary, relative to a given criterion. A geographical criterion of i ...

for the

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

landmass; their journey became the subject of the book ''Journey to the Centre of the Earth''. In 1992–93 he embarked on an 18-month solo journey, walking 10,000 kilometres from

Cape Finisterre Cape Finisterre (, also ; ; ) is a rock-bound peninsula on the west coast of Galicia, Spain. In Roman times it was believed to be an end of the known world. The name Finisterre, like that of Finistère in France, derives from the Latin , mean ...

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. He recounted the trip in his book ''Clear Waters Rising: A Mountain Walk Across Europe'' which won the

Thomas Cook Travel Book Award The Thomas Cook Travel Book Award originated as an initiative of Thomas Cook AG in 1980, with the aim of encouraging and rewarding the art of literary travel writing. The awards stopped in 2005 (2004 being the last year an award was given). One ye ...

in 1997, and made a television self-documentary of the journey: ''High Trails to Istanbul'' (1994). His 2000 book ''Two Degrees West'' described his walk across Great Britain from north to south, in which he followed the eponymous meridian as closely as possible. In 2003 he published a biography of

Gerard Mercator Gerardus Mercator (; 5 March 1512 – 2 December 1594) was a Flemish geographer, cosmographer and cartographer. He is most renowned for creating the 1569 world map based on a new projection which represented sailing courses of constant beari ...

, the great

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

cartographer. Together with Richard Crane, he was awarded the 1992 Mungo Park Medal by the

Royal Scottish Geographical Society The Royal Scottish Geographical Society (RSGS) is an educational charity based in Perth, Scotland, founded in 1884. The purpose of the society is to advance the subject of geography worldwide, inspire people to learn more about the world around ...

for his journeys in

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

, China,

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

and Africa. In 2007 he completed a series called ''Great British Journeys''. In eight parts the series consisted of eight people who explored Great Britain and made a contribution to society born of the exploration. Each episode lasts one hour and the series was accompanied by a book. In November 2007 he debated the future of the English countryside with Richard Girling, Sue Clifford,

Richard Mabey Richard Thomas Mabey (born 20 February 1941) is a writer and broadcaster, chiefly on the relations between nature and culture. Education Mabey was educated at three independent schools, all in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. The first was at Roth ...

and

Bill Bryson William McGuire Bryson ( ; born 8 December 1951) is an American-British journalist and author. Bryson has written a number of nonfiction books on topics including travel, the English language, and science. Born in the United States, he has be ...

as part of CPRE's annual Volunteers Conference. He presented a series about British towns broadcast in August 2011 and May–June 2013. He has served as a visiting professor at

which presented the former student in 2012 with the award of Honorary Doctor of Science. He was President of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

from 2015 to 2018, a post now occupied by Nigel Clifford. In 2016 he published ''The Making Of The British Landscape: From the Ice Age to the Present'', a 12,000-year historical geography of Britain.

Personal life

Crane lives in

Primrose Hill Primrose Hill is a Grade II listed public park located north of Regent's Park in London, England, first opened to the public in 1842.Mills, A., ''Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001) It was named after the natural hill in the centre of t ...

in northwest

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

with his wife; they have three children.

Books

*''The CTC Route Guide to Cycling in Britain and Ireland'' (with Christa Gausden, 1980) *''Cycling Guide'' (Tantivy Press, annually 1980–86) *''Cycling in Europe'' (1984) *''Bicycles Up Kilimanjaro'' (with Richard Crane, 1985) *''Journey to the Centre of the Earth'' (with Richard Crane, 1987) *''Richard's Mountain Bike Book'' (with Charles Kelly, edited by Richard Ballantine, 1988) *''Nick Crane's Action Sports'' (1989) *''Atlas Biker: Cycling in Morocco. O.U.P.'' (1990) *''Clear Waters Rising: A Mountain Walk Across Europe'' (1996) *''Two Degrees West: An English Journey'' (2000) *''Mercator: The Man Who Mapped the Planet'' (2003) *''Great British Journeys'' (2007) *''Coast A Journey around our Shores'' (2010) *''The Making Of The British Landscape: From the Ice Age to the Present'' (2016) *''Latitude: The Astonishing Adventure That Shaped the World'' (2021)

Television

*''Now Get Out of That'' – as a contestant representing Oxford, 1982 *''High Trails to Istanbul'' (1994) *'' Map Man'' (8x30m, 2004 and 8x30m, 2005) *''

'' (as main presenter, 13x60m, 2005; as regular contributor 2006–present) *''Great British Journeys'' (8x60m, 2007) *''Beeching's Tracks'' – featured presenter of Episode 1 ''East''. Broadcast 13 November 2008 on BBC Four *''Nicholas Crane's Britannia: The Great Elizabethan Journey'' (3x60m, 2009) *''In Search of England’s Green and Pleasant Land: East'' (30m, 2009) Broadcast 5 June 2009 on BBC Four *''Munro: Mountain Man'' (60m, 2009) Broadcast 20 September on BBC Four *'' TOWN with Nicholas Crane'' (4x60m, 2011 and 4x60m, 2013)

References

External links

*
Interview with ''Wanderlust'' magazine

BBC's Coast

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crane, Nicholas 1954 births Living people Alumni of Anglia Ruskin University English travel writers Walkers of the United Kingdom People from Wymondham People educated at Wymondham College Presidents of the Royal Geographical Society Long distance walkers