A peedie guide to Charles Tait

It was great to meet Charles Tait, the author of The Peedie Orkney Guide Book: What to Do and See in Orkney and so many other great guide books, on a recent trip to Mainland Orkney. We flew from Westray to Mainland Orkney for lunch at the Real Food Cafe at Judith Glue in Kirkwall. In what was a delicious irony I then had Westray Crab for lunch and then flew back to Westray.

I love some of the Amazon reviews of Charles’s The Peedie Orkney Guide Book:

Brilliant guide. Full of information about places and features; itineraries of various sorts, maps and photos. From other posted reviews I thought this would be good but it’s exceeded my expectations.

and:

Just back from Orkney, this guide is absolutely excellent. The routes are easy to follow, advice about booking Maes Howe essential (thank you Charles Tait) and advice about how to avoid bus loads of people great. In fact we were so impressed with this book that, as thought, we are returning next year for longer and have bought the full guide. This guide is great for those visiting for the first time and only staying a few days (a week at the most). For those who have done the popular visits on Orkney get the full book – its heavy and not for carrying around in a rucksack but has everything you could possibly need about every aspect of Orkney. Superb buy.

Charles is obviously a man on a personal mission to bring the world the most comprehensive, easy to follow, beautifully designed books to guide visitors to new places. Interestingly they’re also wonderful to guide locals too, as few people ever go on holiday where they live or are even aware of all the attractions nearby. Charles has also compiled a guide to Dorset, The Dorset Guide Book: What to See and Do in Dorset, which makes me want to visit Dorset just to try out the book, although I think The Isle of Skye Guide Book might inspire me more. Actually, it might be The Shetland Guide Book for me. One place I’d love to go is Sule Skerry and Charles hasn’t done a guide to that yet. Maybe we’ll go there together on an adventure.

Charles Tait - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Thousands of visitors to Orkney have had a better experience and an enriched and more comfortable visit because of the dedication of Charles to producing the best guide books possible. I applaud him.

You can see all Charles’s guides, postcards and prints and all the other things he does at his website Charles Tait Photographic.

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