Frontierlands

LONGLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR CONSERVATION WRITING 2026 AND FOR THE FINANCIAL TIMES AND STANDARD CHARTERED BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD.

The essential new book about Britain's 'frontierlands', the abandoned and neglected places that provide opportunities for business and communities, and how they can help us face the challenges of climate change.

'This is not just a grassroots manual for 21st century survival - groundswelling and prophetic, it could be a startling blueprint for life in the 22nd.' - Tom Nancollas, author of Seashaken Houses

'Read one page, and you will want to keep reading.' - Paul Hawken, author of Regeneration

'Frontierlands' are Britain's forgotten places. Silt-filled harbours, overgrown forests, sunken railway tracks and empty buildings. All once economic engines, now abandoned by investors and the state.

But they are home to local communities, and amongst them, some remarkable pioneers working together to repair, rebuild and prepare for the future.

Hazel Sheffield takes her readers on a journey that begins at the coastline and travels inward via hoardings and railway arches, factories, streets and neighbourhoods to our homes. Moving from Watchet harbour in the South West to Gateshead in the North East, from Lancashire to London and the South East, she introduces us to the people who are acting to shape their own destinies - people with first-hand knowledge of the problems Britain faces and with clear ideas how to make things better.

Immersive and inspiring, Frontierlands challenges us to reconnect with and reclaim our environment, showing that it is possible to regenerate, reskill and create opportunities for industry, and to address the challenges of climate change.

'Beautifully written...an essential manual of inspiration' - Geographical Magazine

'Remarkable, exquisitely researched and acutely observed, it won't leave me.' - Lucy Easthope, author of When the Dust Settles

'This is a book for now, when so many feel jaded, worn thin and in desperate need of hope.' - Kassia St Clair, author of The Secret Lives of Colour