Three Months in Cashmere

In 1887 Lizzie and Tom Sykes fulfilled their dream of trekking in Kashmir (or Cashmere as Lizzie refers to it). At the time they were living in Lucknow, India, where for thirty years Tom was the Principal of La Martiniere College - on which Rudyard Kipling based Kim's school. Then in their mid-forties they set off from Murree with nine hundredweight of luggage at the start of their trek, staying for a while in Srinagar and the surrounding area, before crossing the mountainous Pir Panjal Pass on their journey home to Lucknow three months later - an extraordinary and fascinating trip.

Lizzie scrupulously recorded their remarkable and, at times, dangerous journey in a diary. She describes vividly the scenery, the flowers and the trees that they encountered on their almost five hundred mile trek on foot and on horseback, with a wry sense of humour that finds amusement even in the most dire situations. Staying in primitive and often filthy rest-houses en route, Lizzie and Tom display fortitude and initiative throughout.

This diary, of a journey undertaken in a forgotten era, is greatly enhanced by original pencil sketches of some of the places they visited, produced by Lizzie during this trip. The diary came to light through her great-granddaughter, Judith, and has been meticulously and adroitly edited by her husband, Patrick Pinches.