Stan Abbott

Stan Abbott’s journalistic career has seen him write extensively on outdoor issues for a variety of national and regional newspapers and specialist publications. He has travelled extensively in, and written on, Scandinavia (in particular Norway, the Faroe Islands, Denmark and Iceland), France, the Indian Ocean, Austrail, Thailand, North America and Ireland. He has published numerous books on the outdoors, is the author/co-author of three books on the Settle & Carlisle Railway (a fourth appearing in Spring 2022) and is an expert on commercial aviation. He is a trainer in editing and design, journalism, creative writing and media relations skills.

Professional Activities

Stan's current focus is on further developing his author portfolio. His updated story on the fight to save the Settle & Carlisle Railway (Settle & Carlisle: The Enduring Life of the People's Railway) is due out in Spring 2022, published by Saraband. Ring of Stone Circles: Exploring Neolithic Cumbria tells the story of a journey connecting the more than 30 stone circles in Cumbria, is due out in Spring 2022, from the same publisher.

Stan is Chair of the OWPG and organises the annual Big Weekend and AGM venue.

Stan also writes for a number of specialist publications in travel and aviation and is "islands correspondent" for the New European newspaper.

As a specialist promoter of offbeat tourist destination, he worked for nearly 20 years to put the Faroe Islands on the map and is currently (COVID permitting) working with the Norwegian airline, Widerøe, and with the city of Newcastle's award-winning Business Improvement District.

He runs creative writing courses in North Yorkshire and mentors would-be authors to get their work in print.

Recent Publications

Stan's author name is Stan L. Abbott and his first novel, The Episode, was published by Sixth Element in 2020, and he is currently working on his second. He recently edited Space for Wonder: A Guide to Trekking the Mountain Frontier of the Pyrenees, by OWPG member Gordon Wilson. Until recently, he published English and French editions of Eastern Airways' customer magazine. He was also regularly published in Flight Time, the Flybe customer magazine.

Awards

OWPG Award for Excellence (News, 1993); 2001 CIPR Cream Award for crisis communications; 1981 Gray Prize (hang gliding writing); four Magazine of the Year Awards for NHS Magazine and various other publications under his editorship.