The bisses of Valais, Man-made watercourses in Switzerland

Guy Bratt is a Buckinghamshire man who was first taken to the Alps in 1927 – when he was seven. This led to a passion for mountains, which is undiminished and, fortunately, is shared by his wife and their three children and by at least some of their grandchildren. He was in the Territorial Army at the outbreak of World War II and was commissioned in the Royal Signals in 1940. Seven years soldiering during and after the War kept him away from real mountains for far too long. Then, after a short period as a solicitor, he spent the rest of his working life in the Foreign (later Diplomatic) service. A posting as H.M. Consul in Geneva resulted in increased knowledge of the Valais and its people and this provided an additional incentive to write this book. Guy Bratt feels that many English-speaking people, particularly those who have a general or historical interest in irrigation or who, in the course of mountain walking, have come across bisses, might like to know more about them. Hitherto they will not have been able to find this information collated anywhere else.