| Alfred Wainwright |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT ALFRED WAINWRIGHT | |
| wainwrights | |
| english non-fiction outdoors writers | |
| english travel writers | |
| people from blackburn | |
| 1907 births | |
| 1991 deaths | |
| writers who illustrated their own writing | |
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LIFE Alfred Wainwright grew up in Blackburn and was from a poor family. His father was an alcoholic. He left school aged 13 and started work in an accountant's office, as he wanted to contribute to the family finances. Even when a child Wainwright walked a great deal, up to 20 miles at a time. He also showed a great interest in Cartography , producing his own maps of England and the north of England. His school reports are very impressive; he came first or second in the class in nearly all subjects. At the age of 23 he saved up enough money for a holiday in the Lake District with his cousin Eric Beardsall. They arrived in Windermere , where the young Wainwright was captivated by the houses with beautiful gardens. He and his cousin went up Orrest Head , where Wainwright says the course of his life was transformed and he realised that he would never see the streets of Blackburn in the same way. He and Eric continued their trip by walking to Pooley Bridge , then getting the bus to Patterdale the next day, from where they set off up Helvellyn , via Striding Edge . It was raining and Wainwright says the sight of the Edge in the swirling mist scared him. They made their way to Keswick . The next day they explored the local area before going up Skiddaw . Wainwright went back to Blackburn a changed man. He organised a few walking trips over the next few years, before taking a job in Kendal (and with it a pay cut), so that he could be near his beloved fells. He lived in Kendal for the rest of his life; he never left the UK, although he did enjoy holidays in the Scottish Highlands . PUBLICATIONS In the Pictorial Guides , published between 1955 and 1966, Wainwright described 214 Fell s in the Lake District. They are often known as '' Wainwrights '' and reaching the top of all of them is a popular activity among many Lakeland fell-walkers. (See Peak Bagging ). Wainwright's favourite peak in the Lake District was Haystacks , above Buttermere , and this is where his ashes were scattered after his death. He wrote ''Pennine Way Companion'' in 1968 – this was for many years a leading guide to the Pennine Way (rivalling the official guide book by Tom Stephenson ). Unusually, Wainwright's book starts at the back and you have to read backwards (because it's a south-to-north walk). The guide was prepared with the aid of four helpers (Harry Appleyard, Len Chadwick, Cyril Moore and Lawrence Smith) and its preparation was affected by the major outbreaks of Foot And Mouth Disease in 1966 & 1967, which closed access to many of the moors. Wainwright was a not great fan of the Pennine Moorland terrain, especially in the wet and mist, and his book concludes characteristically: :"well I hope you enjoy it, I really do...The walk will do you good. :"You won't find me anywhere along the Pennine Way. :"I've had enough of it." He wrote several other books including ''Fellwanderer'' ( 1967 ), ''Walks in Limestone Country'' ( 1970 ), ''Walks on the Howgill Fells'' ( 1972 ), ''The Outlying Fells of Lakeland'' ( 1973 ), ''Westmorland Heritage'' ( 1974 ), ''Lakeland Sketchbooks'' ( 1975 ), ''Kendal in the 19th Century'' ( 1977 ), ''Walks from Ratty'' ( 1978 ), ''Three Westmorland Rivers'' ( 1979 ), ''Fellwalking with Wainwright'' (with Derry Brabbs, 1984 ), ''Wainwright on the Pennine Way'' (with Derry Brabbs, 1985 ), ''Wainwright's Coast to Coast Walk'' (with Derry Brabbs, 1987 ), ''Wainwright in the Lakeland Mountain Passes'' (with Derry Brabbs, 1989 ), ''Wainwright in the Limestone Dales'' (with Ed Gelgard, 1991 ), ''Wainwright's Favourite Lakeland Mountains'' (with Derry Brabbs, 1991 ), and ''Wainwright in the Valleys of Lakeland'' (with Derry Brabbs, 1992 ). In 1972 Wainwright designed the Coast To Coast Walk , which traversed what he described as "the grandest territory in the north of England". The walk starts at St Bees , travelling through Cleator , Ennerdale , Rosthwaite , Patterdale , Shap , Kirkby Stephen , then leaving Cumbria and wandering through the Westmorland Plateau and Vale of Mowbray, Keld , Reeth , Richmond , Ingleby Cross to the North York Moors National Park . Clay Bank , Glaisdale . The C2C, as it is abbreviated, reaches its end at Robin Hood's Bay on the east coast of England. The walk is 190 miles in length. The Wainwright Society was inaugurated in 2002, with the aim of keeping alive the things he promoted through his books. As Of 2005 , the ''Pictorial Guides'' are being updated, for the first time since their original publication. The revisions are being made by Chris Jesty, who plans to complete the task by 2012 . REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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