A. WainwrightRecensioni

A wonderful book for looking at, reading, and remembering.; and beautifully illustrated by the author's characteristic drawings, which to me, give a clearer idea of the nature of the fells than any photograph.

Excellent photographs and drawings.

Ex libris Ken J. Goddard, Leeds

Wrapper taped and torn.

Orig. publ. Kendal : Westmorland Gazette, 1966

Orig. publ. Kendal : Westmorland Gazette, 1973

Orig. publ. Kendal : Westmorland Gazette, 1968

After reading this book, I wanted to drop everything else and go for a long walk. The hand-written guide and hand-drawn pictures of the scenery are marvelous advertisements for this particular journey.

Written at the time of the outbreak of World War II, this book tells you more about Wainwright the man than the places he visit - and about mankind in general. There are some very good observations although the bit about the feminine side of a hot water bottle is a little disconcerting as are the author's views about women and their place.

Born in Blackburn in 1907, Alfred Wainwright left school at the age of 13. A holiday at the age of 23 kindled a life-long love affair with the Lake District. Following a move to Kendal in 1941 he began to devote every spare moment he had to researching and compiling the original seven Pictorial Guides. He described these as his 'love letters' to the Lakeland Fells and at the end of the first, The Eastern Fells, he wrote about what the mountains had come to mean to him: "I suppose it might be said, to add impressiveness to the whole thing, that this book has been twenty years in the making, for it is so long, and more, since I first came from a smoky mill-town (forgive me, Blackburn!) and beheld, from Orrest Head, a scene of great beauty, a fascinating paradise, Lakeland's mountains and trees and water. That was the first time I had looked upon beauty, or imagined it, even. Afterwards I went often, whenever I could, and always my eyes were lifted to the hills. I was to find then, and it has been so ever since, a spiritual and physical satisfaction in climbing mountains -- and a tranquil mind upon reaching their summits, as though I had escaped from the disappointments and unkindnesses of life and emerged above them into a new world, a better world. In due course I came to live within sight of the hills, and I was well content. If I could not be climbing, I was happy to sit idly and dream of them, serenely. Then came a restlessness and the feeling that it was not enough to take their gifts and do nothing in return. I must dedicate something of myself, the best part of me, to them. I started to write about them, and to draw pictures of them. Doing these things, I found they were still giving and I still receiving, for a great pleasure filled me when I was so engaged -- I had found a new way of escape to them and from all else less worth while. Thus it comes about that I have written this book. Not for material gain, welcome though that would be (you see I have not escaped entirely!); not for the benefit of my contemporaries, though if it brings them also to the hills I shall be well pleased; certainly not for posterity, about which I can work up no enthusiasm at all. No, this book has been written, carefully and with infinite patience, for my own pleasure and because it has seemed to bring the hills to my own fireside. If it has merit, it is because the hills have merit." A. Wainwright died in 1991 at the age of 84. Chris Jesty trained as a cartographer with the Ordnance Survey. He devised Scafell Pike Panorama, a guide to the view from the highest mountain in England, for which Wainwright provided illustrations. When Wainwright's health deteriorated, Chris helped him with the maps for two of his large-format books. Shortly before he died, Wainwright said that if ever the Pictorial Guides were to be revised, Chris Jesty should be given the job. He lives in Kendal.

Book Club Associates edition. Must have bought this by mistake or perhaps even out of interest after a TV documentary on Wainwright.

This is the final book from A. Wainwright, completed just before his death in January 1991. The book is a celebration of the beautiful valleys of Lakeland and includes many anecdotes from Wainwright's earlier explorations of the mountains, fells and valleys which he later evoked in words and drawings. Alfred Wainwright is the author of the "Pictoral Guides to the Lakeland Fells" and "Wainwright on the Lakeland and Mountain Passes" as well as over 40 guidebooks and volumes of drawings.

Sixth in the series of Lakeland fell books. The man was a genius, only truly appreciated when you've walked the hills. A classic piece of design and art combined with quirky humour and a deep love for the Lakeland Fells.

"Wainwrights" (any of the guides) are essential to anyone walking in the Lakeland Fells; they are a visual delight as well.

In 1931, the author and three companions walked through the Lake District on such a route that every lake, every valley and every mountain would be seen, if not actually visited. The "manuscript" consists of five pages of text which is in the ownership of the last surviving member of the walking team. The book is mainly photographic, but enhanced by Wainwright's own illustrations from his pictorial guides and captions drawn from his text.