Alfred Wainwright

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.

The Central Fells (Anniversary Edition) By Alfred Wainwright The original Pictorial Guide to the Central Fells of Lakeland - freshly reproduced from Wainwright's original pages. Category: Outdoor Guides, Wainwright Publisher: Frances Lincoln

The Central Fells Second Edition By Alfred Wainwright Revised by Chris Jesty Revised edition of A. Wainwright's Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells: Wainwright for the 21st century. Category: Outdoor Guides, Wainwright Publisher: Frances Lincoln

Coast to Coast A Walker's Notebook - From St. Bees Head to Robin Hood's Bay Illustrated by Alfred Wainwright The walk from St Bees Head to Robin Hood's Bay is the most popular long distance walk in Britain and A Coast to Coast Walker's Notebook is the place where you can record details of your journey from one side of England to the other. Category: Stationery, Wainwright Publisher: Frances Lincoln

Pennine Journey By Alfred Wainwright The story of a solitary walk through the Pennines taken by A. Wainwright in September 1938. Category: Outdoor Guides, Wainwright Publisher: Frances Lincoln

The Southern Fells (Anniversary Edition) By Alfred Wainwright The original Pictorial Guide to the Southern Fells of Lakeland – freshly reproduced from Wainwright's original pages Category: Outdoor Guides, Wainwright Publisher: Frances Lincoln

The Southern Fells Second Edition By Alfred Wainwright Revised by Chris Jesty Revised edition of A. Wainwright's Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells: Wainwright for the 21st century. Category: Outdoor Guides, Wainwright Publisher: Frances Lincoln

Wainwright Address Book By Alfred Wainwright Illustrated by Alfred Wainwright Desk address book with tabbed sections, featuring illustrations by A. Wainwright, legendary author, illustrator and fellwalker. Category: Stationery, Wainwright Publisher: Frances Lincoln

A Walker's Notebook By Alfred Wainwright Illustrated by Alfred Wainwright Pocket-sized notebook with flexi splashproof cover, for recording details of nearly 100 walks (dates, routes, companions and what you experienced on the way). Category: Stationery, Wainwright Publisher: Frances Lincoln

Walks in Limestone Country By Alfred Wainwright Wainwright's hand-drawn walking guides are perhaps the most distinctive and unusual such guides ever devised. This book focuses on walks in the Whernside, Ingleborough and Penyghent areas of Yorkshire. Category: Outdoor Guides, Wainwright Publisher: Frances Lincoln

Walks on the Howgill Fells By Alfred Wainwright Featuring sketches by the author, the Wainwright walking guides are perhaps the most distinctive and unusual such guides ever devised. This book focuses on walks on the Howgill Fells and adjoining fells. Category: Outdoor Guides, Wainwright Publisher: Frances Lincoln