Alfred Wainwright

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alfred ("A.") Wainwright MBE (born January 17, 1907 in Blackburn , Lancashire , † January 20, 1991 in Kendal ) was an English author and illustrator . His seven Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells , which appeared between 1955 and 1966, are considered the standard work of route descriptions to 214 mountains ("Fells") of the English Lake District . One of the more than 40 other books is the description of a 300 km long hike across northern England from the Irish Sea to the North Sea ( A Coast to Coast Walk ) , which, like the Pictorial Guides, is completely handwritten and includes many sketches and drawings is illustrated.

Life

Alfred Wainwright was the fourth child of a working-class Blackburn family and grew up in poor conditions. Although he was a good student, he left school at the age of 13 and became an office clerk with the Blackburn City Council. In evening schools, he continued to study accounting , which had a positive effect on his career.

Even as a child, Wainwright enjoyed hiking a lot, often up to 30 kilometers a day. He was also very interested in drawing and cartography, and made maps of England and the region in which he lived.

In 1930, at the age of 23, he had saved enough money to spend a week in the nearby Lake District with his cousin, Eric Beardsall . They drove to Windermere and climbed Orrest Head , from where Wainwright first saw the Lakeland fells. This time at Orrest Head marked the beginning of his love for the Lake District and his life changed.

Although he earned less than in Blackburn, Wainwright took a position in the financial administration of Kendal in 1941 , which he also led from 1948 until his retirement in 1967. The fact that Kendal is closer to the Lake District made him get over the loss of income.

Pictorial guides

Wainwright began work on the first page of the Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells on November 9, 1952. From the outset, he planned the exact scope and content of the seven books. He worked on them conscientiously and with great care for the next 13 years, completing a page every day. He wrote all the text by hand and worked so precisely that the text appears justified. Each chapter is provided with numerous views, ascents, and detailed sketches of each of Wainwright's 214 peaks. He drew the sketches from black-and-white photos he had taken on his hikes.

Wainwright says in his autobiography Fellwanderer that he wrote the series for his own memoir and had no intentions of publication. However, friends and acquaintances urged him to make these guides available to the wider public as well. The first books were self-published by a local printing company. His friend, the head of the library in Kendal Henry Marshall , took over the role of publisher . From volume four this function was taken over by the regional newspaper Westmorland Gazette from Kendal.

In 1990 Michael Joseph , a publisher of the Penguin Group , took over the publication . When the sales fell and the publication should be stopped in 2003, the rights were bought by the publisher Frances Lincoln .

From 2006 to September 2010 the Pictorial Guides were revised as significant changes had occurred in some places in Lakeland over the past 50 years. Editing was done by Chris Jesty , who used a computerized form of Alfred Wainwright's handwriting to make changes to the page layout as unobtrusive as possible. This revision had sparked a controversial discussion among Wainwright's supporters. On the one hand, the opinion was expressed that the books should be viewed as a kind of work of art and should not be changed as such. On the other hand, there are strong changes in the landscape in some places. B. caused by the construction of new streets, districts, landslides or the laying of fences, which could lead to confusion and therefore made a revision appear advisable.

It is planned to update the other remaining hiking guides as well. It should start with “A Coast to Coast Walk”, followed by “The Outlying Fells of Lakeland” and the “Pennine Way Companion”.

more books

In 1968 the Pennine Way Companion appeared : a detailed description of England's first long-distance footpath , the Pennine Way , created in the same layout . Wainwright's book is the most widely used guide for this trail , along with Tom Stephenson's official description . It consists of a continuous volume of drawings and accompanying explanations describing the route from south to north. Since this is the opposite of normal reading, the book is read back to front and each page bottom up. Wainwright was assisted by four helpers ( Harry Appleyard , Len Chadwick , Cyril Moore and Lawrence Smith ) to create the book . During the preparation of this book in 1967 and 1968, large parts of the Pennine Way were temporarily closed because of the foot-and-mouth disease that broke out in England .

The 1970 book Walks in Limestone Country describes walks in the Whernside , Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent area of the Yorkshire Three Peaks .

In 1972 Wainwright devised the Coast to Coast Walk as a kind of alternative to the Pennine Way. This route is loved because of its scenic beauty, variety and touristic points , as he says in his book. The 300 km route leads from St Bees to Robin Hoods Bay in the north of England through the National Parks of the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors .

His last major hiking guide was The Outlying Fells of Lakeland , published in 1974. In it he describes the routes to 56 lower mountains around the Lake District, mainly written for retirees and others who can no longer climb the higher mountains .

In the years that followed, he concentrated on illustrated books with larger-scale drawings, as his eyesight deteriorated due to an eye disease. At the same time, he became known nationally through a series of television shows produced by broadcaster Eric Robson .

He declared his autobiographical book Ex-Fellwanderer , which was published in 1987, to be his last book of his own. After that, a few coffee table books were published, to which he wrote some comments and which the photographer Derry Brabbs illustrated. Although these illustrated books were a success and sold well, they are not so valued by lovers of his earlier books because they do not contain any new information and his comments appear stilted and humorless.

death

Innominate Tarn, Wainwright's final resting place

Wainwright died on January 20, 1991 after a heart attack in Kendal. He bequeathed most of his fortune to his second wife, Betty, with the proviso that generous and anonymous donations were made to animal welfare institutions. Although he was not poor, he left nothing to his only son from his first marriage, Peter, according to his biographer Hunter Davies .

His ashes were scattered at the Innominate Tarn on top of the Haystacks , as he had wished. In the church in the nearby village of Buttermere there is a plaque in a window niche, from where you can see haystacks.

influence

Wainwright's Pictorial Guides have sold over two million copies since they were first published. Although there are other and more recent descriptions of the Lakeland Fells, his books are among the most popular. This is not least due to the richness of detail and the unmistakably unique appearance of its handwritten design. The division of the Lake District into seven areas and the selection of the mountains was subsequently adopted by most authors from hiking guides in this region.

The Coast to Coast Walk has become one of the most popular long-distance hiking trails in England, although it has no official status, and has resulted in numerous descriptions of the trail by other authors. In 2003, a jury of experts from Country Walking magazine voted it the second best hiking trail in the world. The popularity of Wainwright's other books does not match that of the Pictorial Guides , and some of them are no longer reprinted.

The 214 fells described in the Pictorial Guides are generally referred to as The Wainwrights in England and it is the goal of many Fellwalkers to visit them all. Alan Castle of the Long Distance Walkers Association reports that a total of 331 people were known to have climbed Wainwrights as of 2003. Dave Hewitt suggests the current number is around 500.

The youngest is Jordan Ross , who climbed all of the Wainwrights by the age of 9.

Jonathan Broad from Cockermouth , who climbed the 214 Wainwrights in one year, is only five days older .

Wainwright was a dedicated animal rights advocate and donated most of his income from the books to animal welfare. In 1972 he became chairman of the recently founded Animal Rescue Cumbria Association and donated enough money over several years to enable the association to build an animal shelter in Kendal in 1984. After his death, the club was renamed Animal Rescue Cumbria - The Wainwright Shelter .

The Wainwright Society was founded in 2002 with the aim of preserving his memory, supporting local projects in Cumbria and promoting environmentally friendly furwalking in the Lake District, as Wainwright has always wanted to keep as little as possible when hiking in the mountains to leave human traces.

watch TV

In the mid 1980s, Wainwright became popular on television. Several series have been produced about him and his work by writer, documentary filmmaker and television presenter Eric Robson .

After his death, the BBC produced a documentary on Wainwright's life which aired on BBC Four on February 25, 2007 , followed by two four-part series of Walks from his books.

The first series included Castle Crag , Haystacks , Blencathra via Sharp Edge, and Scafell Pike from Seathwaite . A second series in the fall of 2007 covered walks on Catbells , Crinkle Crags , Helm Crag , Pillar , Helvellyn by Patterdale and High Street by Mardale . A third series is being planned.

Inspired by viewer interest, a 6-part series entitled “Wainwright Walks: Coast to Coast” was produced in September 2008 and broadcast on BBC Four in spring 2009, which, like the first two series, was also presented by TV journalist Julia Bradbury .

This documentation is now also available on DVD.

Trivia

The Wainwright Bus

The transport company Stagecoach Northwest , which operates bus passenger transport in Cumbria, has been using three double-decker buses on route 555 between Windermere and Keswick since spring 2008, each with a livery honoring a person who "has significantly shaped life and culture in Lakeland" . In addition to Alfred Wainwright, William Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter are also honored in this way with their own bus.

Buses were an important means of transport throughout his life for Wainwright, who never had a driver's license and relied on this public transport for his walks.

The Wainwright Bridge

In Wainwright's hometown of Blackburn , where he spent the first 33 years of his life, a bridge that was built in 2008 and shaped the cityscape is named after Wainwright.

When naming, in which the residents of Blackburn could participate by means of proposals and a vote, the majority voted for Wainwright, who was followed in the result by Kathleen Ferrier and Jack Walker , the former owner of the soccer team Blackburn Rovers , whose fan club Rovers Supporters Club Wainwright co-founded.

The Wainwright Rose

Fryers Nurseries Ltd , a well-known rose breeder in England, has named a rose after Wainwright and donates part of the proceeds from the sale to the animal welfare association Animal Rescue Cumbria in Kendal.

Books

This is a list of selected books Wainwright has published. He has also been involved in numerous other books, commented on or illustrated.

travel Guide

  • Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells
    • Volume 1: The Eastern Fells (1955)
    • Volume 2: The Far Eastern Fells (1957)
    • Volume 3: The Central Fells (1958)
    • Volume 4: The Southern Fells (1960)
    • Volume 5: The Northern Fells (1962)
    • Volume 6: The North Western Fells (1964)
    • Volume 7: The Western Fells (1966)
  • Pennine Way Companion (1968)
  • Walks in Limestone Country (1970)
  • Walks on the Howgill Fells (1972)
  • A Coast to Coast Walk (1973)
  • The Outlying Fells of Lakeland (1974)
  • Walks from Ratty (1978)

Sketchbooks

  • A Lakeland Sketchbook (1969)
  • A Second Lakeland Sketchbook (1970)
  • A Third Lakeland Sketchbook (1971)
  • A Fourth Lakeland Sketchbook (1972)
  • A Fifth Lakeland Sketchbook (1973)
  • Westmorland Heritage (1974)
  • Scottish Mountain Drawings (6 volumes, 1974–1978)
  • A Dales Sketchbook (1976)
  • Kendal in the 19th Century (1977)
  • A Second Dales Sketchbook (1978)
  • A Furness Sketchbook (1978)
  • A Second Furness Sketchbook (1979)
  • Three Westmorland Rivers (1979)
  • A Lune Sketchbook (1980)
  • A Ribble Sketchbook (1980)
  • An Eden Sketchbook (1980)
  • Lakeland Mountain Drawings (5 volumes, 1980–1984)

Autobiographies

  • Fellwanderer: The Story Behind the Guidebooks (1966)
  • A Pennine Journey: The Story of a Long Walk in 1938 (1987)
  • Ex-Fellwanderer (1987)

Colored photo books

  • Fellwalking with Wainwright (1984), photos by Derry Brabbs
  • Wainwright on the Pennine Way (1985), photos by Derry Brabbs
  • Wainwright's Coast to Coast Walk (1987), photos by Derry Brabbs
  • Wainwright in the Lakeland Mountain Passes (1989), photos by Derry Brabbs
  • Wainwright in the Limestone Dales (1991), photos by Ed Gelgard
  • Wainwright's Favorite Lakeland Mountains (1991), photos by Derry Brabbs
  • Wainwright in the Valleys of Lakeland (1992), photos by Derry Brabbs

Participation as an illustrator

literature

  • Hunter Davies : Wainwright - The Biography (Orion, London), 1995, ISBN 0-7181-3909-7 .
  • Dave Hewitt: A Bit of Grit on Haystacks: A Celebration of Wainwright (Millrace, Disley), 2004, ISBN 1-902173-17-1 .
  • Erik Lorenz : Through the heart of England. Step by step from coast to coast. Wiesenburg Verlag 2014, ISBN 3-95632-104-9 . Detailed experience report with a summary of Wainwright's biography, 372 pages.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ex-Fellwanderer
  2. ^ Dave Hewitt: A Bit of Grit on Haystacks , p. 23
  3. ↑ Wainwright guides are shelved , BBC News 14 January 2003
  4. ^ Wainwright finds new home ( August 18, 2009 memento in the Internet Archive ), The Wainwright Society, February 14, 2003
  5. ↑ Famed fells guides join the 21st century , The Guardian, 13 June 2005
  6. ^ Coast To Coast Walk: Some personal notes in conclusion XVII
  7. ^ Hunter Davies: Wainwright - The Biography, p. 331
  8. ↑ The Western Fells: Haystacks 8
  9. ^ Wainwright guides saved , BBC News, Feb. 13, 2003
  10. ↑ Coast walk tops trek to Everest , BBC News, 23 November 2004
  11. ↑ All 214 Wainwrights ( Memento of March 20, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) ( English )
  12. ↑ Dave Hewitt: A Bit of Grit on Haystacks , pp. 87f
  13. ^ Scout climbs high ( Memento of August 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), The Scout Association, November 15, 2006
  14. ↑ Boy, 9, does Wainwright proud ( September 28, 2007 memento on the Internet Archive ), Times & Star, January 12, 2007
  15. ^ Dorothy Schofield: Animal Rescue Cumbria - Kapellan , The Wainwright Society ( Memento of January 1, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
  16. ^ The Wainwright Bus , The Wainwright Society ( Memento December 31, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  17. ^ Landmark bridge dedicated to Wainwright , Blackburn Borough Council. (No longer available online.) Formerly in the original ; accessed on May 14, 2020 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.blackburn.gov.uk
  18. ^ The Wainwright Rose , The Wainright Society ( Memento of May 16, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  19. ↑ based on the list from the book Wainwright - The Biography by Hunter Davies

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Wainwright, Alfred
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wainwright, A.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English author and illustrator
DATE OF BIRTH January 17, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Blackburn
DATE OF DEATH January 20, 1991
Place of death Kendal