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Wainwright was born into poverty
in the Lancashire town of Blackburn in 1907. The son of a stonemason,
he left school when he was 13 and became an office boy in Blackburn
Borough Engineer's Department. At the age of 23 he managed a holiday
away from home, to the Lake District. It was love at first sight.
In his book Fellwanderer Wainwright described his first visit there.
"I was utterly enslaved by all I
saw," he said. "Here were no huge factories, but mountains; no stagnant
canals, but sparkling crystal-clear rivers; no cinder paths, but
beckoning tracks that clamber through bracken and heather to the
silent fastnesses of the hills. That week changed my life."
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| An
Eden Sketchbook |
He qualified as an accountant and
moved to Kendal in 1941, rising to become Borough Treasurer seven
years later. He spent every spare moment walking the fells that
he loved so deeply.
Many people coming into the museum
still remember him sitting in the museum office, under a large no
smoking sign, smoking his pipe. The museum has a re-creation of
his office as it would have been in his day.
The first Pictorial Guide to the
Lakeland Fells was published in 1955 and in his introduction he
wrote: ‘This book is one man’s way of expressing his devotion to
Lakeland’s friendly hills. It was conceived, and is born, after
many years of inarticulate worshipping at their shrines. It is,
in very truth, a love-letter.’
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| Alfred
Wainwright |
He spent 13 years compiling
the seven Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells, tramping the fells
in all weathers at weekends, with raincoat, map and camera. Most
of his fine, individual drawings were taken from his photographs.
The Pictorial Guides were and are
still distinctive. Fearing that printers would misspell words, his
handwritten work was reproduced directly on to the page; the Westmorland
Gazette of Kendal published them all.
Wainwright also devised, during 1970-1,
the Coast-to-Coast Walk which starts at St Bees Head on the Cumbrian
coast and ends at Robin Hood's Bay on the North Sea. This is perhaps
the most popular of all long-distance walks.
Numerous sketchbooks and volumes
of drawings followed but in 1984 his writing took a dramatic turn.
He agreed to write a book for the London publishers, Michael Joseph,
which was illustrated with photographs by Derry Brabbs. Fellwalking
with Wainwright became a bestseller overnight and was followed by
a further seven illustrated books. Two of the books,
Wainwright in Scotland and Wainwright’s Coast-to-Coast Walk were
accompanied by BBC2 television programmes and suddenly the reclusive
walker became a virtual ‘national treasure’.
Eric
Robson, who appeared on the television programs with Wainwright
and is now chairman of the Wainwright Society as well as presenter
of BBC Radio Four’s Gardener’s Question Time, says: "He communicated
better than any guide book writer before or since the essence of
the Lakeland landscape, the visceral attachment of man to place,
the spiritual power of weathered rock and angry sky. He was priest
and poet in his own blunt way."
There
is a stone tablet set into the windowsill of a south window of St
James Church, Buttermere, as a memorial to AW. The window looks
out on his favourite place to walk, Haystacks, where at his wish
his ashes were scattered.
Tell us about your visit and send
your digital photos of Dove Cottage or other Cumbrian attractions.
E-mail cumbria@bbc.co.uk
so we can include them for others to enjoy.
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