Thirteen years after the first successful ascent of Everest a book appeared on the stalls that reflected those Alpine Club days of early adventure onto the very high mountains of the Hindu Kush and Tibetan Plateau.  However, this book did not record the exploits of some striking ascent by Wilfred Thesiger onto a remote hitherto numbered Nepalese peak but more oddly the planned assault on the Highest Known Peak or HKP (Scafell Pike) by a group of cats!

I read the book last year before an ascent of Scafell Pike for the re-launch of this rather amazing book.  Written by climber and mountain connoisseur Molly Lefebure the text is peppered with drawings provided by fellwalking guru, Alfred Wainwright.  To many, there initial response to Scratch & Co. is that it is little more than a children's book.  For me, however, not only did it present the Lakeland landscape in a different way, but it also hinted at the halcyon days of mountain expeditions before the advent of dehydrated ration packs and multi-directional clothing.  Linked with the map and drawings presented by AW, the book has much to recommend it.  To a child the book offers an interesting and exciting story about the cats and their assault on the  mountains, to a Lakeland enthusiast the appeal is the setting and of course to all the AW fans out there it offers more materials (most strikingly a map) by their hero.

Reading about the exploits of Scratch and his fellow-climbing cats was at all times enticing and on many occasions very amusing.  Following the story in my mind's eye was easy, as I know the locations mentioned very well.  The description of the expedition Land Rovers driving into Seathwaite, for instance, conjured up images of my own drives down the same valley in the same type of car.  Indeed, as I read the book, it was as if I had watched the events unroll on television.

It's not a long read and the adventures of all the animals will entice mountaineers from seven to seventy.  It's probably not a literary great, but for anybody visiting this website, who is obviously a Lakeland nut, the book should not be missed.  I'll leave the plot for you to discover - it's certainly not hard but the animal antics alone kept me amused over two nights.  I would heartily recommend anyone to buy this fabulous read and add it to their Lakeland or Wainwright collection.

 

Follow the events on the day of the book launch, in this 10 minute video of the fantastic day: 

 

 

 

Special Offer for O.F.C. Members:
Mountainmere Research have very kindly offered ‘Scratch & Co. The Great Cat Expedition’ to readers of ‘The Lost Sheep’ at a discount of £2.00 per copy. 

"BAA" rating:  [4 / 5]