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This article has been written to stimulate interest around the cornucopic variety of guides available on the English Lake District and my own relationship with the region. Apart from the guides by Alfred Wainwright there is obviously a wealth of other literature. By the way, have you completed the OFC survey on your use of AW's guides?  AW's - Southern Fells
Personally I have many excellent guides to the Lake District and one needs at least a selection to get the best out of the UK's greatest mountainous microcosm. In fact, if you followed the neat Wainwright prescription you would limit yourself to the 214 fells so succinctly described. I am afraid you would lose out on some really wonderful land. Sadly, I have found many people who stick so rigidly to the paths, wrongly attributed as Wainwright routes and in the process miss out on glorious views, unexplored landscapes and in the case of bank holidays on Helvellyn subject themselves to the sweat and chatter of the other 300 people accompanying them to Lakeland's most popular summit.
 Older Guides
It was my fellwalking with an RC priest that led me in the ways of AW. As a Blackburn born lad myself, it endeered me instantly with the fabled AW and as stated in the opening, the prized kit on stays in Keswick was an old black brief case with the aforementioned guides and the four OS Outdoor Leisure maps to the Lake District. Planning walks which didn't entail too much ascent became my forté and much time was spent consulting AW's routes which kindly cited the much needed distance and vertical height of ascent. As a good geographer I was also adebt at interpreting contours and the landscape on the map in order to trace the easiest line of ascent - I became a childhood pathfinder. For an ageing priest with angina, although an accomplished walker in his time, ascents such as Knott Rigg from Newlands Hause and Pike o'Blisco from Wrynose Pass were the order of the day, although on occasion we found ourselves winding our way to the summit of Great Gable and Helvellyn and other Lakeland giants.
However, it was always my own solitary outings that fuelled my interest in the fells. On those outings I actively ignored the AW guides feeling that his routes would be too popular and that they had already been explored. There is no denying that youngsters enjoy the challenge of exploring new ground. As a result, my fellrunning antics led me to travel light and also explore routes that were indeed more akin to venturous scrambling. In this way my attention was drawn to the excellent scrambling guides on offer such as those by Brian Evans and Bill O-Connor's 50 Best Scrambles in the Lake District to mention two. With a map and said guides it was simple to plan an exciting days excursion which encompassed a few scrambles and of course would include visits to some of Alf's fells.
 Wot! No AW?
So, it goes without saying that AW neglected to include many fells which might be deemed suitable for a conclusive set of guides. Mark Richards is going some way to correct these omissions in his new series of Lakeland Fellrangers and fell catalogues by notables such as Bill Birkett and the Nuttalls go even further to include many hummocks in the landscape such as Lingy Fell.
Another point to remember is that before AW they were certainly just Lakeland fells. In that respect, I enjoy reading pre-war guides which as a result of their temporal shift are not diverted by any AW prejudice regarding routes, opinions on fells and tourist whim. I am glad to see that Great Gable always seems to get good press and there are routes described that have now fallen from favour. I also enjoy to see how names might have changed either in mistake or by purpose. Scarf Gap not Scarth and was Windy Gap also Wind like at the col south-west of Pillar? Older guides such as my 1821 Descriptive Tour and Guide to the Lakes, Caves, Mountains and other Natural Curiosities also leave the reader blissfully ignorant. Try to explore an area with one of these and you really would feel like you were venturing into some uncharted, dangerous and potentially life threatening area. No doubt these early tourists felt like those who venture into the Himalaya today.In the fashion of the Grand Tours of Europe, early explorations by fledgling tourists resulted in frightening tales of death and misery in Lakeland's high places. However, with the influence of the romantic like Wordsworth (Guide to the Lakes 1810), Lakeland became an increasingly popular place to visit even if it was from the comforts of a horse drawn charabanc. Having said that, there are some great descriptions of routes and landscape descriptions in early guides. I was fortunate enough to get my hands on an 1874 Jenkinson's Practical Guide to the English Lakes and Martineau's Guide to the Lakes (1871) as a teenager. They immediately became two of my prized possessions, not because they were in immaculate condition, but that they opened up a Lakeland world before the modern tourist. Reading all the idiosyncratic descriptive prose is a real insight into these early touring days. Couple with maps, factual data and other interesting historical information they really are a prized read. See if you can get hold of one even if its condition isn't good.  Lakeland literature
I should finish these reflections by passing back to the initial question regarding AW. One cannot escape the fact that AW is no doubt a part of the rich tapestry of Lakeland life. It is still satisfying to see that about 1 in 3 people* still carry the Pictorial Guides onto the fells, others being content to save weight and leave them at home. However, of the others, only about 1 in 10 don't use AW in any form at all. It can therefore be concluded that within the fellwalking fraternity at least, about 90% refer to AW in some form or other. This is not to say that this is at the expense of other guides or maps, but that for many the quintessential fell guide has to be those 7 pocket-sized books penned by AW. However, a true Lakeland afficianado will appreciate that AW is only one ingredient of many when it come to the full fell land ensemble. In order to fulfill your Lakeland menu you really need to investigate every corner of every piece of land and then quite truly you might well have completed your fellwalking induction. Do you make use of AW's Pictorial Guides?
Here are some quotes lifted from the OFC's Yahoo! message board specifically answering the question of AW's Pictorial Guides and their use on the fells:  OFC Survey I NEVER take my Wainwrights on the fell. I read them assiduously before and after my walks though. J.Paterson
I love Wainwright's guides and always consult them before a walk in the Lakes; I have a very precious (to me) set which my son bought me in the early 90s. I don't carry the books around with me, at my age. I feel it sensible to keep the weight I carry to a minimum. However, very occasionally, I take a photocopy of any relevant pages if I feel I might require them enroute. Maggie
Back at home the shelves of my study groan under the weight of around 500 different guides, in numerous languages, to mountains as diverse as the Tatras, Andes, Caucasus and Himalaya. But there’s not one by AW. Does that mark me out as an heretic? Kev Reynolds
I also use the AW guides for reference, but also have a Cicerone Guide, which gives different routes which don't necessarily involve walking up a Wainwright. I prefer to carry a map and look at the guides before and after. I don't just walk up a hill because it happens to be a Wainwright (or a Munro uo here), but because of the view, the company or, occasionally, because it's there. David Leslie
 Cicerone Guides The books are superb for pre-and-post walk reference,but I rarely take them with me these days. Ian Smith
As a wanna be fell walker and mapaholic I love AW'S books. They are never far from reach. I use them when I've looked at all your wonderful photos and read your walk reports which together with AW's books give great pleasure to me, my kids in school and many other folk I'm sure. Susan Sullivan
I don't carry the books AW around with me on my walk. I use them to give me some ideas, to work out the distance etc of the walk. They are also useful for ideas of where to take photos. I'm always a bit bemused by some who appear to ignore AW's references to the importance of maps. Also there are other guides that are equally as good in my opinion. Paul Harrison
I used to get the books from the library and plan all my walks from them. The little hidden places would never have been found without them. However, as I posted earlier, i like them for home reference and not lugging around with me, I much prefer a map to show me things nowadays and to explore things my own way without being guided. Steven Procter
The only time I carry mine on the fells is when I'm walking without Jill and her ever present appropriate book! Angie Espin
I used to carry them all the time in my early fell walking days, particularly when walking with our childen when they were younger. They enjoyed matching views from the summits with the drawings in AW's books. They were very enthusistic to read about our proposed walks, before and after the event. Indeed, we used them to pick and choose destinations and routes, together with plotting the route on maps.
Once again, as the passage of time moves on, and a new generation climb the fells with us (our grandchildren) the books are always referred to and studied before and after our walks.
I don't carry them these days, more conscious of weight (getting older !) but they do take pride of place, and always have done, above our fireplace.
They are still read frequently, particularly post-walk if it is a walk we haven't done for a while. If it is a new route, I sometimes take the relevant book in the car to read on the drive there, only if I'm not driving of course !
I often find snippets of useful information I seem to have missed on previous occasions, and AW still makes me smile when I read some of his text and comments. Ann Hiley
I read his books all the time because the drawings and details are first rate, I don't know Yorkshire that
well, but when I look at his drawings, the fells start to take shape and when I first walked the lakes I took the appropriate A.W. book. I don't regard myself as a Wainwright bagger, just someone who appreciates and admires first rate workmanship. Ian Davis
* Do you make use of AW's Pictorial Guides? Results from an online poll of the OFC. The poll is currently online and accessible from the home page in the right hand margin. |
