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Alfred Wainwright
Alfred Wainwright MBE (17 January 1907 – 20 January 1991), who preferred to be known as A. Wainwright or A.W., was a British fellwalker, guidebook author and illustrator. His seven-volume Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, published between 1955 and 1966 and consisting entirely of reproductions of his manuscript, has become the standard reference work to 214 of the fells of the English Lake District. Among his 40-odd other books is the first guide to the Coast to Coast Walk, a 182-mile (293-kilometre) long-distance footpath devised by Wainwright which remains popular today.
Alfred Wainwright was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, into a family which was relatively poor, mostly because of his stonemason father's alcoholism. He did very well at school (first in nearly every subject) although he left at the age of 13. While most of his classmates were obliged to find employment in the local mills, Wainwright started work as an office boy in Blackburn Borough Engineer's Department. He spent several years studying at night school, gaining qualifications in accountancy which enabled him to further his career at Blackburn Borough Council. Even when a child Wainwright walked a great deal, up to 20 miles (32 kilometres) at a time; he showed a great interest in drawing and cartography, producing his own maps of England and his local area.
In 1930, at the age of 23, Wainwright saved up for a week's walking holiday in the Lake District with his cousin Eric Beardsall. They arrived in Windermere and climbed the nearby Orrest Head, where Wainwright saw his first view of the Lakeland fells. This moment marked the start of what he later described as his love affair with the Lake District. In 1931 he married his first wife, Ruth Holden, a mill worker, with whom he had a son, Peter. In 1941 Wainwright moved closer to the fells when he took a job (and a pay cut) at the Borough Treasurer's office in Kendal, Westmorland. His first home in the town was 19 Castle Grove, which boasted a view of Kendal Castle from the front window.
He lived and worked in the town for the rest of his life, serving as Borough Treasurer from 1948 until he retired in 1967. His first marriage ended when Ruth left three weeks before he retired (suspecting him of infidelity) and they divorced. In 1970 he married Betty McNally (1922–2008), a divorcée, who became his walking companion and who carried his ashes to Innominate Tarn at the top of Haystacks.
Wainwright was a lifelong Blackburn Rovers fan and a founder member of the Blackburn Rovers Supporters Club. He had no time for organised religion, and was agnostic.[citation needed] On Desert Island Discs, he described himself as having once been shy but having grown up to be antisocial and would avoid speaking to others, even lone walkers on fell tops.
Wainwright died in 1991 of a heart attack. According to his biographer, Hunter Davies, he left everything, including his house and royalty income, to Betty. His son Peter received nothing.
Wainwright started work on the first page of his Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells on 9 November 1952. He planned the precise scope and content of the seven volumes and worked conscientiously and meticulously on the series for the next 13 years at an average rate of one page per evening.
According to Wainwright, in his autobiography Fellwanderer, he initially planned the series for his own interest rather than for publication. When he published his first book it was privately, as he could not face the prospect of finding a publisher. His friend Henry Marshall, Chief Librarian of Kendal and Westmorland, took charge of publicity and administration, and his name appears as publisher on the early impressions. Another friend, Sandy Hewitson (of Bateman and Hewitson Ltd), agreed to print the books using Wainwright's original manuscript, although the printing was done by the Westmorland Gazette in Kendal, who had taken over Bateman and Hewitson Ltd. From 1963, the Westmorland Gazette became his publisher, and its name appears on the first impressions of Books Six and Seven. Wainwright's books were in turn taken over by Michael Joseph in the 1990s. When they ceased publication in 2003, the rights were bought by Frances Lincoln.
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Alfred Wainwright
Alfred Wainwright MBE (17 January 1907 – 20 January 1991), who preferred to be known as A. Wainwright or A.W., was a British fellwalker, guidebook author and illustrator. His seven-volume Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, published between 1955 and 1966 and consisting entirely of reproductions of his manuscript, has become the standard reference work to 214 of the fells of the English Lake District. Among his 40-odd other books is the first guide to the Coast to Coast Walk, a 182-mile (293-kilometre) long-distance footpath devised by Wainwright which remains popular today.
Alfred Wainwright was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, into a family which was relatively poor, mostly because of his stonemason father's alcoholism. He did very well at school (first in nearly every subject) although he left at the age of 13. While most of his classmates were obliged to find employment in the local mills, Wainwright started work as an office boy in Blackburn Borough Engineer's Department. He spent several years studying at night school, gaining qualifications in accountancy which enabled him to further his career at Blackburn Borough Council. Even when a child Wainwright walked a great deal, up to 20 miles (32 kilometres) at a time; he showed a great interest in drawing and cartography, producing his own maps of England and his local area.
In 1930, at the age of 23, Wainwright saved up for a week's walking holiday in the Lake District with his cousin Eric Beardsall. They arrived in Windermere and climbed the nearby Orrest Head, where Wainwright saw his first view of the Lakeland fells. This moment marked the start of what he later described as his love affair with the Lake District. In 1931 he married his first wife, Ruth Holden, a mill worker, with whom he had a son, Peter. In 1941 Wainwright moved closer to the fells when he took a job (and a pay cut) at the Borough Treasurer's office in Kendal, Westmorland. His first home in the town was 19 Castle Grove, which boasted a view of Kendal Castle from the front window.
He lived and worked in the town for the rest of his life, serving as Borough Treasurer from 1948 until he retired in 1967. His first marriage ended when Ruth left three weeks before he retired (suspecting him of infidelity) and they divorced. In 1970 he married Betty McNally (1922–2008), a divorcée, who became his walking companion and who carried his ashes to Innominate Tarn at the top of Haystacks.
Wainwright was a lifelong Blackburn Rovers fan and a founder member of the Blackburn Rovers Supporters Club. He had no time for organised religion, and was agnostic.[citation needed] On Desert Island Discs, he described himself as having once been shy but having grown up to be antisocial and would avoid speaking to others, even lone walkers on fell tops.
Wainwright died in 1991 of a heart attack. According to his biographer, Hunter Davies, he left everything, including his house and royalty income, to Betty. His son Peter received nothing.
Wainwright started work on the first page of his Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells on 9 November 1952. He planned the precise scope and content of the seven volumes and worked conscientiously and meticulously on the series for the next 13 years at an average rate of one page per evening.
According to Wainwright, in his autobiography Fellwanderer, he initially planned the series for his own interest rather than for publication. When he published his first book it was privately, as he could not face the prospect of finding a publisher. His friend Henry Marshall, Chief Librarian of Kendal and Westmorland, took charge of publicity and administration, and his name appears as publisher on the early impressions. Another friend, Sandy Hewitson (of Bateman and Hewitson Ltd), agreed to print the books using Wainwright's original manuscript, although the printing was done by the Westmorland Gazette in Kendal, who had taken over Bateman and Hewitson Ltd. From 1963, the Westmorland Gazette became his publisher, and its name appears on the first impressions of Books Six and Seven. Wainwright's books were in turn taken over by Michael Joseph in the 1990s. When they ceased publication in 2003, the rights were bought by Frances Lincoln.