Long Lane, Helwith Bridge, with Pen-y-ghent in the distance, on the route of A Pennine Journey

The guidebook of the route of Alfred Wainwright’s first ever long-distance walk has sold out its first print run.

A Pennine Journey, which follows an updated trail from Settle to Hadrian’s Wall and back again, is based on an account of Wainwright’s walk in the Pennines in the dark days immediately before the Second World War.

The guidebook, produced by David Pitt and fellow Wainwright Society members, was launched at Settle station, starting point for the young fellwalker’s 1938 journey, in April this year.

Publisher Frances Lincoln has ordered a reprint of the book, which features maps and sketches in the Wainwright style, along with turn-by-turn directions for the 398km (247-mile) route, which heads north following the eastern edge of the chain, returning south by a trail following the western side of the Pennines.

Royalties from the book will go towards waymarking the route, with the eventual aim of achieving national trail status for the route. So far, proceeds from 2,000 sales of the book amount to £865.

Signed copies of the book can be ordered online

Signed copies of the guidebook are available from the Pennine Journey website.

Wainwright’s account of his solo trip as the threat of war hung over Europe paints an often dark picture of many Pennine communities that were still living relatively primitive lives in the middle of the 20th century. The journal, which lay unpublished for more than 50 years, also gives an insight into Wainwright’s sometimes troubling psyche.

David Pitt and his wife Heather made their own journey following in the writer’s footsteps in 1998 and, following his retirement and with the subsequent opening of much of the land on the route with the Countryside and Rights of Way Act, the guidebook began to take shape.

The route passes many Pennine jewels on its route, including Pen-y-ghent, Tan Hill, High Force, Housesteads, Cross Fell – the highest point in the chain, and Whernside, Yorkshire’s highest hill.