The celebratory dinner which was to have taken place to mark the centenary of Grumpy Old Fellwalker Alfred Wainwright’s birth has been cancelled due to lack of interest.

The Wainwright Society had planned the informal meal at the Ewood Park home of Blackburn Rovers, a team of men who knock around a football and get paid a lot of money for doing so. Apparently, ‘AW’ was a big fan of theirs.

The event was to have kicked off a weekend of celebrations commemorating the centenary of the arrival on earth of England’s most famous author of fellwalking guides.

The rest of the programme, including the society’s AGM and a service in the crypt of Blackburn Cathedral, should go ahead as planned.