Ilkley Moor

The exploits of Lancashire’s best known fellwalker will be played out in the shadow of Yorkshire’s Ilkley Moor in the autumn.

John Burland, the Wainwright Society’s press and publicity officer, will present An Evening with Alfred Wainwright at the Ilkley Literature Festival in October. John, who lives close to Ilkley Moor, will be rubbing shoulders with such literary giants as Alan Bennett, Melvyn Bragg and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown.

The notoriously reclusive Wainwright wrote some of the most revered walking guidebooks in his series of Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells. Ilkley, the upmarket former Yorkshire spa town, is the starting point of the Dales Way national trail.

The event, funded by the Arts Council, is free, and will take place on 15 October.

BBC presenter Stuart Maconie, a fellow member of the Wainwright Society, is also billed to appear at the literature festival.