Wainwright's Way

Wainwright's Way

The enduring fascination with the late author Alfred Wainwright continues for many outdoor fans.

And now a walk leader has devised a 126-mile route that charts the taciturn fell wanderer’s life from birth to his final resting place on the Cumbrian mountains.

Nick Burton’s Wainwright’s Way is published today and charts a route from the late guidebook writer’s birthplace in Audley Range, Blackburn, to Haystacks in the Lake District, and a little beyond.

The route visits some of the lesser known valleys, passes and peaks recorded in The Far Eastern, Eastern, Central and Western Fells guides, and stops in Borrowdale, one of Wainwright’s favourite valleys, taking in a section of his Coast to Coast Walk along the way.

Publishers Frances Lincoln said: “The climax of the walk follows the final journey of Wainwright himself, as his ashes were carried on to Haystacks from Honister Pass to be scattered by the side of Innominate Tarn.

“From here, the walker drops down to the shores of Buttermere and visits the final memorial to Wainwright: the window on to the fells in the tiny roadside church of St. James.

“It is a fitting end to both a memorable walk completed – and a memorable life fulfilled.”

Along the way, the walk, split into 10 day-stages, literally follows in the footsteps of Wainwright at work, linking the sights he sketched and wrote about in a succession of Lancashire guides: A Ribble Sketchbook, A Bowland Sketchbook and A Lune Sketchbook.

Continuing northwards, the walk arrives in the county Wainwright knew best, as celebrated in his books, Westmorland Heritage and Three Westmorland Rivers.

It then takes a meandering course across Lakeland from Kendal to Buttermere, through the territory made familiar by Wainwright’s Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells.

Wainwright’s Way author Nick Burton describes himself as a native Lancastrian. He has written numerous walking guides to Lancashire and Manchester. He also works as a professional walk leader for Blackburn Council and says he occasionally skulks around the same Victorian corridors of Blackburn Town Hall once occupied by the fell wanderer.

The publishers said: “Much more than a route guide, this book uncovers the history, landscape and characters of many of the places sketched by Wainwright.

“It is a walk through some of the most spectacular scenery in the North of England – including a surprising Lancashire, a county of dramatic river valleys, high moors and lonely woodland cloughs.”

The book, which also features some of Wainwright’s own sketches, costs £13.99. Details are on the Frances Lincoln website.

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