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This walk took place at Whitsuntide 1931 and over six days they walked (not always in perfect conditions) approximately 100 miles with around 35,000 feet of climbing. At the time, he claimed that ‘every lake, every valley, every mountain, will be seen if not actually visited’. The book of this walk was first published as a large format book (like Fellwalking and other similar titles, but with pictures by Ed Geldard not Derry Brabbs) under the title Wainwright’s Tour in the Lake District. In 1998 the text was put into a Pictorial Guide format by Michael Joseph Ltd (subsequently reprinted by Frances Lincoln in 2004), with the walk broken down into 11 days; this followed Eric Robson’s slightly amended route for the video that was produced by Striding Edge. The new DVD has been copied from the earlier video. The aerial filming is absolutely stunning whilst the camera work on the walks has been in the capable hands of Jan Ostrowski whose photography work is excellent (despite Eric falling on him whilst descending the ‘Bad Step’ on Crinkle Crags). As well as the 11 separate stages, the DVD also contains a number of interviews with people who have had connections with AW. Included in these are Betty (obviously), Percy Duff – AW’s deputy at the Borough Treasurer’s office in Kendal, Hunter Davies and Ron Scholes. My wife and I watched the DVD on a cold damp autumn evening and it certainly gave us a feel-good feeling, making us want to be out on the fells. I would suggest that with this combination of walking and the interviews, this is a DVD that every Society member and Wainwright enthusiast should want to own. reviewed by John Burland - Member No. 2 |
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After AW’s first life-changing visit to the Lake District in 1930, he returned home to Blackburn where he sat down with his Bartholomew maps and worked out a walk for himself and three other friends for the following year.