The Wainwright Society celebrates its 20th Anniversary on 12th November 2022

The Wainwright Society came into being at Ambleside Youth Hostel on 9 November 2002. This was an apt date, being fifty years to the day that Wainwright penned the first page of The Eastern Fells, the ascent of Dove Crag from Ambleside. This followed a suggestion that a Society be formed to keep alive his memory and desire to encourage more people to walk upon and care for the hills. His widow, Betty, supported the idea, which was agreed by the almost 100 attendees of an inaugural meeting at Ambleside. Officers were elected and a list of aims, together with some activities that might further them, was compiled.  And thus, The Wainwright Society was born …

That the Society is still going strong after 20 years, with well over 2,000 household members, is testament to Alfred Wainwright’s enduring popularity. From those first steps 20 years ago, the Society, run entirely by volunteers, has:

1. organised an annual walking Challenge for its members, to raise money for an annual charity beneficiary;
2. re-published four out-of-print Wainwright titles;
3. produced a much-loved annual calendar with photographs submitted by Society members to raise money for good causes the Society believes AW would have supported. Around £160,000 has been raised over the years, with donations being made, among others, to Mountain Rescue, Fix the Fells, The Lake District Calvert Trust, Animal Rescue and The Great North Air Ambulance Service;
4. run an annual Society walks programme;
5. successfully campaigned for AW’s Coast to Coast Walk to be designated a National Trail.

These are but a few of the Society’s activities. More information can be found on the Society’s website.

Members will celebrate the Society’s 20^th Anniversary on Saturday 12^th November with a morning walk up to Dove Crag from Ambleside, followed by a celebration party at the Parish Centre, Ambleside.

Eric Robson, OBE DL, Chairman of The Wainwright Society since its inception, said:

“Alfred Wainwright (1907 – 1991) is best-known for his Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells, a series of seven volumes describing the natural features, routes of ascent and descent and the view from the summits of 214 Lakeland fells. These handwritten and hand-drawn works of art have given inspiration to thousands of fellwalkers and armchair ramblers. He described these books as a ‘love letter’ to the Lakeland fells.

“Of climbing Orrest Head at the age of 23, Wainwright wrote: ‘Orrest Head cast a spell that changed my life’. It was the view from the top that proved to be the turning point. During the 1940s, Wainwright explored the hills and mountains. On 9th November 1952, he began work on his Pictorial Guides, an idea that had been slowly germinating for many years. The first page completed on that evening was the ascent of Dove Crag from Ambleside.

“The Wainwright Society was established 50 years later on 9^th November 2002 to keep alive the memory of AW and his desire to encourage more people to walk upon and care for the hills. We didn’t know at the time whether the Society would survive for 5, 10 or even 15 years. But thanks to Alfred Wainwright’s enduring popularity as a guidebook writer and master fellwalker the Society is still here and thriving.

“I’m delighted that on 12^th November we will celebrate our 20th Anniversary.”

The Wainwright Society is a membership organisation. Find out more about our work and activities and how to join here: https://www.wainwright.org.uk/