In Wainwright's Footsteps by A Walker

In Wainwright's Footsteps by A Walker

In 1938, in the shadow of possible hostilities and long before he became renowned for his 'pictorial guides', Alfred Wainwright decided to go for a walk. This was not just any walk: he chose to walk over 200 miles from Settle to Hadrian's Wall and back. He wrote an account of his trek, Pennine Journey, not as a guidebook but as a commentary on the life and folk of the Dales.

In 1998, as close to the 60th anniversary as possible, A. Walker undertook the same walk and he too wrote an account of the journey and set about producing a guide to the walk using Ordnance Survey maps that are contemporaneous with those that Wainwright would have used. Through the maps, the guide tells more of where society has been rather than where the walker should walk.

Yorkshire-born author A Walker's writing centres around the earlier works of Alfred Wainwright, particularly his Pennine Journey, which he had undertaken in 1938. Walker retraced the route and found it became the inspiration for Back to the Wall, a personal reflection that uses the walk as a microcosm of life's journey. Walker's interpretation of his 1998 trek takes the form of a rambling account that compares and contrasts with Wainwright's original book using his own views and opinions as the basis of a thought-provoking and amusing yarn.

The literature of Yorkshire-born author A Walker is centered on Alfred Wainwright's earlier works, particularly Wainwright's Pennine Trip, which he completed in 1938. Walker retraced Alfred Wainwright's initial expedition 60 years later and discovered it inspired his book Return to the Wall, a personal reflection that uses the walk as a microcosm of life's journey. Walker's description of his 1998 journey takes the style of a rambling account that compares and contrasts with Wainwright's original book, utilizing his own thoughts and ideas as the basis for a thought-provoking and entertaining yarn. Walker's work then sat unpublished for nearly 18 years, in a twist on Wainwright's original account. After then, a chance meeting with an editor rekindled Walker's desire to have the story published.

Walker also began work on In Wainwright's Footsteps: The Pennine Journey, a historically grounded guide to the route. The guide, which was originally published as an e-book, focuses more on the history of the route than on providing an insight into the past of rural life in the dales. Unlike other guides, this one focuses on where we've been rather than where we should go. Walker was inspired to write an updated account after repeating the trip in 2106, this time from the perspective of a walker he encountered along the way.

This is still being written, but it depicts Walker as an observer of a walker seeking solace and alone while coping with the rigors of a life gone wrong. In 2017, Back to the Wall Too will be released.