A Pennine Journey by Alfred Wainwright
In September 1938, events were moving to a crisis. War seemed imminent - news and conversations became concentrated on the single topic of a forthcoming confrontation with Hitler. The author of this book used some of his holiday and escaped from the atmosphere of gloom and despondency by walking alone from Settle in Ribbledale to the Roman wall along the eastern flank of the Pennines, returning down the west side. This book records his experiences, the wildlife he encountered and the flora he recorded.Alfred Wainwright was born in Blackburn in 1907 and dropped out of school when he was 13 years old. At the age of 23, a vacation to the Lake District sparked a lifelong love affair. After relocating to Kendal in 1941, he began devoting all of his spare time to researching and compiling the original seven Pictorial Guides. He referred to them as his 'love letters' to the Lakeland Fells, and at the end of the first, The Eastern Fells, he wrote of what the mountains had come to represent to him: I guess it may be stated, to add impressiveness to the whole thing, that this book has been twenty years in the making, for it has been so long, and more, since I first arrived from a smoky mill-town (pardon me, Blackburn!) and beheld That was the first time I had seen beauty, or even imagined it. Following that, I went as often as I could, and my gaze was always drawn to the hills.
I discovered then, and ever since, a spiritual and physical joy in climbing mountains, as well as a calm mind upon reaching their summits, as if I had fled from life's disappointments and unkindnesses and rose above them into a new, better world.I eventually came to live within sight of the hills, and I was quite satisfied. If I couldn't climb, I was content to sit quietly and daydream about them. Eventually came restlessness and the realization that accepting their gifts and doing nothing in return was not enough. I have to devote a portion of myself, the best part of myself, to them.
I began writing about them and drawing images of them. When I was doing these things, I discovered that they were still giving and I was still receiving, because a wonderful pleasure filled me when I was so engaged - I had discovered a new way of escaping to them and from everything else that was less worthwhile. So, I wrote this book. Not for financial gain, though that would be nice (see, I haven't completely escaped! ); not for the benefit of my contemporaries, though if it takes them to the hills as well, I'll be happy; and certainly not for posterity, which I have no enthusiasm for. No, I wrote this novel for my personal pleasure, and it seems to have brought the hills to my own fireside.
If it has quality, it is due to the merit of the hills.A. At the age of 84, Wainwright passed away in 1991.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780140168938 |
| ISBN 10 | 0140168931 |
| Title | A Pennine Journey |
| Author | Alfred Wainwright |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Penguin Books Ltd |
| Year published | 1992-04-02 |
| Number of pages | 224 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |