Pennine Journey Pb [Paperback]

A Wainwright (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2, 1992

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.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Born in Blackburn in 1907, Alfred Wainwright left school at the age of 13. A holiday at the age of 23 kindled a life-long love affair with the Lake District. Following a move to Kendal in 1941 he began to devote every spare moment he had to researching and compiling the original seven Pictorial Guides. He described these as his 'love letters' to the Lakeland Fells and at the end of the first, The Eastern Fells, he wrote about what the mountains had come to mean to him: "I suppose it might be said, to add impressiveness to the whole thing, that this book has been twenty years in the making, for it is so long, and more, since I first came from a smoky mill-town (forgive me, Blackburn!) and beheld, from Orrest Head, a scene of great beauty, a fascinating paradise, Lakeland's mountains and trees and water. That was the first time I had looked upon beauty, or imagined it, even. Afterwards I went often, whenever I could, and always my eyes were lifted to the hills. I was to find then, and it has been so ever since, a spiritual and physical satisfaction in climbing mountains -- and a tranquil mind upon reaching their summits, as though I had escaped from the disappointments and unkindnesses of life and emerged above them into a new world, a better world. In due course I came to live within sight of the hills, and I was well content. If I could not be climbing, I was happy to sit idly and dream of them, serenely. Then came a restlessness and the feeling that it was not enough to take their gifts and do nothing in return. I must dedicate something of myself, the best part of me, to them. I started to write about them, and to draw pictures of them. Doing these things, I found they were still giving and I still receiving, for a great pleasure filled me when I was so engaged -- I had found a new way of escape to them and from all else less worth while. Thus it comes about that I have written this book. Not for material gain, welcome though that would be (you see I have not escaped entirely!); not for the benefit of my contemporaries, though if it brings them also to the hills I shall be well pleased; certainly not for posterity, about which I can work up no enthusiasm at all. No, this book has been written, carefully and with infinite patience, for my own pleasure and because it has seemed to bring the hills to my own fireside. If it has merit, it is because the hills have merit." A. Wainwright died in 1991 at the age of 84. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (April 2, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140168931
• ISBN-13: 978-0140168938
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,389,097 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very interesting and amusing book , a must for fellwalkers, December 7, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (Dallas, Texas, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pennine Journey Pb (Paperback)

This is an excellent book, which generates vivid images in the mind. This eccentric English gentleman has a way of making the most mundane seem exciting and interesting. His 1938 jouney on foot through Northern England to Hadrians Wall allows you inside another generation. His views are indicative of his generation some of which we are better without, none the less you cannot help but admire this chap and his dreams and ability to get away from everyday dull life. It is almost impossible to put this book down.

4.0 out of 5 stars Walking with A.W. along the Pennine Way, March 28, 2011

By 

Charleswann - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Pennine Journey: The Story of a Long Walk in 1938 (Hardcover)

This short narrative of A. Wainwright's solitary perambulation of parts of Northern England in 1938 is compellingly idiosyncratic, very personal and at times downright weird. He leaves the taxing world of work (an office job) and the vicissitudes of city life (dreary Blackburn) behind to enter a kingdom of quietude,the unfrequented paths of the fells and dales of Yorkshire and counties beyond. The journey begins and ends in Settle, but takes in a wide panorama of landscapes magnificent and mundane. He meets many unforgettable characters along the way: the imperturbable Dalesman, Mr. Harker, with his comprehensive views on the Crisis brewing with the 'madman' Hitler, the Richardsons of Alston who invite the lonely walker into the warmth of their family circle, the sophisticated and manicured young proprietess of the Red Lion at Gamblesby, whose beautifully appointed, newly renovated Inn few travelers seem to chance upon, and many more deftly drawn characters. As for the walking itself, Wainwright says it all in the Tenth Chapter: "A day on the hills strips a man of all sham and pretence".
I've read this book six or seven times since its publication in 1986. Wainwright is certainly an opinionated fellow, quirky and irascible at times, but he is always entertaining. And he sets you dreaming about your own next walk amongst the hills.