Customer Reviews

Pennine Journey Pb

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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.

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.