Wainwright

ALFRED WAINWRIGHT (1907 - 1991)

Wainwright, born in Blackburn but later resident in Kendal, is best known nowadays for his pictorial guides to the Lakeland fells compiled between 1952 and 1966. He also wrote Wainwright on the Pennine Way. In September 1938, fired by Collingwood Bruce's Handbook to the Roman Wall and a desire to escape the news of Munich, he completed the long walk from Settle to the Wall and back which was eventually published as A Pennine Journey (1986). Curiously enough, he describes himself as a Yorkshireman in this book, and one is reminded from time to time of an earlier 1930s Yorkshire traveller, J.B. Priestley (q.v.).

Priestley's journey was urban, but his distaste for metal-working industry, and his romantic longing for unspoiled landscapes is echoed by Wainwright, particularly at Middleton-in-Teesdale (ugly lead mine), Rookhope and Haltwhistle. Wainwright, like Priestley, suffers from the weather and a streaming cold for much of his northern journey. His description of Haltwhistle contains twenty-eight pejoratives in sixteen lines. Even Priestley couldn't manage that. At least Priestley's targets were undeniably grim, but Haltwhistle, with its exceptionally fine church, is described in Pevsner:

'Despite 19th and 20th century industrial developments, Haltwhistle remains a country market town with its centre quite unspoilt. There is no individual building of wrong scale or manner...'

In Hexham, despite liking the town very much, Wainwright, astonishingly, fails to visit the abbey. This aesthetic blind-spot even extends to Blanchland, where Wainwright, ignorant of the real history of the village, elects to fantasise.

The Wall brings out the best in Wainwright. Apart from calling the emperor Septimius Severus 'Septuricus', his history is sound (based on Bruce, no doubt) and his extended descriptions of the crumbling fabric are probably the finest things in the book. The north gate at Housesteads was the crowning point of his journey.

Wainwright is no Laurie Lee and his prose style, though pleasing, rarely contains a striking phrase. 'Clouds are the most transient of nature's creations' is more his mark. There is a little too much philosophising about the lure of the hills and so forth, but the reader will forgive Wainwright for his generous heart, his delight in Blanchland (the great surprise of his journey), and his love for the purple moors, the black-faced sheep, the delightful Richardson family of Alston, the Northumberland dales - and the accent.

Wainwright has old-fashioned views on women and their place in society, but gives relaxed advice on choosing a wife. Avoid girls with a loud laugh; otherwise you can pick blindfold and be pretty sure of doing all right.

Myers Literary Guide:	The North-East
ALFRED WAINWRIGHT (1907 - 1991) Wainwright, born in Blackburn but later resident in Kendal, is best known nowadays for his pictorial guides to the Lakeland fells compiled between 1952 and 1966. He also wrote Wainwright on the Pennine Way. In September 1938, fired by Collingwood Bruce's Handbook to the Roman Wall and a desire to escape the news of Munich, he completed the long walk from Settle to the Wall and back which was eventually published as A Pennine Journey (1986). Curiously enough, he describes himself as a Yorkshireman in this book, and one is reminded from time to time of an earlier 1930s Yorkshire traveller, J.B. Priestley (q.v.). Priestley's journey was urban, but his distaste for metal-working industry, and his romantic longing for unspoiled landscapes is echoed by Wainwright, particularly at Middleton-in-Teesdale (ugly lead mine), Rookhope and Haltwhistle. Wainwright, like Priestley, suffers from the weather and a streaming cold for much of his northern journey. His description of Haltwhistle contains twenty-eight pejoratives in sixteen lines. Even Priestley couldn't manage that. At least Priestley's targets were undeniably grim, but Haltwhistle, with its exceptionally fine church, is described in Pevsner: 'Despite 19th and 20th century industrial developments, Haltwhistle remains a country market town with its centre quite unspoilt. There is no individual building of wrong scale or manner...' In Hexham, despite liking the town very much, Wainwright, astonishingly, fails to visit the abbey. This aesthetic blind-spot even extends to Blanchland, where Wainwright, ignorant of the real history of the village, elects to fantasise. The Wall brings out the best in Wainwright. Apart from calling the emperor Septimius Severus 'Septuricus', his history is sound (based on Bruce, no doubt) and his extended descriptions of the crumbling fabric are probably the finest things in the book. The north gate at Housesteads was the crowning point of his journey. Wainwright is no Laurie Lee and his prose style, though pleasing, rarely contains a striking phrase. 'Clouds are the most transient of nature's creations' is more his mark. There is a little too much philosophising about the lure of the hills and so forth, but the reader will forgive Wainwright for his generous heart, his delight in Blanchland (the great surprise of his journey), and his love for the purple moors, the black-faced sheep, the delightful Richardson family of Alston, the Northumberland dales - and the accent. Wainwright has old-fashioned views on women and their place in society, but gives relaxed advice on choosing a wife. Avoid girls with a loud laugh; otherwise you can pick blindfold and be pretty sure of doing all right.
Return to Index	On to next Author