The Coast to Coast was the brainchild of Alfred Wainwright, renowned writer and illustrator who rose to fame thanks to his seven Pictorial Guides to the the Lake district published over a 14 year period from 1952 and finally completed in 1966.
These titles are considered by many, not only to be excellent guides to the 214 Lakeland fells which Wainwright identified, but as works of art in their own right thanks to Wainwright's meticulously crafted hand-written pages and drawings. In the words of Wainwright's biographer, Hunter Davies, they are "not merely guidebooks, but philosophical strolls, personal outpourings of feelings and observations, written and drawn by a craftsman, conceived and created as a total work of art". Wainwright would design the pages and layout and then off they would go the printers where it was reproduced with no typesetter being allowed near it. The result being some of the most individual and well loved books ever produced.
Born in Blackburn in 1907 to a rather impoverished life Wainwright did well at school but left at 13and started work at Blackburn Town Hall. Spending a couple of years at night school gaining accountancy qualifications allowed him to further his career. Wainwright's drawing skills were put to good use with cartoons being produced to entertain his colleagues in the office. Having had an interest in walking, maps and the outdoors in general Wainwright first visited Lakeland in 1930 and was immediately smitten. For a man from smoky, industrialised Blackburn the effect on Wainwright was immense and a love affair was born..
".. magic, a revelation so unexpected that I stood transfixed, unable to believe my eyes ... I had seen landscapes of rural beauty pictured in the local art gallery, but here was no painted canvas: this was real. This was truth..." A. Wainwright
His marriage to Ruth in 1931 was never the dream that they both hoped it would be and a long period of, if not unhappiness then the realisation that a mistake had been made, ensued with Wainwright drifting off into his walking and map reading. The birth of son, Peter, never really made much difference to the loveless marriage and so, in 1940, when the family moved to Kendal so Wainwright could take up a job at the Town Hall the Lake District fells, right on his doorstep proved, for him, an ideal distraction and substitute.
Working diligently throughout the week for the borough, weekends were spent walking and exploring the fells of the Lake District. A solitary walker by nature Wainwright liked to explore the fells properly and not just follow the path with every nook and cranny of the fell being visited. Evenings were spent poring over maps and planning the coming weekends walk.
During the 1950s the idea came to him that he should publish his writing and drawings and so his new life started. The Pictorial Guides were very well received and AW became something of a ‘star’ with people actually trying to search him out on the fells. This didn’t appeal to AW at all and a number of subterfuges were used to keep himself out of the clutches of other walkers including retreating to the nearest wall whilst pretending to answer a call of nature. When sales of the Pictorial Guides were about to reach the one million book, Wainwright was persuaded by his publishers to agree to have dinner with the purchaser of the millionth copy which was marked by AW's signature. This copy was never bought (nor found - intact!) and it is believed that AW lost his nerve and went out and purchased the book himself!
Once the Pictorial Guides were finished AW wrote the Pennine Way Pictorial Guide with the promise of a free pint at the end for all those who complete the walk. The Pennine Way wasn’t a walk which Wainwright took to his heart and the next major project was developing the Coast To Coast walk – which alas, doesn’t come with the offer of a free pint at the end.
Throughout the sixties Wainwright's home life was still a unhappy one but he had become friendly with the love of his life, Betty whom he married in 1970 and together they had 21 years of happiness. Not only was Betty AW's one true love but she also acted as chauffeur, accompanying him to meetings with publishers and television producers and presenters which Wainwright was, somewhat reluctantly, persuaded to take part in.
Wainwright died in 1991 and a simple marble memorial to him can be found in the church at Buttermere, placed in a window looking up to Haystacks. His ashes taken up his favourite fell, Haystacks, by Betty and a longtime friend of AW, and were scattered at Innominate Tarn on the mountain top.
“And if you, dear reader, should get a bit of grit in your boot as you are crossing Haystacks in the years to come, please treat it with respect. It might be me” A. Wainwright
Not withstanding the huge amount of published work which AW left behind as a legacy perhaps something which will remain as a tribute to his life is the Kapellan Animal Shelter which AW used his profits from writing and illustrating to help build and fund. To this day the Animal Shelter at Grayrigg, Kendal continues to re-home cats and dogs throughout Cumbria.
