Railway Poster - Norfolk Broads

Here is an interesting item from one of our associated sites in the Around-England family:   

Britain's largest area of wetland is The Broads. The area has National Park status, and although commonly referred to as the 'Norfolk' Broads actually extends into Suffolk, the neighbouring county to the south. It is an extremely popular area with holidaymakers .....

Read more at ...
http://england.on-posters.com/railway-poster-norfolk-broads/

Alfred Wainwright and the "Wainwright Walks"

It was in 1930 at the age of 23 that Alfred Wainwright, then a junior accounting staff member in the Borough Engineer's Department in Blackburn, Lancashire, went with his cousin for a holiday in the Lake District, and so began the "Wainwright walks". He had often enjoyed walking in the hills of East Lancashire but once he'd experienced Lakeland there was no turning back. From then on he took every possible opportunity to walk in the Lake District mountains.

In the early 1940s he applied for a job in the Borough Treasurer's office in Kendal. The pay was less than he'd been getting in Blackburn but it brought him close to his beloved mountains and made his Lake District walks so much easier to arrange without the journey up from East Lancashire.

His ideas for recording his walks appear to have developed slowly during the 1940s but it was in 1952 that he started to produce pages of maps and sketches systematically in a carefully planned format, initially for his own use. Having eventually decided to publish his work the first volume of "A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, by A. Wainwright" appeared in 1955, privately published.

There were seven volumes in all, each covering one of his seven divisions of the Lake District, the last reaching the bookshops in 1966 by which time the Westmorland Gazette newspaper of Kendal, from the beginning his printer, had also become his publisher.

The style was unique with his combination of carefully drawn maps showing his recommended routes, sketches of the countryside around the areas of the walks, compass diagrams to indicate what peaks can be seen from strategic points, and his notes describing the routes and full of "typical" Wainwright asides.

The Wainwright Guides became the standard source of information of hill walking in the Lake District, but by the early years of a new century they were beginning to date, and demand had fallen away. In 2003 the first editions, the oldest of which had now been on bookshelves for almost fifty years, ceased publication.

Alfred Wainwright had died in 1991, but the Wainwright Guides filled with his detailed instructions for the now famous "Wainwright walks" would not die. The publisher Frances Lincoln bought the rights and Chris Jesty took on the role of reviser, updating the maps and instructions whilst retaining the distinctive Wainwright style almost in its entirety. A 50th Anniversary edition of the first edition was produced and became very popular, and by 2009 all seven revised editions were available.

Other walks, in areas close to the Lake District and further afield, were described in other books and these will be covered in a later article. He also published volumes of his sketches, including one on his adopted town, "Kendal in the 19th Century", and a volume entitled "Westmorland Heritage" in 1975 as the historic Lakeland county was merged into the newly created Cumbria. Regardless, however, of his many other publications the name Alfred Wainwright will surely continue to be associated chiefly with the "Wainwright walks" described with meticulous care in his Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells.

More about Alfred Wainwright and the Wainwright Walks

Appleby on a Sunny-Chilly April Morning

The River Eden was looking splendid this morning. Although the temperature was a good 10-15 degrees down on last week's premature arrival of Summer the day was bright, the sky was clear and it was great to be able to walk along the river bank.

I wasn't out long. Lunch and a return to the computer screen called, but I couldn't resist stopping to take the following pictures.

The foal looked to me to be no more than a few days old and was drawing attention from just about everyone who passed. Then after a good feed, crash - a lunchtime nap.

What a privilege to be able to live in such a beautiful place as Appleby.

Brantwood, Coniston - Home of John Ruskin

This morning I came across a photograph from 1991. Not digital, of course, but easily scanned to put here. It shows Brantwood, the home of John Ruskin near the shore of Coniston Water, on the opposite side of the lake from the village.

I remember well the day I took this photo from the boat coming over from Coniston jetty. I was with a friend from London who, in common with very many highly educated and widely traveled people in the South, still knew little of the North of England. This was part of his induction into the beauties of North Lancashire and the Lake District.

A tour of Brantwood was, as always, a fascinating experience. If I recall correctly it was a Ghandi display that caught my friend's attention. I've been there many times, both before and since that afternoon. This is a special place, and should be on the itinerary of any thinking person who visits the Lake District.

Across the water in Coniston village there is also the Ruskin Museum founded in the early years of the twentieth century by W. G. Collingwood, who in earlier life had been Ruskin's assistant. This includes not only Ruskin items but displays relating to the Coniston Copper mines and Donald Campbell's eventually fatal water speed record attempts on the lake.

Coniston has a lot to offer. When visiting the Lake District don't confine yourself to the central areas of Windermere, Grasmere and Keswick.

Other Museums and Galleries in Cumbria

In addition to the outdoor attractions of the mountain environment there is a wide range of things to do and places to visit on the wet days. Click here for museums and galleries in Cumbria.

Ullswater in the English Lake District

Another quick note from Around-England.

Yesterday I added on the main Around-England blog a post about Saturday's trip to Ullswater.

Today I spent some time updating and adding more photos to the site's main Ullswater page.

Just now I came across a nice photo on 'twitpic', uploaded there by Lina Hogg, of Ullswater seen from near Aira Force. (You get to a larger sized photo on the 'twitpic' site by clicking on this one here).



Also this afternoon I found a really nice blog run by Ian and Melanie of Eden Outdoor Adventures, including a great description of a walk in the Ullswater valley.

Copper Mines in the Lake District

More than thirty years ago I read several books on the history and industrial archaeology of the Lake District and was amazed to learn that the wonderful scenery was far from "natural". Industries of many types over many centuries have shaped what we see today.

Recently I have begun to refresh my memory on all that study, and to take it further. The Coniston copper mines interested me especially at first, and then other copper mining areas such as the Newlands Valley and the Caldbeck fells.

Eventually I hope to write something more extensive but in the meantime have started to produce some short pieces about Lake District mining on my Around-England sites. An early one of these is: Copper Mines in the Lake District

I hope these will be interesting and helpful to people interested in the story of how we come to have the Cumbria Lake District as it is. Even in areas like the mountains around Ullswater, close to villages such as Glenridding ad Hartsop, there are miles upon miles of tunnels in the hillsides, in this case mainly from lead mining.

Wainwright Guides to the Lake District Fells

I've just added a new page to "The Lake District in Books" covering the second edition of the famous Wainwright Pictorial Guides to the Lake District Fells. I now have several of them and hope to complete the collection soon. They are a great update to the originals, some of which were published 50 years ago and had become a little outdated as paths had been diverted, etc.. The original style has been retained which is good.