Product Description

The Eastern Fells includes the greatest single concentrated mass of high ground in Lakeland: a tremendous barrier running north and south, high and steep all along its length, rising to above 3000 feet on Helvellyn – the most-often climbed mountain in the Lake District. Popular resorts such as Ambleside and Grasmere lie in this sector of the fells, as does the beautiful Patterdale valley (the best base, in Wainwright's view, for exploring the area).

This second edition of The Eastern Fells by the legendary A. Wainwright has been brilliantly revised by Chris Jesty, a trained cartographer who worked with Wainwright on some of the maps in his later large-format guides. All footpaths have been rewalked, all routes checked, all maps and text updated. Paths and routes have been picked out in red to make them easier to follow, and parking information has been added. This new edition of the classic walking guide is Wainwright for the 21st century.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6634 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 312 pages

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.

Chris Jesty trained as a cartographer with the Ordnance Survey. He devised Scafell Pike Panorama, a guide to the view from the highest mountain in England, for which Wainwright provided illustrations. When Wainwright's health deteriorated, Chris helped him with the maps for two of his large-format books. Shortly before he died, Wainwright said that if ever the Pictorial Guides were to be revised, Chris Jesty should be given the job. He lives in Kendal.

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Customer Reviews

THE ULIMATE GUIDES TO LAKELAND FELLS
This special edition boxed set of seven Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland must rank amongst the finest and detailed set of guide books for walkers and lovers of the Lake District, situated in Cumbria, England.
The meticulous detail and minute accuracy, together with the drawings, sketches and notes make these guide books unique.
Guides to the Lakeland have appeared since 1770, so these guides are therefore not original, but they are distinctive in concentrating on individual fells, over 200 of them, and are not walking tour guides.
Book 1 initially starts with fells over 1400 feet, but in later books fells of over 1000 feet are included, but there is one fell included of 985 feet which is noted as a 'protuberance' rather than as a fell.
The guides give the ways up,the ways down, what is to be seen at the top and the connecting ridges with other fells.
The Lake District has been divided up in different ways by different authors. It has been likened to a wheel with spokes emanating out from the centre. Wainwright has worked out his own method of caputuring all the fells, has divided them into seven distinct areas, and then worked out the length of each book, how many fells to include, and how many pages to devote to each fell, all the while trying to keep each book about the same length.
These guides are one persons work, unique and now universally distinctive. It is hard to imagine the time and the effort that has gone into compilling these books, the pen and ink drawings, maps and sketches, the handwritten notes and thumbnail sketches to fill up each page. Each line is justified and no word has had to be hyphenated. These books have been printed exactly as they were written and drawn by the author. All the printers had to do was to print them exactly as they were received! All in all, a remarkable feat, one I believe will never again be undertaken by any author on such a scale.
These guides are little treasures, their accuracy can be guaranteed over the past 50 years since they were first published, and their size encourages the possesser to slip the appropriate volume into their coat pocket before each walk.
If there is one criticism, it is that one would not wish to spoil the books by getting them wet or by tearing the pages whilst out walking. I would therefore leave them at home to read and enjoy before and after each walk!

Worked for me...
The Wainwright Guides came up at lunch as Subject of the Day. Dunno why, but it did. Anyways, here's a synopsis of the long, rambling story I told about my own Pennine Way trek donkey's years ago... and how Wainwright's Pennine Way Companion became my *only* companion.

I started off at Edale with the entire Pennine Way afore me, armed with umpteen maps at 25,000 scale, lots of "improving books", spare sets (plural) of clothes, extra shoes, kagoul jacket and trousers, intact kneecaps, and plenty of resolve. Oh yes, resolve aplenty. And I of course took along a copy of the Wainwright's Pennine Way Companion, as should you, Dear Reader, 'cos it's a classic. A few days in, and my kneecaps had worn away, both feet had blistered up nicely, and the contents of my rucksack were crushing my city-slicker shoulder muscles. I was really in a sorry state. Something had to give, so I did what many of you lot will do if you ever get tackle the Pennine Way yerselves: I boxed up all unnecessary weighty, non-weighty, and featherlight items, (and squeezed out any unnecessary air from inside the rucksack)and mailed 'em home. Good riddance to the lot of it.

And second class, 'cos it's cheaper, and I wouldn't be home for a while anyways. Not at this rate.

So off went the Improving Books, most of the spare clothes, spare shoes, *all* the maps, and much much more. One of the few things to survive The Shedding was Wainwright's book, which became my *only* navigational aid for the next couple of weeks. Erm, probably not the best advice, but it worked out well for me. I remember well studying the Book (note the capitalised letter) every night before lights off, and also every morning over cooked breakfast. Never failed me, and I only got lost (erm) twice. Maybe three times.

So buy it. And do *not* use it as your only navigational aid. Only a daft sod with knackered knees, hips and shoulders would take such desperate measures...

Pennine Way
This is a Wainwright Classic - full of irascible opinions, fine line drawings, and a wealth of information. He did not like the Pennine Way much - I did, having just done it - but a lot has been done on the route to stablaise the path since this was written. If you like Wainwright, you will love this book.