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Wainwrightthe Biography
Alfred Wainwright will always be known for his Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells: hand-drawn and hand-written works of art from which true fell-walkers have taken their inspiration for the past 40 years. Despite many bestselling books and three television series, Wainwright always remained a very private person, encouraging people to believe his image as a gruff recluse. But Hunter Davies reveals a passionate, witty and generous man.
10 pages, Audio Cassette
First published October 16, 1995
16 people are currently reading
90 people want to read
About the author
Hunter Davies
132 books70 followersEdward Hunter Davies OBE is an author, journalist and broadcaster, and a former editor for the Sunday Times of London. He is the author of numerous books, including The Glory Game and the only authorised biography of the Beatles. He was born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, to Scottish parents. For four years his family lived in Dumfries until Davies was aged 11.
His family moved to Carlisle in northern England when Davies was 11 and he attended the Creighton School in the city. Davies lived in Carlisle until he moved to study at university. During this time his father, who was a former Royal Air Force pay clerk, developed multiple sclerosis and had to retire on medical grounds from a civil service career.
Davies joined the sixth form at Carlisle Grammar School and was awarded a place at University College, Durham to read for an honours degree in History, but after his first year he switched to a general arts course. He gained his first writing experience as a student, contributing to the university newspaper, Palatinate, where one of his fellow student journalists was the future fashion writer Colin McDowell. After completing his degree course he stayed on at Durham for another year to gain a teaching diploma and avoid National Service.
He lives in London.
His family moved to Carlisle in northern England when Davies was 11 and he attended the Creighton School in the city. Davies lived in Carlisle until he moved to study at university. During this time his father, who was a former Royal Air Force pay clerk, developed multiple sclerosis and had to retire on medical grounds from a civil service career.
Davies joined the sixth form at Carlisle Grammar School and was awarded a place at University College, Durham to read for an honours degree in History, but after his first year he switched to a general arts course. He gained his first writing experience as a student, contributing to the university newspaper, Palatinate, where one of his fellow student journalists was the future fashion writer Colin McDowell. After completing his degree course he stayed on at Durham for another year to gain a teaching diploma and avoid National Service.
He lives in London.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
October 15, 2021
I must admit that I feel a bit of a fraud writing this, having only completed one Wainwright Fell and never setting eyes on one of his books before. Having said that, I will try and give a review of this biography.
First of all, this has to be one of the most in depth biographies I have read. Hunter goes into great detail of Wainwright’s life, from his childhood in Blackburn to his death in the Lakes and everything in between. Included are so many personal letters included, giving a brilliant insight into the enigmatic man. Because of this the book is hard going in places and can feel like a slog.
Onto Mr Wainwright himself, this biography has left me unsure as to what to think about him. If you hold an idealised view of Alfred gained from reading his books, his TV shows or from bagging the hills, then I recommend you don't read this biography… unless you want that view shattered. You see Wainwright was a bit of an arse, to his wives, his kids, his friends, his fans. In fact, there were very few people who gained his favour.
Overall I really enjoyed this biography and I'm looking forward to seeing more media about AW.
First of all, this has to be one of the most in depth biographies I have read. Hunter goes into great detail of Wainwright’s life, from his childhood in Blackburn to his death in the Lakes and everything in between. Included are so many personal letters included, giving a brilliant insight into the enigmatic man. Because of this the book is hard going in places and can feel like a slog.
Onto Mr Wainwright himself, this biography has left me unsure as to what to think about him. If you hold an idealised view of Alfred gained from reading his books, his TV shows or from bagging the hills, then I recommend you don't read this biography… unless you want that view shattered. You see Wainwright was a bit of an arse, to his wives, his kids, his friends, his fans. In fact, there were very few people who gained his favour.
Overall I really enjoyed this biography and I'm looking forward to seeing more media about AW.
February 11, 2025
Meticulously researched and detailed account of the life of one of mountain and hillwalking pioneers and heroes.
It turns out he was in many ways a complex and difficult character. Some of his gruffness and taciturn nature was due to shyness, but he was pretty curmudgeonly, opinionated and hard to get to know or like.
Interesting book though!
It turns out he was in many ways a complex and difficult character. Some of his gruffness and taciturn nature was due to shyness, but he was pretty curmudgeonly, opinionated and hard to get to know or like.
Interesting book though!
November 2, 2020
Wainwright The Biography
Hunter Davies 1995
My first experience of Lakeland fell walking was in the mid 1960’s with my parents. My father had been an evacuee to Penrith during World War 2 and was a devotee to Cumbria and AW. Frankly as a small boy, following my enthusiastic 6 foot father up the fells was not always great fun but nevertheless I was in awe of AW’s meticulous maps, the black and white drawings and the personable prose of the pictorial guides which were coming hot off the press.
As I grew taller and my stride began to almost match that of my Dad’s I began to love fell walking in the virtual company of AW. In fact walking elsewhere, where there was no Wainwright, there seemed to be something missing. So I read Hunter Davies’s Biography of AW in order to understand better this enigmatic person who wrote so eloquently and personably yet apparently was taciturn, reclusive and antisocial in real life.
AW was born in Blackburn in 1907 the youngest of 3 children. His Father was an itinerant Stone mason with an alcohol problem who spent much time out of work and consequently his Mother, a devout Congregationalist, spent much time working to make ends meet and the family were poor. Blackburn was dominated by Cotton Mills where most working class folk were destined to work. Blackburn is also famous for Blackburn Rovers and chip shops and this love stayed with him forever.
AW was very bright and was exceptionally good at mathematics and was able to break the mould and succeeded in getting an office job in the Borough Treasurer’s office before becoming an accountant. Whilst he was working in the office he drew satirical cartoons depicting the other office workers and of himself complete with mocking captions. He was clearly a gifted artist with no formal artistic training. In 1931 he married Ruth his first girlfriend herself a “mill girl” according to HD to get away from his Father. 2 years later their son Peter was born of whom AW was very proud.
His first fell walk occurred in 1930 when he was aged 23. He alighted from the bus at Windermere and walked to a recommended viewpoint. The view from Orrest Head “cast a spell that changed my life”. During this week neither he nor his cousin who accompanied him on this first visit had waterproofs or a change of clothes but despite being soaked he was smitten.
By 1933 he realised that he was in a loveless marriage, Ruth never came with him and he preferred to walk alone. It was thought that AW fell walked to seek the pleasure of the mountains but also to escape his marriage. He avoided being called up in 1939 because as a senior municipal accountant considered too important. In 1941 he applied to work in the treasurer’s office in Kendal and later became the Borough Treasurer. It was at this stage that he became aware he had realised his dream of living in Cumbria. The creation of his pictorial guides became an obsession.
This is a superb book for anyone interested in AW. It’s an engaging, page turning “warts n’all” account. Hunter Davies offers his own opinion during the book to explain AW’s character. The book contains really interesting black and white photographs and copies of AW’s cartoons and drawings.
“In his private life there are countless examples of Wainwright being kind to people warm towards strangers generous to those in need. There was always one important proviso. Friendship and intimacy was best kept to paper.” “Throughout his life he had at any one time twenty correspondents on the go” (my Father was one of them).
“Wainwright best expressed himself in letters. Did he not say that his Pictorial Guides were love letters?”
Hunter Davies 1995
My first experience of Lakeland fell walking was in the mid 1960’s with my parents. My father had been an evacuee to Penrith during World War 2 and was a devotee to Cumbria and AW. Frankly as a small boy, following my enthusiastic 6 foot father up the fells was not always great fun but nevertheless I was in awe of AW’s meticulous maps, the black and white drawings and the personable prose of the pictorial guides which were coming hot off the press.
As I grew taller and my stride began to almost match that of my Dad’s I began to love fell walking in the virtual company of AW. In fact walking elsewhere, where there was no Wainwright, there seemed to be something missing. So I read Hunter Davies’s Biography of AW in order to understand better this enigmatic person who wrote so eloquently and personably yet apparently was taciturn, reclusive and antisocial in real life.
AW was born in Blackburn in 1907 the youngest of 3 children. His Father was an itinerant Stone mason with an alcohol problem who spent much time out of work and consequently his Mother, a devout Congregationalist, spent much time working to make ends meet and the family were poor. Blackburn was dominated by Cotton Mills where most working class folk were destined to work. Blackburn is also famous for Blackburn Rovers and chip shops and this love stayed with him forever.
AW was very bright and was exceptionally good at mathematics and was able to break the mould and succeeded in getting an office job in the Borough Treasurer’s office before becoming an accountant. Whilst he was working in the office he drew satirical cartoons depicting the other office workers and of himself complete with mocking captions. He was clearly a gifted artist with no formal artistic training. In 1931 he married Ruth his first girlfriend herself a “mill girl” according to HD to get away from his Father. 2 years later their son Peter was born of whom AW was very proud.
His first fell walk occurred in 1930 when he was aged 23. He alighted from the bus at Windermere and walked to a recommended viewpoint. The view from Orrest Head “cast a spell that changed my life”. During this week neither he nor his cousin who accompanied him on this first visit had waterproofs or a change of clothes but despite being soaked he was smitten.
By 1933 he realised that he was in a loveless marriage, Ruth never came with him and he preferred to walk alone. It was thought that AW fell walked to seek the pleasure of the mountains but also to escape his marriage. He avoided being called up in 1939 because as a senior municipal accountant considered too important. In 1941 he applied to work in the treasurer’s office in Kendal and later became the Borough Treasurer. It was at this stage that he became aware he had realised his dream of living in Cumbria. The creation of his pictorial guides became an obsession.
This is a superb book for anyone interested in AW. It’s an engaging, page turning “warts n’all” account. Hunter Davies offers his own opinion during the book to explain AW’s character. The book contains really interesting black and white photographs and copies of AW’s cartoons and drawings.
“In his private life there are countless examples of Wainwright being kind to people warm towards strangers generous to those in need. There was always one important proviso. Friendship and intimacy was best kept to paper.” “Throughout his life he had at any one time twenty correspondents on the go” (my Father was one of them).
“Wainwright best expressed himself in letters. Did he not say that his Pictorial Guides were love letters?”
April 18, 2024
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Much to my regret hiking came to me in later life. I climbed my first, though I didn’t know it at the time, ‘Wainwright’, the day after my 50th birthday. My second Wainwright and the highest mountain in England, Scafell Pike, was bagged a few months later and from then I have been enchanted, energised, motivated and determined to keep climbing to see how many more I can get to, current tally 88!
As well as being a hiker I am also an avid reader and when I seen this book in Keswick’s Oxfam shop a few months ago I knew I’d like to read more about the man inspiring my new healthy hobby.
Often as readers we like to delve into the background and life of the creator of our beloved art, whether that be a favourite author, painter, sculptor, rockstar, or fuddy-duddy cantankerous old man who created bestselling hand drawn and handwritten guides to 214 Lake District Fells.
And I guess sometimes we should prepare ourselves to find someone who we might not necessarily warm to. He was a complex, difficult human being. Despite some moments of kindness to a few select individuals, and an extreme generosity to all animals, he was not the most pleasant man. You might say he was rude, direct, deliberately difficult, a neglectful husband and father, a profound misogynist, with right-wing views, self-aggrandising but also at times self-deprecating behaviours, both bold and shy…. I could go on. I guess I found the creator of those wonderful books that I dip into after I’ve climbed the fells to be a rather flawed human being but aren’t we all to some extent.
Glad I read it, even more glad I’ve finished.
▪️▪️▪️
August 12, 2021
Great biography of Julia Bradbury's hero, Alfred Wainwright, by Hunter Davies.
Davies traces the life and times of probably the second most famous Lakeland person after William Wordsworth. Known for his love of animals, he left all his royalties to animal charities. Wainwright's unique hand-drawn and hand-written Pictorial Guides are still being used 66 years after the first one was produced in 1955. Yet, despite around sixty bestselling books and three television series, he remained a very private person. Davies' biography sheds surprising new light on what was an enigmatic man, and does reveal a passionate, witty and generous personality, which will surprise readers of his guides.
I being me, just picked this book off the shelf in my city library, looking for something to read during what became the next UK lockdown.
Davies traces the life and times of probably the second most famous Lakeland person after William Wordsworth. Known for his love of animals, he left all his royalties to animal charities. Wainwright's unique hand-drawn and hand-written Pictorial Guides are still being used 66 years after the first one was produced in 1955. Yet, despite around sixty bestselling books and three television series, he remained a very private person. Davies' biography sheds surprising new light on what was an enigmatic man, and does reveal a passionate, witty and generous personality, which will surprise readers of his guides.
I being me, just picked this book off the shelf in my city library, looking for something to read during what became the next UK lockdown.
October 22, 2022
I love Wainwright's guides to the Lake District. As a walker, they're my bible, practical works of art that show you so much about a mountain and the land it sits in.
Unfortunately, this book reveals just how much you have to separate the art and the artist as it reveals what an unpleasant man Wainwright was. However, you need to pull a lot of that out of there as this biography regularly goes out of the way to downplay or just ignore what it reveals. Feels very dated in its style with regular info dumps that feel like padding and large sections that are just Wainwright's self-aggrandising letters presented without any critical engagement.
Unfortunately, this book reveals just how much you have to separate the art and the artist as it reveals what an unpleasant man Wainwright was. However, you need to pull a lot of that out of there as this biography regularly goes out of the way to downplay or just ignore what it reveals. Feels very dated in its style with regular info dumps that feel like padding and large sections that are just Wainwright's self-aggrandising letters presented without any critical engagement.
January 14, 2020
A hugely revealing, fascinating account of a misunderstood, difficult, gifted, funny, shy, antisocial, misogynistic and kind man. Davies is happy to show both the good and the bad in what is a charmingly-written biography that draws on plenty of primary material including some of AW's huge correspondence and assorted pamphlets made for the amusement of friends. I think this is the only dedicated AW biography, and there is certainly no call for any other.
September 2, 2023
I don’t know the Lakes but this book exudes Wainwrights love if the place. Sounds like he was a pain in the arse with a heart of gold. A strange fish one might say. Loved the book, well written and easy to read.
August 13, 2024
You know they say you should never meet your heroes - I felt like that reading this biog. It's a very thorough biography but I am left feeling that AW was not all that nice a person! No spoilers but if you are an AW fan then don't read this...
May 27, 2019
Brilliant book
Excellent book to read. Highly recommended to people to read. He spent a lot of time up in the lakes
Excellent book to read. Highly recommended to people to read. He spent a lot of time up in the lakes
August 24, 2021
A revealing, and sometimes sad journey throughout a great man's life. A little hard to read in some areas, but I enjoyed it.
September 1, 2012
This was an enjoyable, sympathetic but I think not rose-tinted biography of the doyen of writing (and of course illustrating) on Lakeland fell walking. Wainwright comes across as someone who inspired loyalty sometimes richly deserved and sometimes frankly not and he seems to present a real puzzle, unless you put it down to capriciousness and occasional bad judgment.
From unhappy although unexceptional beginnings in poverty, Wainwright became a local authority accountant first in his hometown Blackburn and then in Kendal until his retirement, whilst writing his unique handwritten and illustrated walking guides. He was famously reluctant to take on the yoke of celebrity, but his apparently unremarkable personal life includes the rather startling divorce and remarriage after his retirement and then his later willingness to engage with television, so plenty of mystery for Hunter Davies to get his teeth into.
Davies speculates a little on how he came to marry his first wife which Wainwright at least seems to have realised was a mistake pretty quickly but perhaps not enough. Reading between the lines the poor woman seems to have been a means to some sort of end - most likely an 'end away' to judge by some of Wainwright's preoccupations in his livelier correspondences with his peers at the time, but it really is a mystery. It was impossible not to feel for both parties and it is made very clear that the fellwalking was a means of coping rather than the reason for the problems. However, Wainwright's attitude to women is shown as rather iffy all along and it is hard to feel there wasn't some other way to approach a difficult situation other than treating his wife as little better than a slave and showing her an almost total lack of respect. Again, it's the 'almost' that makes for such a puzzle - why did he dedicate a book to her given the rest of his behaviour? Why was her photograph amongst those found in his wallet after his death? I almost said aloud "I beg your pardon?!" when he arranged that she should make a difficult journey every week to keep doing his laundry after they agreed to separate and almost cheered with relief when she changed her mind and said no.
Even sadder was his relationship with his son in later life after a touching start. Wainwright shows an at best curiously blinkered and unimaginative attitude and at worst downright nastiness. Mainly he seems to have been a fundamentally capricious, mood-driven man capable of great kindness and humour if the wind was blowing in the right direction that day and who would have benefitted a good deal by those close to him telling him where to get off on occasion.
Although there was a lot about the production of the books from concept to marketing, somehow there didn't seem to be so very much about the actual experience of fellwalking. It was certainly there and perhaps Davies reasoned that Wainwright had, almost by definition, said what there was to say on that subject for himself already.
It was a thought provoking biography.
From unhappy although unexceptional beginnings in poverty, Wainwright became a local authority accountant first in his hometown Blackburn and then in Kendal until his retirement, whilst writing his unique handwritten and illustrated walking guides. He was famously reluctant to take on the yoke of celebrity, but his apparently unremarkable personal life includes the rather startling divorce and remarriage after his retirement and then his later willingness to engage with television, so plenty of mystery for Hunter Davies to get his teeth into.
Davies speculates a little on how he came to marry his first wife which Wainwright at least seems to have realised was a mistake pretty quickly but perhaps not enough. Reading between the lines the poor woman seems to have been a means to some sort of end - most likely an 'end away' to judge by some of Wainwright's preoccupations in his livelier correspondences with his peers at the time, but it really is a mystery. It was impossible not to feel for both parties and it is made very clear that the fellwalking was a means of coping rather than the reason for the problems. However, Wainwright's attitude to women is shown as rather iffy all along and it is hard to feel there wasn't some other way to approach a difficult situation other than treating his wife as little better than a slave and showing her an almost total lack of respect. Again, it's the 'almost' that makes for such a puzzle - why did he dedicate a book to her given the rest of his behaviour? Why was her photograph amongst those found in his wallet after his death? I almost said aloud "I beg your pardon?!" when he arranged that she should make a difficult journey every week to keep doing his laundry after they agreed to separate and almost cheered with relief when she changed her mind and said no.
Even sadder was his relationship with his son in later life after a touching start. Wainwright shows an at best curiously blinkered and unimaginative attitude and at worst downright nastiness. Mainly he seems to have been a fundamentally capricious, mood-driven man capable of great kindness and humour if the wind was blowing in the right direction that day and who would have benefitted a good deal by those close to him telling him where to get off on occasion.
Although there was a lot about the production of the books from concept to marketing, somehow there didn't seem to be so very much about the actual experience of fellwalking. It was certainly there and perhaps Davies reasoned that Wainwright had, almost by definition, said what there was to say on that subject for himself already.
It was a thought provoking biography.
April 11, 2016
I enjoyed the book but did it really tell me anything I didn't already know? Well actually yes. It's common knowledge he was a cranky man, with a variety of views that would be deemed hopelessly politically incorrect nowadays, the surprise is that he seems to have held these views throughout his life and not just in his elder years.
Another surprise was the amount of money he gave to animal charity, particularly since he seemed to have no great fondness for them in his private life.
I think the book is quite kind to the man and I simply don't buy the idea that his obsession with walking was caused by an unhappy marriage rather than his obsession with walking caused that unhappy marriage.
Hunter Davies, to his credit, does try to balance AW's feelings to his first wife, Ruth, with reports from family, friends and colleagues who knew her that give a far different picture of her that AW would have you believe.
Another surprise was the amount of money he gave to animal charity, particularly since he seemed to have no great fondness for them in his private life.
I think the book is quite kind to the man and I simply don't buy the idea that his obsession with walking was caused by an unhappy marriage rather than his obsession with walking caused that unhappy marriage.
Hunter Davies, to his credit, does try to balance AW's feelings to his first wife, Ruth, with reports from family, friends and colleagues who knew her that give a far different picture of her that AW would have you believe.
July 12, 2017
Somewhat of a niche interest title, Wainwright: The Biography is the tale of how a Blackburn local government accountant went on to map the Lake District, and in so doing help promote fell walking throughout The Lakes to this very day. It's a very well-written work, but I also like how Davies allows Wainwright's own writing the space so as to be able breathe, and as such the reader is able to ascertain the famous walker's own views of the land, in addition to his (somewhat lugubrious and taciturn) outlook on life.
The Lake District will have changed in many ways since Wainwright's death a quarter of a century ago, but the beauty of the fells, the lakes, and the mountains live on, not least through his works as well as the BBC TV series Wainwright Walks which was subsequently based upon them, as was the BBC's Coast to Coast walk series. Highly recommended for those who love the best (and most beautiful) part of Britain: Lancashire, NW England, and the Lake District.
The Lake District will have changed in many ways since Wainwright's death a quarter of a century ago, but the beauty of the fells, the lakes, and the mountains live on, not least through his works as well as the BBC TV series Wainwright Walks which was subsequently based upon them, as was the BBC's Coast to Coast walk series. Highly recommended for those who love the best (and most beautiful) part of Britain: Lancashire, NW England, and the Lake District.
January 13, 2013
This is another book that took me a long time to read. I started it last summer and gradually got about 2 thirds through. I picked it up in the week and after a concerted effort got right into the story of this enigmatic man. He is without question a one off - an eccentric. His character at once cold, withdrawn and obsessive is also wry, creative and passionate. He was unimpressed by wealth, grandeur and fame, he loved the lakes, blackburn rovers and fish and chips. This is a well written book which goes some way to capturing the contradictory nature of A. Wainwright and in such a way that I for one dropped a tear near the end... and felt a great affection for this fell walking man.
September 21, 2013
I enjoyed this biography of a cranky, right-wing, obsessive fellwalker who expressed his devotion to the hills in a series of beautifully drawn and handwritten books. Wainwright was intensely private (hiding his first name Alfred behind the initial A, for example) so Hunter Davies does well in shining a torch into his hidden personal life. By the end of this book, I felt I had got to know A.Wainwright well and saw that he definitely had feet of clay - and I'm not talking about the mud on his hiking boots here! I can recommend this biography for anyone who loved his idiosyncratic guide books and/or those who share his passion for walking in the hills.
May 16, 2016
Wainwright's books are a joy to me. When using them as a guide i always feel like i had a jocular companion, explaining and helping me find my way round the fells. It was a surprise to me to learn that many found him gruff and unsociable. This book concentrates on the man behind the myth. Its not always pleasant reading, there are dark times, ladles of unhappiness but it is full of surprise and joy. Its not just a biography of Wainwright it is also a social commentary on a way of living that has faded, its a story of loyalty, loss, persistence, determination,simple honest living and the joy of fish and chips..
October 25, 2021
An excellent biography which taught me much about Alfred Wainwright when I first read it a few years ago. As I was working in the Lake District at the time I felt a personal connection to both Wainwright and the Fells. I read his Pictorial guides to start with but wanted to learn more about Wainwright himself.
I felt it was well overdue that I re-read this book, and was captivated by the story of Wainwright's life and exploring his motivations for writing and his love of fell walking. I would recommend this to anyone interested in walking, the Lake District or Wainwright's writing.
I felt it was well overdue that I re-read this book, and was captivated by the story of Wainwright's life and exploring his motivations for writing and his love of fell walking. I would recommend this to anyone interested in walking, the Lake District or Wainwright's writing.
December 26, 2023
If you're a lover of walking the Lake District then you might consider reading this readable biography of Wainwright, the man who produced pictorial guides to the Lake District that many consider works of genius. But you might also read the book for the story of a quintessential Northerner born into relative poverty in the milltown of Blackburn but rising through one dreadful; and one successful marriage to be a national celebrity.
My blog:
https://richardswsmith.wordpress.com/...
My blog:
https://richardswsmith.wordpress.com/...
July 26, 2011
A fasinating account of a Northern icon. Hunter Davies dismantles the aura around the enigmatic Wainwright revealing much of his fragility, insecurity and defensive posturing. Falling into an unhappy marriage - for which he seems to blame his wife! - he escapes to the Lakes, to Kendal and a new love. Victim or villian, you choose but the account by which he researches, compiles and eventually comes to publish his guide books is at once fascinating and revealing of the character of the man.
August 3, 2011
A must-read for anyone who, like me, adores Wainwright's pictorial guides and is fascinated to learn more of the enigma behind them. It's a wonderfully written biography - being sympathetic but honest and objective.
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August 3, 2011....
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