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Wainwright Pict Gdes Coast To Coast Walk
Stretches across 190 miles from St. Bees Head on the East Coast to Robin Hood's Bay on the West, passing through the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
9 people are currently reading
325 people want to read
About the author
Alfred Wainwright
215 books39 followersAlfred Wainwright was born in Blackburn, Lancashire to Thomas Wainwright and Elizabeth Nixon.[citation needed] His family was relatively poor, mostly due to his stonemason father's alcoholism. He did very well at school (first in nearly every subject)[1] although he left at the age of 13. While most of his classmates were obliged to find employment in the local mills, Wainwright started work as an office boy in Blackburn Borough Engineer's Department. He spent several further years studying at night school, gaining qualifications in accountancy which enabled him to further his career at Blackburn Borough Council. Even when a child Wainwright walked a great deal, up to 20 miles at a time; he also showed a great interest in drawing and cartography, producing his own maps of England and his local area.
In 1930, at the age of 23, Wainwright saved up enough money for a week's walking holiday in the Lake District with his cousin Eric Beardsall. They arrived in Windermere and climbed the nearby hill Orrest Head, where Wainwright saw his first view of the Lakeland fells. This moment marked the start of what he would later describe as his love affair with the Lake District. In 1931 he married his first wife, Ruth Holden, a local mill worker, with whom he had a son Peter. In 1941 Wainwright was able to move closer to the fells when he took a job (and with it a pay cut) at the Borough Treasurer's office in Kendal, Westmorland. He lived and worked in the town for the rest of his life, serving as Borough Treasurer from 1948 until he retired in 1967. His first marriage ended when Ruth walked out three weeks before he retired. They later divorced. In 1970 he married Betty McNally (1922–2008), also a divorcee, who became his walking companion and who eventually carried his ashes to Innominate Tarn at the top of Haystacks.
In 1930, at the age of 23, Wainwright saved up enough money for a week's walking holiday in the Lake District with his cousin Eric Beardsall. They arrived in Windermere and climbed the nearby hill Orrest Head, where Wainwright saw his first view of the Lakeland fells. This moment marked the start of what he would later describe as his love affair with the Lake District. In 1931 he married his first wife, Ruth Holden, a local mill worker, with whom he had a son Peter. In 1941 Wainwright was able to move closer to the fells when he took a job (and with it a pay cut) at the Borough Treasurer's office in Kendal, Westmorland. He lived and worked in the town for the rest of his life, serving as Borough Treasurer from 1948 until he retired in 1967. His first marriage ended when Ruth walked out three weeks before he retired. They later divorced. In 1970 he married Betty McNally (1922–2008), also a divorcee, who became his walking companion and who eventually carried his ashes to Innominate Tarn at the top of Haystacks.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
April 5, 2015
In less than 3 months, I'll be making this walk across England--192 miles from St. Bee's on the Irish Sea to Robin Hood's Bay on the North Sea. A. Wainwright, the author of this book, originated this walk and this book is his hand-written, illustrated account of it. Now I'll get to see what I'm in for!
October 11, 2025
Prachtig geïllustreerd boekje door Alfred Wainwright de bedenker van het coast to coast path. Super nauwkeurig en precies en geweldige tekeningen
March 31, 2012
Back in the 70s, Alfred Wainwright wrote a book documenting a path across England, from "Coast to Coast", as it were. It proved a hit. Now hundreds of people walk it each year, perhaps even thousands. This is the second edition of that book, updated for a changing world, while retaining the voice and style of the original.
What drew people to the original book wasn't so much the actual path itself (although the path itself is a quite excellent walking path, although as a path for backpacking it's not particularly great -- at least, not by the standards of this well-traveled American backpacker). What made the book special was Wainwright's distinctive voice, which permeated the words describing the path and attractions along it, and the hand drawings he made to accompany it. As a work of art, this book is utterly fascinating.
As a practical tool for actually undertaking the walk, however, it falls short somewhat. It doesn't really list the things a practical walker cares about: the places to stay, the places to eat meals, the places to purchase food for carrying while walking, the places most amenable to camping, and so on. It would change the character of the book to provide that information, I think. Yet without that information, I wouldn't recommend this book as the sole guide for someone considering a Coast to Coast Walk. Instead I'd recommend Coast to Coast Path: St Bees to Robin Hood's Bay, Planning, Places to Stay, Places to Eat as a better alternative, with more detailed maps to the path and far better information on practicalities along the way. But if you want a book to show people what you plan to do, or will do, this is absolutely a better book to get.
If I were looking only for the art and warmth, this would be the perfect book to get. But I was also looking for the practical details, and on that the book falls short. So I rate this four stars rather than five.
What drew people to the original book wasn't so much the actual path itself (although the path itself is a quite excellent walking path, although as a path for backpacking it's not particularly great -- at least, not by the standards of this well-traveled American backpacker). What made the book special was Wainwright's distinctive voice, which permeated the words describing the path and attractions along it, and the hand drawings he made to accompany it. As a work of art, this book is utterly fascinating.
As a practical tool for actually undertaking the walk, however, it falls short somewhat. It doesn't really list the things a practical walker cares about: the places to stay, the places to eat meals, the places to purchase food for carrying while walking, the places most amenable to camping, and so on. It would change the character of the book to provide that information, I think. Yet without that information, I wouldn't recommend this book as the sole guide for someone considering a Coast to Coast Walk. Instead I'd recommend Coast to Coast Path: St Bees to Robin Hood's Bay, Planning, Places to Stay, Places to Eat as a better alternative, with more detailed maps to the path and far better information on practicalities along the way. But if you want a book to show people what you plan to do, or will do, this is absolutely a better book to get.
If I were looking only for the art and warmth, this would be the perfect book to get. But I was also looking for the practical details, and on that the book falls short. So I rate this four stars rather than five.
August 22, 2011
Love the book in retrospect, having done the walk. Did try taking it with me and reading the appropriate section before doing the days walking - but gave that up after three days. He was like one of those irritating uncles who always knows best, and who you end up shouting "Will you just shut up for a moment!" at. Added to which I hate following a pre-planned route to the letter - even my own. I loved the drawings and the usual delightful sense of humour that underlies all his books, at least in parts.
January 14, 2024
Even if you don't ever get to actually walk this (Coast to coast to from St. Bees Head to Robin Hood's Bay, England), the book is just a cozy read and Wainwright with his descriptions and illustrations take a person there. I hope to see some of these places sometimes.
The book also provides an index of maps and places, some personal notes in conclusion, and a Reader's log of the journey to use when they walk at the back of the book.
Summary:
"Robin Hood's Bay to St Bees: 200 miles across Northern England
Going well beyond the usual trail guide, the author covers such topics as, the history, people and villages along the way; the flora and fauna, folklore and fells, waterfalls and witches. He examines the industrial, mining, and ecclesiastical history as he puts one foot in front of the other, describing his encounters with a light, and often humorous, touch.
“A fascinating journey through history on The Coast-to-Coast Walk. This book is an ideal accompaniment to a reader’s travels, to step back in time and appreciate the rich history of England.”
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. A. Wainwright died in 1991 at the age of 84.
Some of my favorite parts:
Pg 4: " The walk is one I have long had in mind, and in 1972 finally accomplished; and I have committed it to print partly because the growing popularity of the Pennine Way indicates that many people of all ages welcome the challenge of a long-distance walk, and partly because I want to encourage in others the ambition to devise with the aid of maps their own cross-country marathons and not be merely followers of other people's routes: there is no end to the possibilities for originally and initiative. And partly, I suppose, because I like to write about my walks and by doing so live them over again."
pg19 "Black Sail Hut is the loneliest and most romantic of Youth Hostels, situated in a magnificent surround of mountainous country."
pg 26- " The best form of walking is fell walking and the best part of fell walking is ridge walking and the best part of ridge walking is the traverse of high connecting skylines between neighbouring summits."
pg 36- " Gird up your loins, ford the stream issuing from the tarn and bear left to the distinct path climbing up the steep slope in fronting a series of zigzags."
pg 46- " The journey from Patterdale to Shap involves a lofty crossing of the High Street massif, the final mountain barrier of Lakeland in the east, and druing the course of the walk the scenery changes dramatically, sombre fells giving place to a pastoral limestone landscape. This is farewell to Lakeland, and farewells to Lakeland are always sad...."
pg 56- "The builders of England's ancient country abbeys were not only experts in a craft now either extinct or dormant but landscape artists too: they certainly had a good eye for the most-favored and pleasantest rural locations."
pg58- "The flora of limestone country, too, is a constant joy, the deep crevices harboring flowers and ferns and mosses in variety; indeed most limestone outcroppings are complete natural rock gardens furnished with shy and delicate plants, some such as the bird's eye primrose, rare, elsewhere, being commonplace locally.
A walker on limestone is well favoured."
pg 82- "Always , at Keld, there is the music of the river.
... and some of its waterfalls."
pg 84- "It is in this part of the walk, as our route aims from the hills for the valleys, that we pass from the settlements of the early Viking raiders, who found, in the mountainous northwest, country to their liking, a 'home from home', to those of the Danes, Angles and Saxons, who preferred the richer low ground to which, as tillers of the soil, they were accustomed."
pg91- "What is a hush? A hush, in mining terms, is a ravine contrived by prospectors on a steep slope and is caused by the sudden release of water artificially dammed above it is such force as to strip the vegetation and scout the ground with abject of revealing any mineral content in the subsoil that might indicate the presence of a vein."
pg 96- "No railway every penetrated the upper reaches of Swaledale--what a scenic journey it would have provide, what a pageant of beauty! -- but a few buses pass through Reeth daily, linking Richmond and Keld."
pg 116-" To walkers whose liking is for high places and rough terrain, this will seem the dullest part of the whole walk; those who bleive the earth is flat will be mightily encouraged on this reaction."
pg 163--"The end of the road"
"Now you can rest on your laurels in the Bay Hotel with a pint but (let there be no misunderstanding about this) you do so at your own expense. It's no use saying, "charge it to Wainwright" as you did at the Border Hotel at Kirk Yetholm. No sonny. that game won't work here. Pay for your own. I'm skint."
The book also provides an index of maps and places, some personal notes in conclusion, and a Reader's log of the journey to use when they walk at the back of the book.
Summary:
"Robin Hood's Bay to St Bees: 200 miles across Northern England
Going well beyond the usual trail guide, the author covers such topics as, the history, people and villages along the way; the flora and fauna, folklore and fells, waterfalls and witches. He examines the industrial, mining, and ecclesiastical history as he puts one foot in front of the other, describing his encounters with a light, and often humorous, touch.
“A fascinating journey through history on The Coast-to-Coast Walk. This book is an ideal accompaniment to a reader’s travels, to step back in time and appreciate the rich history of England.”
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. A. Wainwright died in 1991 at the age of 84.
Some of my favorite parts:
Pg 4: " The walk is one I have long had in mind, and in 1972 finally accomplished; and I have committed it to print partly because the growing popularity of the Pennine Way indicates that many people of all ages welcome the challenge of a long-distance walk, and partly because I want to encourage in others the ambition to devise with the aid of maps their own cross-country marathons and not be merely followers of other people's routes: there is no end to the possibilities for originally and initiative. And partly, I suppose, because I like to write about my walks and by doing so live them over again."
pg19 "Black Sail Hut is the loneliest and most romantic of Youth Hostels, situated in a magnificent surround of mountainous country."
pg 26- " The best form of walking is fell walking and the best part of fell walking is ridge walking and the best part of ridge walking is the traverse of high connecting skylines between neighbouring summits."
pg 36- " Gird up your loins, ford the stream issuing from the tarn and bear left to the distinct path climbing up the steep slope in fronting a series of zigzags."
pg 46- " The journey from Patterdale to Shap involves a lofty crossing of the High Street massif, the final mountain barrier of Lakeland in the east, and druing the course of the walk the scenery changes dramatically, sombre fells giving place to a pastoral limestone landscape. This is farewell to Lakeland, and farewells to Lakeland are always sad...."
pg 56- "The builders of England's ancient country abbeys were not only experts in a craft now either extinct or dormant but landscape artists too: they certainly had a good eye for the most-favored and pleasantest rural locations."
pg58- "The flora of limestone country, too, is a constant joy, the deep crevices harboring flowers and ferns and mosses in variety; indeed most limestone outcroppings are complete natural rock gardens furnished with shy and delicate plants, some such as the bird's eye primrose, rare, elsewhere, being commonplace locally.
A walker on limestone is well favoured."
pg 82- "Always , at Keld, there is the music of the river.
... and some of its waterfalls."
pg 84- "It is in this part of the walk, as our route aims from the hills for the valleys, that we pass from the settlements of the early Viking raiders, who found, in the mountainous northwest, country to their liking, a 'home from home', to those of the Danes, Angles and Saxons, who preferred the richer low ground to which, as tillers of the soil, they were accustomed."
pg91- "What is a hush? A hush, in mining terms, is a ravine contrived by prospectors on a steep slope and is caused by the sudden release of water artificially dammed above it is such force as to strip the vegetation and scout the ground with abject of revealing any mineral content in the subsoil that might indicate the presence of a vein."
pg 96- "No railway every penetrated the upper reaches of Swaledale--what a scenic journey it would have provide, what a pageant of beauty! -- but a few buses pass through Reeth daily, linking Richmond and Keld."
pg 116-" To walkers whose liking is for high places and rough terrain, this will seem the dullest part of the whole walk; those who bleive the earth is flat will be mightily encouraged on this reaction."
pg 163--"The end of the road"
"Now you can rest on your laurels in the Bay Hotel with a pint but (let there be no misunderstanding about this) you do so at your own expense. It's no use saying, "charge it to Wainwright" as you did at the Border Hotel at Kirk Yetholm. No sonny. that game won't work here. Pay for your own. I'm skint."
August 16, 2020
ühe matkaraja kirjelduse kohta aastast 1973 oli see nüüd küll ootamatult meeleolukas lugemine. muidugi ei viitsiks, kui ise ei ole seda matka teinud või ei plaani minna - aga vbla siiski võiks, sest need Wainwrighti käsitsikirjutatud ja iseillustreeritud matkaraamatud on fenomen omaette.
(seda käsikirja on muidugi veits tüütu lugeda, aga samas oleks raiskamine midagi sellist tavalisse trükki panna, sest inimene on ikkagi vaeva näinud ja käekiri on tõesti hea.)
meeleolukas on see siis ses mõttes, et toimub ootamatuid neljanda seina purustamisi ja lugeja poole pöördumisi stiilis "noh, kuidas on, jääme siia või tuled edasi?" pluss paar hästisihitud mürgist noolt inimeste suunas, kes usuvad, et Maa on lame (kas need inimesed tõesti olid 70ndatel ka olemas?) ja siis veel natuke sarkasmi nii päevaturistide kui ülemäära püüdlike matjakate suhtes.
segama jäi see, et tegu on millalgi 2000ndatel ületoimetatud väljaandega ja ma tahaks näha kuidagi selgemat vahet, et mida siis ikkagi ütles Wainwright ise ja mille on lisanud see hilisem toimetaja. (äkki nt lamemaalased on hoopis temalt? see oleks küll pettumus).
aga muidugi põhirespekt Alfredile ikkagi selle eest, et ta sellise matkamarsruudi üldse välja mõtles ja läbi testis ja kirja pani. matka soovitan väga ja kui juba teha seda matka, siis kindlasti tuleks ka just seda raamatut lugeda, olgu siis enne või pärast või ajal :) päris ainsaks kaasavõetavaks kaardiks-rajajuhiseks ta ei sobi, aga korraliku Ordnance Survey kaardiga koos juba läheb küll.
(seda käsikirja on muidugi veits tüütu lugeda, aga samas oleks raiskamine midagi sellist tavalisse trükki panna, sest inimene on ikkagi vaeva näinud ja käekiri on tõesti hea.)
meeleolukas on see siis ses mõttes, et toimub ootamatuid neljanda seina purustamisi ja lugeja poole pöördumisi stiilis "noh, kuidas on, jääme siia või tuled edasi?" pluss paar hästisihitud mürgist noolt inimeste suunas, kes usuvad, et Maa on lame (kas need inimesed tõesti olid 70ndatel ka olemas?) ja siis veel natuke sarkasmi nii päevaturistide kui ülemäära püüdlike matjakate suhtes.
segama jäi see, et tegu on millalgi 2000ndatel ületoimetatud väljaandega ja ma tahaks näha kuidagi selgemat vahet, et mida siis ikkagi ütles Wainwright ise ja mille on lisanud see hilisem toimetaja. (äkki nt lamemaalased on hoopis temalt? see oleks küll pettumus).
aga muidugi põhirespekt Alfredile ikkagi selle eest, et ta sellise matkamarsruudi üldse välja mõtles ja läbi testis ja kirja pani. matka soovitan väga ja kui juba teha seda matka, siis kindlasti tuleks ka just seda raamatut lugeda, olgu siis enne või pärast või ajal :) päris ainsaks kaasavõetavaks kaardiks-rajajuhiseks ta ei sobi, aga korraliku Ordnance Survey kaardiga koos juba läheb küll.
September 2, 2024
The best book I have read on walking. Thoreau philosophises. This book reflects a beautiful experience and thought process. Anyone who has walked in UK, will strongly relate to it…. jumping over fences, being iconic.
July 10, 2017
To physically follow an author on his adventure is an experience not to be missed.
July 6, 2019
This is a most graceful and beautiful guidebook, while at the same time ultimately functional.
I bought this trail guide for its unique design, then hiked the trail because I was enthralled by it.
I bought this trail guide for its unique design, then hiked the trail because I was enthralled by it.
October 2, 2019
Read it section by section as we walked the Walk in Sept 2019. It's well worth hauling across England, so tuck it your pocket or pack.
April 28, 2020
Purchased from Waterstones, Trafalgar Square prior to lunch with an old friend on 29/04/2003.
July 3, 2012
Another lovely book from the master Wainwright. He has a great way of talking directly to you. The descriptions and historical info are all great, and he's frequently really quite witty. There's quite a few modifications needed to the original route now, due to things changing from when the book was written, which can be a little confusing.
One thing to watch is that he is somewhat optimistic suggesting the walk can be done in 12 days, and this contradicts his suggestion that you should amble and take your time. 14 days is usually suggested as the minimum for most folk. If you like ambling along or want rest days, these would have to be added on as well. We were worried that our 13 days schedule (15th to 28th July 2012) was going to be a little too tough. It was just about OK, but 13 days is considered to be a little on the 'challenging' side, an it would have been nice to have time to check a few places out along the way.
Stedman's 'Coast to Coast Path' is a highly recommended accompaniment.
One thing to watch is that he is somewhat optimistic suggesting the walk can be done in 12 days, and this contradicts his suggestion that you should amble and take your time. 14 days is usually suggested as the minimum for most folk. If you like ambling along or want rest days, these would have to be added on as well. We were worried that our 13 days schedule (15th to 28th July 2012) was going to be a little too tough. It was just about OK, but 13 days is considered to be a little on the 'challenging' side, an it would have been nice to have time to check a few places out along the way.
Stedman's 'Coast to Coast Path' is a highly recommended accompaniment.
June 14, 2011
A friend gave this book me because he thought I'd enjoy the maps and hand-lettered text. I did, but I also thought, "That walk sounds like a terrific lot of fun." So the next summer I walked it with my wife and 15 year old daughter (plus her fourteen year old pal) and we had a great time and it was my first of several long distance walks and thank you very much, Mr. Wainwright.
February 14, 2015
This guidebook to the long-distance route across England (west to east) made me want to go walk somewhere! Updated in 1994 with corrections to the original route, the book is filled with hand-drawn sketches illustrating the sights to be seen. The hand-written text also delivers friendly advice and encouragement.
April 22, 2012
My ambition to follow the footsteps of the late Alfred Wainwright
January 23, 2016
A very entertaining book! Well written and full of great advice and dry wit on how to escape;) Outstanding maps and illustrations.
December 20, 2014
An essential part of one's library,me specially if you live just a few meters off the route.
November 20, 2017
I walked the Coast to Coast path in July 2017 with my family. Alfred Wainwright taught me the importance of slowing down to notice, and not racing from a to b.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews