Trail Mix

The British Mapmaker with Jay Cockburn

A set of seven books make up “A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells”, by Alfred Wainwright. The books were published between 1953 and 1966 and have become a staple for many Cumbrians, as well as for tourists to the area. Even today, GPS is useful but a book doesn’t need a battery, and there’s nothing quite like a carefully drawn illustration. His writing is blunt, often opinionated, but very appreciative of the fells’ stark beauty. Today, in the village of Buttermere, nestled between peaks known as Grasmoor and Haystacks, is a low stone church. Inside it is a plaque. It reads, “Pause and remember Alfred Wainwright, fell walker, guide book author and illustrator, who loved this valley. Lift your eyes to Haystacks, his favourite place.”