|
Wainwright-mania:
does that mean the passion for all things to do with AW?
Well no
it doesn't. It refers to the way he which he was, in reality, a maniac. I've
been reading AW's "Memoirs of a Fellwalker". There are some
exceedingly odd assertions in it. For instance:-
|
|
He did not believe in
carrying a compass, claiming that a good sense of direction is all you
need. Well I reckon that I've got a pretty good sense of direction but I
wouldn't like to rely on it to get off a mountain in low cloud (in fact I
don't really like to rely on my compass reading!) |
|
|
He was so antisocial
that he hated sharing the top of a mountain with anyone else. He would
hide behind a wall and wait for people to leave, if he found a summit
already occupied as he neared it. He would even spend the night on a
mountain just to have the top to himself first thing in the morning. So
what, you say, lots of people like wild camping. Yes true, but Wainwright
didn't take a tent!! |
|
|
He was vitriolic
about people who walk in groups. He did sometimes have company but clearly
walking to him was meant to be savoured alone. Certainly walking can be
wonderful alone but so can sharing your pleasures; I reckon that variety
is the secret. AW was certainly scornful of the notion of the greater
safety in walking with others - as indeed he was about most safety
measures. He did carry a map but with some reluctance. |
|
|
He advocated the
castration of football hooligans. I don't think he was joking either
because it comes shortly after a statement that the best deterrent for
crime is punishment through extreme pain. Actually I've always believed
that the best deterrent is the probability of arrest and punishment,
rather than a savage punishment. |
|
|
He got to know his
second wife, Betty, when she was one of a group of people giving him lifts
when he was researching the Coast-to-Coast Walk. She would drop him off at
the start and wait for his return. After a while she asked for permission
to walk with him. This was granted, after some thought and on the
condition that she didn't say anything to him on the walk (and from this
romance blossomed? To think that Beryl accused me of being unromantic;
mind you I do buy her new walking socks each year as her birthday present) |
Being
a functionary of a local authority, I was interested in what he had to say about
his working life, as he was a local government officer, ending up as Borough
Treasurer of Kendal. Well he actually kept his own ledgers in immaculate
copperplate. From the ways he talks it is as if what was important was the
neatness and accuracy of the accounts, with little reference to whether the
money was well-spent. Also there appeared to be 14 people in the Treasurers Dept
(including two women; I'd say that they were probably typists but AW hated
typewriters). It clearly was another world.
For
all these negative vibes, the book did fill me with admiration for one thing;
the quality of AW's sketches of the mountains. He drew from photographs and many
of the drawings are lined up with the original photo. But the drawings were far
superior.
|
