Alfred Wainwright: his contribution to cartography, graphic design and publishing

Steve ChiltonLearning & Technical Support Unit Manager

School of Health and Social Sciences Middlesex University

Wasdale appears through the clouds ……..

Wainwright’s guide to LakesThe cover of Book 1

Published output

His biography lists 59 publications by him, including many books of sketches of both the Lakes and of Scotland

Example of map from guideAscent of Helvellyn from the west

Example of page layout

Ascent of Helvellyn from Grasmere

Layout of chapter - Fairfield

Chapter titleNatural features

Ascent

Layout of Fairfield chapter (cont)

Summit detail Summit routes

View from summit Descents

Method of publishing

Layout of end pieces – the credits

Self-published, then by the Westmorland Gazette

Dedication

Frontispiece

Publisher

“Feared printers would misspell his work”

Geographical division of the Lakes

Radial diagram of Lakes – gives natural breakdown of layout of books

Book 1

Method of producing mapsWainwright’s tools

At work

Corrections

Use of snopake, with over-drawing

Photo of glass fronted original from Kendal Museum

Method of Portraying

Transition from map to perspective in one diagram

Bird’s eye view

Wainwright’s hybrid view

Layout on pageDetail of map, text, marginaliaStart of Scafell from Seatoller

Do they stand the test of time?

Re-published by Francis Lincoln in 2003

First Editions cango for up to £361 (1st editions of Harry Potter books are going for £500+)

Is it good to use in field?Comparison with Harveys, OS of same route (eg Corridor route to Scafell Pike – re-scaled for comparison)

Harveys (published at 1:40,00)

Wainwright (Published at 1:25,000 approx)

OS (Published at 1:25,000)

Is it good to use in field?

Better still use the pictorial view(again the Corridor route to Scafell Pike)

This is arranged so you follow it (so no map rotation), and it has some excellent supplementary route-finding information.

Other examples of hand-drawn maps

“ORIGINAL HAND DRAWN MAPS We have always drawn these unique, original maps for our own websites, and for our clients' sites.” Publicity blurb

Stephen Raw

“… was commissioned by HarperCollins to redraw the ‘Part of the Shire’ map for the newly edited publication of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.”

Info from www.tolkeinmaps.com

Tim RobinsonThe Twelve Bens of Connemara, Folding Landscapes

Not hand-lettered, but highly intricate and surveyed in great detail

Mark Richards

“Traditional pen and ink sketches and hand drawn maps are included. Mark Richards was one of Wainwright's protégés and with Fellranger books he proves he is a worthy successor.” Collins’ publicity burb

Martyn Chilton

Inspired by reading Tolkein

Section of map showing same area as the Raw map

Liam ChiltonInspired by seeing his brother do it

Fictional map to go with story that he was writing

Who was Alfred Wainwright?• 1907 - born in

Blackburn, son of a stonemason, brought up in very poor circumstances

• 1930 - left school at 13 to work as office boy in Blackburn Borough Engineer's Dept

• 1938 - co-founder of Blackburn Rovers FC Supporters Club

• 1941 - appointed to position in the Borough Treasurers Office in Kendal

• 1948 to1967 – Kendal Borough Treasurer

• 1952 to 1966 - devised, wrote, designed and illustrated his Guides to Lakes

• 1968 - published Pennine Way Companion

• 1972 - devised the Coast to Coast Walk

• 1974-79 – produced 6 vols of Scottish Mountain Drawings

• 1985-90 – recorded series of BBC programmes

Biographical Details

Wainwright Trivia

• He is used as example in classic textbook on graphic design - Type and Typography

• He illustrated Richard Adams’ Plague Dogs, and several other books

• One of a small band of “autograph book” producers (cf Blake, Carroll, Lear)

• All profits to Animal Rescue Cumbria• Free pint on him at Border Hotel, Kirk

Yetholm on completing the Pennine Way

His legacy• Guidebooks still in print – over 50 years after the

first one was produced

• Wainwright’s Coast to Coast Walk – 190 miles from St Bees to Robin Hoods Bay (cf Sustrans C2C)

• 214 Wainwrights (cf Munros, Corbetts)

• Wainwright Memorial WalkIn 1930 he devised a walking tour in the English Lake District. For almost 60 years it was one of Lakeland's best kept secrets, yet in its 102 miles and almost 35,000 feet of ascent, it visits every major summit, valley and lake (cf Bob Graham Round).

Guides updated

"The routes of paths have changed, lots of walls have fallen down and when Wainwright was travelling to the fells he used public transport so car parks weren't important to him," said Mr Jesty, a former taxi driver who trained in cartography with Ordnance Survey.

His biographyBy leading author Hunter Davies

Other books by Daviesinclude ones on:– The Beatles– William Wordsworth– George Stephenson– Beatrix Potter– Tottenham Hotspur– Eddie Stobart

His resting place

“That day will come when there is nothing left but memories. And afterwards, a last long resting place by the side of Innominate Tarn, on Haystacks, where the water gently laps the gravelly shore and the heather blooms and Pillar and Gable keep unfailing watch. A quiet place, a lonely place. I shall go to it, for the last time, and be carried: someone who knew me in life will take me and empty me out of a little box and leave me alone.And if you, dear reader, should get a bit of grit in your boot as you are crossing Haystacks in the years to come, please treat it with respect. It may be me.”

Memoirs of a Fellwanderer, 1993

Sources used• Baines, P., 2002, Type and Typography, London: Laurence King

Publishing• Davies, H., 1998, Wainwright - The Biography, London: Penguin

Books• Davies, H., 1987, A Walk Around the Lakes, Arrow Publications• Garland, K., 1991, Lead, kindly light: the design and production of

illustrated walkers’ guides, Information Design Journal, 7 (1), 47-66• Garland K., 1996, Passionate physiographer: the design and

execution of Alfred Wainwright’s Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, Proceedings of the BCS Conference, 45-53

• Garland, K., 2002, Autograph books, Baseline 39, 29-36• Noble., C, 2001, A man who was passionate about maps : Alfred

Wainwright 1907-1991, Sheetlines 62: 61-63• Wainwright. A, 1955-1966, The Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells

Vol 1-7, Kendal: Westmorland Gazette (now published by Francis Lincoln)

• Wainwright. A, 1986, A Pennine Journey, Michael Joseph.

RIP Alfred WainwrightHaystacks from Buttermere Church Acknowledgements

for this presentation:Francis Lincoln – for permission to use limited material from the booksThe estate of Alfred Wainwright – for permission to use imagesThe Margaret Duff collection – for permission to use the photo of Wainwright at workKendal Museum – to Morag Clement for tracing materials via the museum