If it wasn’t for Alfred Wainwright, fell walking and fell running might not be the hugely popular pastimes they are today. Certainly, the pursuit of Wainwright peak bagging in the English Lake District would never have been invented.
Now a special exhibition is set to shine the spotlight on the life and work of the fell-walking pioneer.
2025 will be the 70th anniversary year of Wainwright’s first Lakeland fell walking guidebook in his now hugely acclaimed Wainwrights series. And on February 12, the Alfred Wainwright Exhibition 2025 will open at a small but poignantly-located museum, The Armitt, in Ambleside, Cumbria.
The display, which has been co-curated with Wainwright archivist Chris Butterfield of Alfred Wainwright Books & Memorabilia, also promises to reveal never-before-seen items.
Who was Alfred Wainwright?
Wainwright, who died in 1991 aged 84, is famous for his Lakeland guidebooks, which detailed walks to the the author’s favourite summits. Unusually for a list of peaks, the 'Wainwrights', as they became known, were chosen on merit rather than height.
Wainwright's seven-volume Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells were published from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s and include 214 fells. In more recent times, they have become the focus of Wainwright baggers, including one hiker who set a record for a self-supported continuous hike of the peaks.
New exhibition charts life and work of Wainwright
The anniversary display at The Armitt will give a detailed exploration of Wainwright’s life and publishing journey.
It was in Ambleside – and close to the museum – that the fell walker began the fieldwork for his first book, The Eastern Fells, which was published in 1955.
There will be a wealth of exhibits on show, including a collection of original Westmorland Gazette Wainwright book printing materials and other special objects collected over many years by co-curator Butterfield.
Further contributions – artworks, book printing negatives, plates, gold blocking, and an original manuscript and objects owned and used by Wainwright – have come from other museums, archives and individuals closely linked to the fells pioneer.
The Armitt’s manager and curator Faye Morrissey said: “Wainwright is such an important individual for the Lakes and the timing of the exhibition makes it even more appropriate to acknowledge his legacy here in Ambleside.
“We’re delighted to be working with Chris Butterfield to showcase, for the first time, many of his privately collected objects that show an alternative side to Wainwright.”
There will be further information about the exhibition, which runs until December 2025, at The Armitt in the new year.
