Over the past decade, artist Andy Beck has been working on a major project to paint watercolour sketches of every view drawn by Alfred Wainwright in his seven Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells.
WHAT DO YOU THINK WAINWRIGHT WOULD HAVE MADE OF YOUR PROJECT?
Even if he didn’t like my style of painting I would like to think that he would approve of my exploration of the fells and that we could compare notes about how the landscape has changed, if at all. I have not been ticking off the tops in a mad dash and I think he would give me credit for that. I have a feeling that AW would have liked to dabble a little more in watercolour (there is one example that I have seen of him adding colour to his line drawings and that was from back in 1942). When I came up with the idea I did consult with the daughters of Betty Wainwright, his second wife, and it seems that she approved of the idea. If Wainwright didn’t approve then I would have thought that on one of my many visits to Haystacks I would have been struck by lightning by now!
ARE YOU A LONG-TIME ADMIRER OF THE PICTORIAL GUIDES?
I got my first Pictorial Guide in the late 1980s. As that is now three decades ago, I suppose that is a fairly long time, but I didn’t get my last Guide until my wife bought me The Northern Fells in 2000 as a Christmas present. But, yes, I am a fan of his work. His style, clever design, draughtsmanship and humour are not all discovered by the casual reader; I think it takes careful and deliberate reading to discover these intricacies within the books.
WHICH WAS YOUR FIRST PAINTING?
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Denne historien er fra April 2017-utgaven av The Great Outdoors.
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Practice Makes Perfect
Preparation is key if you want to enjoy, and not simply endure, the TGO Challenge. Organisers Ali Ogden and Sue Oxley look at how to be ready for the demands of a long-distance walk
More Ways than one
Roger Smith calls for more clarity around the increasing proliferation of named trails
THE LONG PATHWAY
Kat Young and Liv Bolton both walked New Zealand’s South Island from north to south via the country-spanning Te Araroa Trail. Here they each describe a section of this spectacular and life-changing route
THE CRUX
Last summer, self-confessed ‘average adventurer’ James Forrest completed all 282 of Scotland’s Munros in an intensive six-month push. Here he describes the most knee-trembling part of the journey – Skye’s famous Inaccessible Pinnacle
A HAPPY RETURN
For more than 30 years, Chris Townsend dreamed about doing a long walk through the high reaches of the Colorado Was it everything he hoped for?
Happy When It Rains
With an unpredictable winter approaching, here are TGO’s tips for enduring – even enjoying? – our ever-changing climate...
Mind Boggling
Rising rivers, quaking bogs, ferocious winds, possible thunderstorms and annoying theme tunes – will Paul Beasley be able to take all this in his stride and successfully cross Dartmoor?
Errigal
Donegal’s highest mountain is a sight to behold – unless, as Jim Perrin discovered, the weather has other ideas…
Commuting: Lochaber Style
For Many Of Us, The Daily Commute Can Be A Chore. But, For Neil Adams, Living And Working In One Of Scotland’s Finest Mountain Landscapes Gave Him The Opportunity To Turn It Into An Adventure...
The Depths Of Time
James Roddie goes under the surface of Assynt to discover a whole new dimension to an extraordinary, ancient landscape.
