Guidebooks: A Potted History
It’s hard to imagine walks before books guided us to the best spots: herewith a few pioneers and pinnacles of the genre. Thomas West (1720-1779) Before the 18th century there wasn’t much in the way of recreational travel – getting about was just too hard – and A Guide to the Lakes (1778) was the first book we could find to what is now Britain’s favourite national park. West’s exploration of the Lake District was primarily aimed at artists, but it works for walkers seeking ‘select stations and points of view’ too. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge By the mid 19th century dedicated walking – or rambling – guides were appearing, including C. Wright’s Rambles in the Vicinity
of Brighton (1820), and Rambles in the British Isles (1851) by this group. The introduction is comically basic - ‘A piece of ground covered with large trees is a wood’ – but the ensuing chapters about the landscapes of different counties have a bit more depth. Walker Miles (1853–1908) That was the pseudonym of Edmund Seyfang Taylor who wrote over 40 books, mostly for a series called Field-Path
Rambles. Pocket-sized and shilling-priced with a reassuring precision of detail, they were designed for people ‘in this large, exciting, overworked City—who consider it to be one of the greatest joys of life to get a “day off” for a ramble among the delights of our glorious English countryside’. Nan Shepherd (1893-1981) For centuries few women got to walk for fun and even fewer to write about walking, but Shepherd is an exception. Her book The Living
Mountain is a poetic meditation rather than step-by-step guide, but it will teach you deeply about Scotland’s Cairngorm Mountains – ‘of light, of colour, of shape, of shadow‘ – and the joy of walking and rewalking any landscape: ‘However often I walk on them, these hills hold astonishment for me. There is no getting accustomed to them’. Alfred Wainwright (1907-1991) Probably the most famous guidebook author the nation has ever known. His multi-volume Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells is the heart of his work, but he wrote of Yorkshire and Scotland too, and devised the Coast to Coast across the north of England (for more on that beloved trail see the next issue of CW). Adored for the detail of his sketches and hand-written notes, and for sparks of humour – like picturing the sheep chatting about his baldness in The Western Fells – which belied his curmudgeonly reputation. Christopher Somerville Author of hundreds of walk columns in
The Times and numerous books spanning far beyond simple guides – as his latest, Ships of Heaven: The Private Life of Britain’s Cathedrals shows. His writing is utterly enticing and Britain and Ireland’s Best Wild Places has probably inspired more adventures than any other book on the CW shelves.