The third in our Countrystride podcast series of walking guidebooks, it was one of the most enjoyable projects I've worked on in years.
Because I do all the walk testing for Mark Richards' routes, I spent most of November and December last year crossing into the Ullswater valley to re-acquaint myself with the countryside surrounding this queen of the Lakes....
...Which meant not just many happy days roaming the fells, meadows and riverside paths – some of them well-known, many I'd not walked before – but also lots of cake in Pooley Bridge tearoom and at least one too many ales in the Travellers Rest.
For all those who don't know the valley – and even for those who're regular visitors – I recommend the book, which features not only route instructions, maps and Mark's lovely linescapes, but also a wealth of history and heritage information. (We also supply the GPX routes).
You can find out more about the book here... But before going there, scroll down for some of Mark's words of wisdom...
For the first time in one of our guidebooks I asked Mark – who walked with Alfred Wainwright half-a-lifetime ago – to pay tribute to him with some gentle 'Notes in conclusion' to reflect on his favourite walks and places in the valley. Here's what he wrote...
Fashioning The Ullswater Walking Companion has been a joy from start to end. Over and again I have been reminded why I love not just the fells, but the totality of Lakeland: the oft-dancing waters of lakes, meres and becks; the textural diversity of wall-bounded pasture, trees and woodland; most of all the heights that soar above this one great lake.
It was on the Helvellyn range that research for Fellranger, my magnum opus guidebook series, took route (sic) some 24 years ago. And it is on those same heights that my spirit of adventure has been reinvigorated over decades.
As such I needed little persuasion to return, this time to map and draw scenes that have given me such pleasure over the years, wandering pen following eager feet as I stitched together these 20 fine walks.
A yearning to rediscover fell pastures of old and take pleasures new from the landscapes was one I share with millions who hold this corner of Cumbria close to their heart. Ullswater crowds in so much of what makes Lakeland the most loved mountain landscape in England; tree-dappled dales in the lower reaches rise to stately crags and iconic ridges at the lake’s head.
My wanders confirmed a few must-visit viewpoints for walkers new to the area. The beacon on Hallin Fell above Howtown (Walk 3) delivers views far beyond those typically earned from so gentle a climb, and the beacons on Arthur’s and Bonscale Pikes (Walk 2) are wonderfully gifted in their perspective over the lower reach of Ullswater. The rocky crest of Place Fell (Walk 16) holds a special place in my heart as it gives one of the most comprehensive westward views over the Helvellyn massif.
The view from Spying How – Walk 8.
For a fine perspective of the upper reach of the lake, delight in the view from the Ullswater Way on Gowbarrow Fell (Walk 7) coming above Lyulph’s Tower. Edging further into hill country, Glenridding Dodd offers the definitive bird’s-eye-view over Glenridding (Walk 10), while Arnison Crag (Walk 18) and Keldas (Walk 11) – a spot to linger long – cannot be beaten for their perspectives on the head of the lake.
Higher up, I harbour a great memory of standing on Gavel Pike (Walk 19) and soaking up the majestic craggy head of Deepdale. On the same walk, drama abounds on the scramble over Deepdale Hause onto Cofa Pike, from where there is a most handsome view of Helvellyn’s southern escarpment, glowering over the wild coves of Dollywaggon and Nethermost Pikes. If pushed I would rate Walk 19 as my favourite in this collection.
One of the bigger surprises researching this guidebook was rediscovering Catstycam, a fell apart, deserving of the unique Keppel Cove ascent described in Walk 12, while especially fun was walking again the popular edges over Helvellyn (Walk 14) anticlockwise. Few walkers contemplate the horseshoe this way, but it gives the most security for hands and feet on the edges’ bare, exposed and over-burdened rocks. If you’re to recommend a route onto one of England’s most iconic fells, this is the one.
Approaching Catstycam – Walk 12.
When it comes to memories, the most enduring for me are those from the least populated trails: tracking down lonely Fusedale (Walk 3) and sweeping over and through neglected Dowthwaitehead (Walk 8). A similarly lonesome feel is sensed at Glencoyne Head (Walk 9); this is a landscape populated by ghosts of long-departed industry.
The dale-floor wander visiting Hartsop and Brothers Water forms a fitting end to this guide (Walk 20). The walk not only reasserts the fell/dale relationship that defines this superlative valley, but, tracking newly rewiggled Goldrill Beck, it shows that this loveliest of valleys, shaped over generations by human hand, is adapting still, this time to help slow flood waters and restore biodiversity.
One of the challenges of collating a guidebook is deciding which routes to include and which don’t quite reach the mark. Quirkily, Heughscar Hill, gifted with the best overall perspective of the Ullswater valley, does not feature. I recommend those new to the area making a point of venturing up from Pooley Bridge, via Roehead, and, while on that open tract of limestone country, seeking out the ancient monuments on Moor Divock.
Finally, I have been at pains to show how you can explore the valley without resorting to a car – using the regular bus and lake steamers to start and finish each expedition. As tourist numbers continue to grow, car-free walking – or ‘roaming from home’ – needs champions inside the National Park Authority and also among guidebook writers; we enthusiastically back the ambition.
Walk 20 – A Brotherswater round.
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In common with many indie businesses this year, we're letting Black Friday pass us by. But we did want to do something to celebrate the coming festive season by giving back to the Lakeland landscapes that continue to inspire us.
So for all online sales made from today until Friday 3 December 2021 we will donate 20% to the Friends of the Lake District 'Nature in Need' appeal – helping to restore and repair 30 acres of hay meadows and hedging in 'the other Borrowdale' – one of our favourite valleys.
You can choose from our large selection of Lakeland books, walking guides, kids books, homeware and Christmas cards and we'll do the rest.
The germ of the idea came from our friend Alan Cleaver, well known in Lakes circles for his fabulous (and Lakeland Book of the Year '19) 'Corpse Roads of Cumbria' - a delve into the history of some of the county's enigmatic old tracks and trods. (You can hear Alan talking about Christmas traditions in our Countrystride podcast, as we walked between St Bees and Whitehaven).
Alan had compiled a book collecting Cumbrian Christmas traditions together for his friends and relatives. I loved it and thought we could expand it - bringing in folk memories, carols, recipes, archived press stories and historic diary entries - into a nostalgic journey through Cumbrian yuletides past...
So pour a mulled wine, stoke the fire and settle down with A Lake District Christmas...
In the company of authors from William Wordsworth to Hardwicke Rawnsley, Robert Anderson to Sara Hutchinson, join the carol singers of Wasdale, celebrate a Thirlmere ‘merry neet’, visit the Windermere frost fair and take a seat at the Keswick ‘old folks’ do’.
Accompany the postman on his winter round, pity inmates of the Carlisle workhouse, share the terrors of Victorian ghost-hunters, browse letters from the Christmas 1914 truce... and discover 40 words for ‘snew’.
A celebration of traditions in the historic counties of Westmorland and Cumberland, A Lake District Christmas is a variety-box miscellany of seasonal writings, memories, poems, recipes and songs.
You can read more about A Lake District Christmas and order it here.
]]>The rich heritage of literature in Ambleside is celebrated in our second new walking guidebook of 2021, available for pre-order from today.
The Ambleside Literary Walking Tour details the town’s long history of literary associations through a half-day walk, accompanied by words from the many celebrated poets and novelists who visited or lived in the town, including the Wordsworths, John Keats, Charlotte Brontë and Charles Dickens.
A trip to StockGhyll Force – a place of inspiration for over 200 years – is followed by a three-mile circuit to Rydal, passing a diverse mix of homes and locations that inspired authors, from the earliest writers to contemporary crime author Rebecca Tope.
The 44-page pocket-sized guidebook is written by Dr Penny Bradshaw, thematic lead for Cultural Landscapes within the Centre for National Parks and Protected Areas at the University of Cumbria.
We first met Penny last year when she appeared on our Countrystride podcast talking about the children's literature of Lakeland.
A launch event (yes, a real in-person event!) for the Walking Tour, featuring readings from the book by the author, book-signing, nibbles and a chance to view select items from the Armitt collection, will take place on 13 August, 6.30–8.30pm at The Armitt, Ambleside. You can buy tickets for it here.
So I'm delighted to announce the publication of a new line of walking guidebooks for 2021, the first being The Threlkeld Walking Companion.
The glossy A5 guide features 18 fell, meadow, woodland and riverside walks of between 1 1/2 and 16 miles by veteran guidebook writer, apprentice of Alfred Wainwright, and Countrystride presenter Mark Richards.
Classic ascents of Blencathra, Skiddaw, High Rigg, Latrigg and Clough Head are paired with explorations of remote valleys, coffin routes, bronze age sites and Lakeland’s highest mountain pass.
Heritage highlights and insights are provided by local historian and former National Park warden Donald Angus. (We interviewed him for Countrystride episode 55).
At IbL we've always believed in supporting local. So The Threlkeld Walking Companion is published in Naddle, printed in Penrith and its profits are circulated in the valley, raising funds for the community-owned Threlkeld Village Hall and Coffee Shop.
The 64-page book includes detailed mapping and is supplied with GPX routes for each walk.
My favourite? The long walk to Sticks Pass via lonely Dowthwaitehead - to my mind one of the north Lakes' finest expeditions.
]]>Calendars, coffee table books, prints – Friday 18 December.
Quiz and sticker books, tea towels, coasters, cards – Monday 21 December.
Any orders placed after Monday 21 December will still be sent out swiftly, but we can't guarantee delivery for Christmas.
Thank you for supporting us through this tough year. We hugely appreciate it.
Dave & Vicky, Inspired by Lakeland
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So here's a selection of our best-selling stocking fillers...
Nostalgic Lake District Christmas - 6 cards
Six nostalgic Christmas cards depicting much-loved Lakeland scenes in the snow by long-time Cumbria and Lakeland Walker magazine illustrator and cartoonist Jim Watson. Jim's watercolour illustrations of iconic Lakeland locations – from Ambleside's Bridge House to Keswick's market place – evoke magic winter days in the heart of the Lakes.
Herdwicks of the Lake District - 6 Christmas cards
Beautifully made, high quality Christmas cards featuring our much-loved 'Herdwicks of the Lake District' designed and illustrated by Evelyn Sinclair. These unique cards of the iconic Herdwick come in packs of six cards with three each of two designs: 'Baa humbug (Meh)' and 'We wish ewe a Merry Christmas'.
Terry Abraham's 'Life On The Mountains' Calendar 2021 *** Last few left ***
This 2021 wall calendar features photographs from the award-winning Life of a Mountain film-maker Terry Abraham.
Printed in Penrith on sustainable FSC paper and card, the large-format A3 calendar features 12 of Terry's most iconic images, along with all-new captions detailing Terry's life on the fells.
From Bowfell to Scafell Pike, Blencathra to Helvellyn, each month features a different Lakeland image, alongside a day-by-day calendar with plenty of space to record events.
The Lake District in 101 Maps and Infographics
*** Winner of Lakeland Book of the Year 2020 ***
134 pages of maps, illustrations and infographics celebrating the unique culture, landscape, history, humour, dialect, wildlife and people of the Lake District and Cumbria.
What are the most popular fells in Lakeland?
Where in Cumbria is happiest?
What’s the number one reason for Mountain Rescue callouts?
Which village is nearly all holiday homes
And how can you visit 24 pubs in 12 hours?
Geographer David Felton, illustrator Evelyn Sinclair and designer Andrew Chapman combine data with exquisite visualisations to reveal the Lake District in ways that have never been seen before.
And finally...
Iconic Pubs of the Lake District Tea Towel
The perfect end to a day on the fells? A pint or three at one of the Lake District's iconic pubs. Our new tea towel, illustrated by Evelyn Sinclair, is a visual celebration of our favourite drinking hostelries, from the Kirkstile Inn to The Unicorn; Old Dungeon Ghyll to the Britannia; Woolpack to Tweedies; Wasdale Head Inn to the Eagle & Child.
]]>As lockdown was announced in March, we put out a call to the artists of Cumbria to create a piece of work inspired by, and made during, lockdown.
The resulting artworks became a beautiful coffee table book (you can buy it here), which raises funds for local NHS Trusts and grassroots Cumbrian arts.
And now – in a first for Inspired by Lakeland – it is an exhibition too, with all 80 pieces of art from the book displayed on A2 boards on the walls of the lovely, bright and airy Studio Morland in the softly-spoken Eden Valley hamlet of Morland. Sound instillations by Dan Fox allow visitors to hear poems from the book. There are gardens behind the house to explore and a café (open Wed-Sun) next door, while a wander through the village and alongside the river makes for a rewarding half-day trip.
The exhibition is open 7 days a week 10am-4pm until 30 August, and entry is free. A one-way system and constant fresh air flow mean the exhibition offers a safe space to welcome those who might be venturing to an exhibition for the first time since lockdown.
For more details see www.thestudiomorland.co.uk/locking-glass
Artist Kate Gilman Brundrett – owner of The Studio Morland – and artist Jamie Barnes hanging the exhibition.
Dan Fox's audio instillation, left.
]]>...and suddenly, overnight, everything changed. High streets shutdown. Schools closed. Traffic numbers plummeted. Plane trails disappeared. The population of the country was told to stay at home and protect the NHS. As anxieties rose in those early lockdown days – news cycling in minutes as infection rates soared – it became clear that for many Cumbrian artists and small independent businesses 2020 was going to be a very tough year indeed.
I was in that boat. My publishing business – five years old this year – depends on Lakes visitors for much of its income, and on the intricate network of bookshops, gift shops, summer shows and tourist attractions that sell the titles I publish. Overnight that infrastructure closed.
I spoke to friends in the same boat as me: other indie business owners; retailers; creative people. Many were struggling to see a way through the ever-shifting waters ahead. They echoed similar sentiments: without shows, gallery sales and exhibitions they had few outlets for their work. Plans, projects – and in many cases inspiration – had been put on indefinite hold.
One of the friends I spoke to was long-time collaborator Evelyn Sinclair. What about a book?, I asked her, that had a practical purpose of giving those of us suddenly denied a platform and audience a tangible goal – and inspiration if it had taken a kick – while also demonstrating to the world how much talent and resilience our community of artists has? If we could raise money for the NHS and local grassroots arts at the same time, it would be a triple win. Evelyn give the concept an enthusiastic thumbs up.
I turned the idea over during my daily exercise, and, sitting atop a little ledge on High Rigg, the world silent but for birdsong in a way I had never know before, it became clear that terrifying as our new locked-down world was, we were also living through a unique time – a time that needed to be documented. And who better to document it than our artists?
So the word went out, spread, and over 30 days, entries came in: a trickle at first and, by the end, dozens each day. Put out a call for help in Cumbria – whether it is for hands in the wake of a flood; or for artwork in this strangest of times – and folk heed the call. In flowed art, from Barrow-in-Furness to the Solway marshes; from the silent streets of Keswick to distant Cowgill; from locked-down towns to lambing farms; from leafy gardens to city semis. Landscapes, prints, poems, photos, cartoons, portraits, installations, prose, songs... even a stained glass window. 200+ pieces of art in all.
Evelyn wrote back to me: “We’re going to need a bigger book.” So we increased pagination from 124 pages to 144, and again to 168. Even then, so high was the quality of art that many wonderful submissions could not be included.
Some of the work has come from professional artists; others from hobbyists; some from folk who have never put paint to canvas before – and some from those rediscovering a passion abandoned to the 9-5. Many artists were working away from their usual space, using limited materials, and sometimes forced (released?) into new ways of working. Some art even came from key-workers, crafting their works between life-saving shifts.
Day after day I was moved by the outpourings of talent: photos of street art; landscapes with perennially-blue skies; portraits of NHS heroes; a poem formed from shop window messages; an instillation that existed in a silent quarry wood for just one hour.
The artwork in this book tells myriad human stories. There is heartache for missed loved ones. There is grief over passed friends. Some entries are angry. Some are anxious. Some are heartbreakingly sad (I had to remove more than a few specks of dust from my eyes as I logged submissions). Some get at the edgy strangeness of the emerging new world. Many address mental health issues. Equally resonant is the strand of hope that threads through these pages. To create is to push back; to bring something new into a world that demands freedom – even when the doors are closed.
On the last night of entries, minutes passing to closing time, I sat in my kitchen, a few bottles of Loweswater Gold on the table – another perfect sunset, sky red over Skidda’ – and watched the final entries drop into my inbox. I knew as they did so that tomorrow, and the days after, would not be quite the same as there would be no new art to wake to. Two days after that Boris Johnson eased lockdown restrictions. It was the end of an era. And even amidst the rising death toll, the political failings, and the crumbling economy I felt a sense of loss – a nostalgia for the remarkable peace of those first weeks of lockdown. Those days now felt a lifetime away.
I was not alone in feeling loss. The tragedies acknowledged – alongside the critical work of the nation’s key workers – the fact is that for so many artists in this book lockdown offered a vision of a life that was both immeasurably different and... dare I whisper it..? better.
Lockdown enforced a kind of retreat – one not unknown to artists – and a moment for reflection. This was a life that was slower and, to many – if not all – kinder, where the treadmill of deadlines gave way to a springtime in which we grew to know our neighbours, and our little patch of home, and could watch, day by day, as nature awoke. Lockdown became a time to pause, think, walk, listen, hear, focus and... whatever else it is was that had been missing before.
'Through the Locking Glass' has been one of the most inspirational projects I've ever been involved with. The artists of Cumbria have shown once again that they are brave, industrious, compassionate and forever up for the challenges that life throws their way.
I am delighted to share some of the 80 inspiring spreads below. (You can click to enlarge them).
To buy the book - all profits are shared between local NHS Trusts and Cumbrian grassroots arts – simply head over to our shop.
Even so, Terry and the team here decided back in March to press ahead with publication of his book regardless. People would be hungry for a taste of their beloved Lakes, we thought, and the overwhelming response to the book to date has suggested we got it pretty much right. It was also important to us to help keep the Cumbrian book trade ticking along. We're in for a rocky year, but there are various bookshops around the county – shout to Sam Reads, to Bookends, to Hedgehog – still sending out orders, and at some point tourists will begin to return.
It has been a busy few days. Shipping out 600+ signed pre-orders is a significant task for any indie publisher. But in lockdown conditions, with only essential travel sanctioned, we've run a tight logistical ship to get copies to Terry for signing, before dropping large bags of envelopes into Kirkby Lonsdale and Keswick Post Offices. Hats off both to Terry for working long into the night writing messages in the books, to our Vicky for packaging and making endless trips to Kirkby, and also to Pam at the Post Office in Kirkby for processing our hundreds of orders in her one-woman operation.
But we're pretty much done. And we're delighted with the book - a visual love letter to the fells and an insight into the man behind the lens.
You can buy it here.
]]>Not only do we have two major new books in production, we've also got some fabulous illustrative work underway, with Barry Holmes, author of our best-selling Over the Hill at Sixty Something? book, upping his artwork ante yet again to deliver a series of hyper-detailed maps of 'Lakeland Squares' - topographical slices of some of the Lake District's most loved fells.
They'll shortly be available as coasters and wall art, but for now, here's a sneak preview.
See if you can identify the fells from the artwork alone...
]]>At the same time, it has been a chance to slow down, reflect, and engage with a much smaller area around us.
For artists this is an opportunity to capture a unique moment in human history.
Our new book, Dreaming through the locking glass, is an artistic response to these confined times.
We are calling on artists of all disciplines throughout Cumbria – painting, print-making, poetry, textiles, ceramics, illustration, 3D, prose, photography – to create an original piece of work that captures the artist’s personal experience of life during lockdown.
Submissions will be selected down to a shortlist and selected artwork will feature in the new 144-page book alongside a short description of the artist's work; their wider art; and how life has changed for them -– personally and creatively – under lockdown.
The artwork might by a distant view, a recollection of days before lockdown, words wrestling confinement and imaginative freedom, recognition of the value of our health workers, a localised view of neighbourhood seen through new eyes… whatever the situation inspires the artist to create.
Profits from the sale of Dreaming through the locking glass, which will be available for sale county and nationwide, will be split between Cumbrian NHS Trusts and local artistic groups, including Green Door; Space2Create; and the Eden Valley Artistic Network.
We would anticipate art from this project also becoming a touring exhibition in 2021.
Deadline for submitting work is midnight, Friday 29 May, 2020, though submissions are welcomed earlier.
*** THIS PROJECT HAS NOW CLOSED ***
We are delighted that our Windermere-based print broker, Latitude Press, has waived its commission so that more money can be given to the NHS and local arts organisations.
]]>I have been fascinated by infographics for years. Ever since reading National Geographic magazines as a kid. Distillation of complex data in a creative and artistic way is not as easy as it looks (as I was to discover), and some of the classic National Geographic spreads are works of art.
My interest in infographics was further wakened by David McCandless' wonderful visualisations in the iconic Information is Beautiful book. And as I read I thought, we need something like this for Cumbria..
...So here it is. 134 pages of maps, illustrations and infographics celebrating the unique culture, landscape, history, humour, dialect, wildlife and people of the Lake District and Cumbria.
What are the most popular fells in Lakeland?
Where in Cumbria is happiest?
What’s the number one reason for Mountain Rescue callouts?
Which village is nearly all holiday homes?
And how can you visit 24 pubs in 12 hours?
Featuring thousands of datasets number-crunched and then visualised in myriad different ways, this is not only a gorgeous coffee table book, it is also a graphical state of the nation, revealing how we farm, how we live, where we're pointing our lenses, where red squirrels still thrive, how many people (don't) want zip wires, the rise and rise of the tourist population... and much, much more.
There are many spreads that became favourites of mine. I close the bog with a brief narrative about three of them.
The Fred Whitton challenge is an annual cycling sportif that takes place around the Lakes that is known worldwide for its notorious ascents (and often lethal descents), not least over Wrynose and Hardknott passes. This visualisation used GPS data overlaid onto OS base maps using elevation modelling to provide the topographical map along the bottom. The rest of the magic was woven by designer Andrew Chapman.
The issue of second homes in the Lakes is a thorny one, with locals being priced out of the housing market by the ever-growing number of second and holiday home owners. It’s a problem that’s getting worse – particularly on the fringes of the National Park.
In this visualisation I took census data from the two most recent periods – 2001 and 2011 – to compare levels of second-home ownership throughout the Park. The data confirmed what locals are saying; in 2001 Caldbeck, for example, only had 16 second homes. In 2011 that figure had rocketed to 58 – a rise of more than 300%. In the village of Elter Water 85% of houses have no permanent residents.
I had planned an infographic about the farming calendar from the start. The final illustration - made by the multi-talented Evelyn Sinclair - ended up being a tough proposition. Partly because there's an awful lot more going on on the hill farm than any graphic can show; partly because a lot that happens - particularly around tupping time - is highly technical, not lending itself to quick-read infographics; and partly because the cycle of farming activity doesn't have an obvious start and end point. Nevertheless, with help from Trevor, my local farmer, who patiently explained the minutiae of pregnancy cycles and grazing regimes over a cup of tea or three, we got there in the end.
You can buy the book from our shop here.
I was delighted, therefore, to come across the work of Ian Young on a blog of his last year.
Ian, a cartoonist from Back o'Skiddaw with a sense of humour and a wicked turn of phrase had been putting pen to paper to create light-hearted illustrations about the curiosities of Lakeland life for a while. I read his blog posts chuckling, then read them all again, chuckling some more. Then I dropped him a line and asked if he wanted to make a book.
A year later and I'm delighted to announce the launch of the Lake District Survival Guide, which is, in equal measure, amusing, silly, occasionally touching, but always entertaining. 124-pages of irreverence are compiled into a lovely little hardback with chapters including ‘Wainwright in Therapy’, ‘Lakeland Stereotypes’, ‘Sheep ID Parade’, ‘Mythical Beasts’, ‘Melvyn Bragg’s Cultural Corner’ and ‘How to Get Battered’.
I've included two of my favourites below - Wainwright at a fancy restaurant, and a well-earned poke at United Utilities's fantasy pipeline.
The Lake District Survival Guide is now available to buy in our Shop.
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Mark Richards and myself were in Threlkeld's fab community coffee shop at the tail end of last year working on pages of The Ullswater Way Official Guide when a man came up to us with a large folder of A3 maps and illustrations and asked if we knew of a publisher who might be interested in taking on his book.
An hour later we were still poring over his portfolio, every page a work of art.
This, then, was my introduction to Barry Holmes, who, at the age of 60 took up fell running. His mission – sometimes painful, often wet, occasionally meandering, but always entertaining – took him to all 214 Wainwright summits as he battled bracken, blizzards and blisters; injuries, white-outs, and weary limbs to discover the best and worst of Lakeland.
I can't pretend the journey from that chance Threlkeld meeting to publication was easy. First of all we needed to find someone to scan his original A3 drawings. Step forward H&H Reeds of Penrith, who did a fine job of retaining the detail in Barry's remarkable artwork. Next up the diary text needed editing. Normally that's an easy enough job. But this wasn't a normal book: Barry had typeset every single word by hand, Wainwright-style, not used a word processor, so any textual edits required moving tiny graphics around pages. Even moving a misplaced comma could take ten minutes. Multiply that by hundreds of paragraphs across 144 pages...
Anyway, we got there in the end, printing hard-backed at oversized A4 to create a worthy vehicle for artwork that I think even Wainwright might begrudgingly have admired. Hopefully the result is a book that'll find a happy home on coffee tables among those who love Lakeland, the fells... and great art.
You can buy Over the Hill at 60 Something? in our Shop. RRP £14.90.
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In Episode 2 we climb Sheffield Pike from Glenridding, a village that owes its origins to the lead mining industry. Mark meets Eddie Pool, the last man in the valley to work down the Greenside Mine, and shares an appreciation of the importance of community empowerment with local resident Tim Clarke.
From episode 3 we gain farmers’ perspective on life close to Hadrian’s Wall, where stockmen and women share their feelings on the age-old cycle of the seasons in a heritage landscape which stretches back long before the Romans imposed their frontier.
In forthcoming episodes Countrystride explores the talents of Alfred Wainwright; wanders through Cumbria’s rich tapestry of woodland; and traces a corpse road through wild country.
Download, tune in and be transported as you listen at www.countrystride.co.uk or search iTunes for ‘Countrystride’.
For those that know me, walking is up there at the top of my list of passions, alongside traditional Irish and Scots music, one too many ales, and pizza, so when approached by guidebook writer and linescape artist extraordinaire Mark Richards to work with him and the Friends of the Ullswater Way on a new Official Guide to the Ullswater Way I jumped at the chance.... not just to try my hand at a walking book, but to give me an excuse to head over the Dodds and spend a few days in the company of lovely Ullswater.
The result? A pocket-size guidebook packed with Mark's timeless line drawings, interesting notes about the many points of interest along the Way and no-nonsense instructions to keep you on track.
The thing I like most about the book - and the Ullswater Way - is the community involvement in the walk. This is a trail born of hardship - specifically the pounding the valley took from Storm Desmond back in 2015. Shortly after that the 'Friends' started work on a new long-distance path to bring more visitors and cash into the valley. The fantastic 20-mile Way is the result of those labours. Also of note are the evocative Heritage Installations along the route, where local craftspeople and artists celebrate the valley and what it means to them.
We're also doing our bit, not only giving print to Penrith's H&H Reeds to keep jobs local, but also donating £1 per copy sold to the National Park so that they can keep the Way in good shape for years to come. You can buy yours here.
]]>The Awards recognised our commitment to local, our investment in Cumbria and our charitable support for, among others, Cumbria Wildlife Trust and The Lake District Mountain Rescue Search Dogs.
The inaugural awards took place to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Beatrix Potter's birth.
The photo below shows Inspired by Lakeland founder David Felton and Sticker Book illustrator extraordinaire Evelyn Sinclair. Photo credit: National Trust.
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