Description
From Eric Robson’s Foreword: When Richard first mentioned this book to me and outlined the themes he hoped to address in it, I confess that I didn’t think he’d be able to carry it off. Surely we only ever scratched the surface of Alfred Wainwright’s complex character? Even after all the months of filming together, the passions that drove him remained locked in his private, silent world. Against that background Richard had surely set himself an impossible task. I was wrong. Richard has produced a book that’s entertaining and knowledgeable in equal measure. I should never have doubted him. It was, after all, the young Mr Else who persuaded AW to sup with the devil in the first place and against his better judgement agree to work with us television people. ***** It was the most unlikely of relationships. Britain’s most distinguished guidebook writer was in his late seventies and a young, inexperienced documentary film maker who was less than half his age. Yet Richard Else persuaded Wainwright out of the shadows and onto the nations television screens. In doing so, the highly reclusive Wainwright became the most unlikely of celebrities and his films with Eric Robson were amongst the most popular programmes on the small screen. Wainwright Revealed is not simply the inside story of those films - films that, Richard argues, did more than anything else to spawn today’s Wainwright industry. It also explores how, for the first and only time in his life, Wainwright agreed to work collaboratively with another person. Richard meticulously documents the 10 years they spent together and provides a new insight into AW’s achievement, his place in the tradition of guidebook writing and into a life that was essentially solitary. Richly illustrated with over 70 photographs (many seen here for the first time), Richard explores the forces that motivated Wainwright - forces which AW almost certainly did not fully understand. This book discovers a more complex individual than previously thought and is indispensable for both fans of Wainwright’s work and all those who enjoy exploring our fells, dales, moors, mountains and glens.
