Re: Wainwright guides alert

In message <7tCdnWBYx-HpF6rXnZ2dnUVZ8tOdnZ2d@xxxxxxxxx>
"Paul Saunders" <pvs1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

[snip]
Even though Phil says these are not the revised versions, what's the
big deal with the revisions anyway?

While the originals obviously have historical value, surely the point
of a guide book is to *guide* walkers, and if the only changes in the
books concern things which have physically changed on the ground,
then surely that's a good thing? Or do the changes go further than
that?

Is it made clear what's original and what's been changed?

Never having bought or used the originals I obviously have no
nostalgic attachment to these books, but it does surprise me to see
the amount of resentment that people seem to have for the revised
editions, almost like a religious fervor. Should Jesty be burnt at
the stake for his sins?

Paul

I thought I was possibly alone as a contributor to this news group in
not paying any reverence to the Wainwright Guides!

I don't own any of the guides and I've never felt the desire to do so.
From what I've learnt about Wainwright, mainly from various articles and
also the tv documentaries, I've personally come to the conclusion that
he was a bit of an odd ball and not someone whom I would wish to admire
or be reverential to. Certainly it would seem that there is evidence of
him being politically to the right and also a mysogynist as well as not
providing for his son from his first marriage.

As for his route descriptions he makes clear that he was not very
adventurous and avoided many quality routes that involved an element of
scrambling or exposure. This was even more evident from his record
of his trips to Scotland.

OK so his books have a certain artistic merit and involved many
long hours of dedicated work (presumably time in which he avoided
any social interaction with his family). Personally I'm more into
photographic representation of mountains rather than pen and ink
sketches and I'm happy finding my own routes about the Fells making use
of ordnance survey maps for my own planning.

Am I now going to have to put on an asbestos suit for daring to air my
views on AW?

Mike
--
o/ \\ // |\ ,_ o Mike Clark
<\__,\\ // __o | \ / /\, "A mountain climbing, cycling, skiing,
"> || _`\<,_ |__\ \> | caving, antibody engineer and
` || (_)/ (_) | \corn computer user"
.

Relevant Pages

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