Wainwrights - The Wheel Deal!

The 214 Wainwright Fells here in the Lake District are and have been a constant source of fascination. Firstly because of the amazing and painstakingly researched 7 volumes of ascents and characteristics of these wonderful locations recorded by Alfred Wainwright. His ‘Pictorial Guides’ were published between 1955 and 1966 - the first of which was The Eastern Fells.

What it initiated was the desire to complete all 214 ‘Wainwrights’ no matter how long it took - with not surprisingly 'Great End' in the Southern Fells, being the favourite choice of final ascent. Although the challenge to complete the 214 in the shortest time has long been a special challenge, which was broken last year by Paul Tierney who completed the 214 peaks in the incredible time of 6 days, 6 hours and 4 minutes.

When we designed our poster we obviously wanted to produce something that would grace a wall but we also wanted to create a design that would be easy to understand and a good reference of both the height and location of each fell. Firstly making the ‘wheel’ alphabetical meant that each individual fell could easily be found. Then the length of the line for each individual fell was colour coded in keeping with Alfred Wainwright’s Pictorial Guides. Thus the light green edged cover of Wainwright’s Eastern Fells book carried through into our graphic and each colour stayed consistent with the remaining Books and how the fells were broken down into their geographic areas. The length of each line is dictated by the individual height of each fell - so in simple terms, the longer the coloured line - the higher the fell.

It’s been a long labour of love! But we hope that the final result is both easy on the eye and a useful reference.

There’s something magical about all the fells - and most who have spent time in our beautiful National Park will have their favourites. For us it’s the majestic Langdale Pikes made up of Pavey Ark, Thunacar Kontt, Pike O’ Stickle and Harrison Stickle. So many fabulous names as well, full of romance and legend. Dollywaggon Pike, Great Calva, Grike, Lord’s Seat, St.Sunday Crag and the wonderful Troutbeck Tongue. And you can check their height and their location on our poster and we hope if you've yet to stand atop of any of these fells that you'll be inspired to do so.