Although all collaborators have offered their services out of the goodness of their hearts, it is not intended that they shall suffer any expense, and a cheque is enclosed to cover travelling and subsistence expenses. Payments need not be accounted for; if there is any balance it may be spent in riotous living with A.W.’s compliments.
A year later, Len started sending his research notes to AW and there began a long correspondence between them, over details of the walks.
They never met and AW knew nothing about Len – whether he married, what his job was – though eventually AW did enquire about his occupation.
LETTER 77: TO LEN CHADWICK, 29 MAY 1966
c/o Westmorland Gazette, Kendal
29th May 1966
Dear Mr Chadwick
I am writing to acknowledge safe receipt of your separate volumes on the southern part of the Pennine way, and do so with sincere thanks for a job very well done. In fact, these books are fabulous, full of interesting detail, and it is a pity, in a way, that they contain far more information than I can find space to use. If I don’t make a first-class job of it, after all the trouble you have gone to and all the help you have given me, it will be due to my own short-comings. In due course I will return all your notes.
I wish the weather would improve!
Yours sincerely,
AWainwright
LETTER 78: TO LEN CHADWICK, 6 JUNE 1966
c/o Westmorland Gazette, Kendal
6th June 1966
Dear Mr Chadwick,
Your remaining PW volumes have arrived safely. Many thanks.
As you can imagine, I had a splendid Whitsuntide in perfect conditions. I was staying with relatives at Penistone, and managed to get done the section from Crowden to the A640 beyond Standedge including the Wessenden Loop. In bad weather there must be many difficulties of route-finding, but in the clear visibility and sunshine of Whitsun I had no trouble at all and thoroughly enjoyed everything – most of all your notes, which are admirable to follow and which I found absolutely accurate in all details. You certainly did a thorough job and have saved me a great deal of time.
I have now started on the book, and am doing this section first – it will fit into place later.
There is a little additional information needed on a few points I wish to mention, and if you can supply it I shall be grateful. The questions are overleaf.
Thanks again, a lot.
AWainwright
Black Hill’s summit also seems to be named Soldier’s Lump. Do you know why? (you mention army surveyors) is the story fit for telling?
Am I right in assuming that Hollin Brown Knott was the place of burial of the bodies in the recent trial?
I found the Ammon Wrigley memorial stone on Standedge (but would have missed it completely but for your clear description). Is this rock locally known as the Dinner Stone, as you suggest? The O.S. maps indicate the Dinner Stone as being 200 yards from the column at a place where there is a conspicuous and isolated rock with a cairn on it and the letters L.T. Do you know the year of Ammon’s birth?
LETTER 79: TO LEN CHADWICK, 14 JULY 1966
c/o Westmorland Gazette, Kendal
14th July 1966
Dear Mr Chadwick,
I am now returning volumes 3 and 4 of your Pennine Way notes, and three of the 6 inch maps you loaned me. The sections, CROWDEN-STANDEDGE, is now completed in book form, and your notes and the maps have been of immense help. The pity is that I have had to condense everything so much and leave out much I would have liked to include. This particular section, for instance, will occupy only 12 pages. Many thanks again for your assistance.
I wrote to Miss Winterbottom and have had her reply. She has given me the date of Ammon’s birth, confirmed that the Dinners Stone is the one with L.T. on it and not the memorial stone, told me about the Cotton Famine Road, and volunteered an opinion about the name Solider’s Lump. As she was not sure about the latter I have addressed an enquiry to the Ordnance Survey and will let you know what they say.
I am still hoping to get down for a few days to do the next section north to Eastwood before the end of the summer but cannot be sure of this yet. Your additional notes on this section will be useful, and if you can find out anything about the line of the TransPennine motorway I should be glad to have it.
I am sorry you didn’t get very far on your intended PW walk during the holidays. I agree the weather has been very poor. However, wait until the book is out, and then you can point out all my mistakes!
At present I am doing the Teesdale-Dufton crossing, which is magnificent country. With the help of friends with cars I have finished the walking and am now on the penwork. I must say I am enjoying the Pennine Way far more than I thought I would.
Yours sincerely,
AWainwright
LETTER 80: TO LEN CHADWICK, 9 AUGUST 1966
9th August 1966
Dear Mr Chadwick,
Your letter of 29th July (‘proposed changes in the route of the Pennine Way’) was disturbing, but I must thank you for drawing my attention to the mischief that is being planned. I agree that the present route from Crowden to Black Hill is fine and could not be improved upon, so what are they playing at? Please keep me informed if you hear of any changes being approved.
I enclose a letter from the Ordnance Survey about Soldier’s Lump, which seems to support your original hunch that the name was given by army surveyors, and that Vera’s shot in the dark (that the name derived from the Volunteer Regiment formed to guard Yorkshire from French invasion 150 years ago) was wrong. Please return this letter and map.
Middleton-in Teesdale to Dufton is now in book form.
Yours sincerely,
AWainwright
LETTER 81: TO LEN CHADWICK, 25 OCTOBER 1966
c/o Westmorland Gazette, Kendal
25th October 1966
Dear Mr Chadwick,
I went to Rochdale on Sunday, the 16th, with the object of completing your section of the P.W. northwards from Standedge to Eastwood, and spent three days doing just that (average 5 miles a day!) very satisfactorily. I stayed at the Wellington Hotel in Rochdale (super-posh) and made good use of the trans-Pennine bus services both from Oldham and Rochdale. I met no other walkers on any of the three days.
The next section, over White Hill, I found dreary, but the gravel beds of Axletree Edge were much better to walk on and this area, down to the TV station, was rather enjoyable. I didn’t like the next bit, over Slippery Moss, and the vast bog of Redmires was a squalid mess: feet and legs soaking. Blackstone Edge was a big improvement, though nothing like as impressive as I had imagined. It was a shock to find the O.S. column-boulder defaced for ever by your name! (one way of achieving immortality!). I was uncertain which was the Aiggin Stone. Your notes stated that it was nearly lying on its side, and I assumed it was the one in the enclosed photograph (please confirm and return the photograph). The local library is trying to borrow a copy of ‘Roof of Lancashire’ for me so that I can give a note of its history. Do you ever remember seeing the stone upright? And in the location it now occupies? (some squared blocks nearby suggest that they have formed the base of it – see photograph no 2)
The Roman Road was a grand surprise, and in places better preserved than any I have seen. The section across to Stoodley Pike was also a good fast route, and more interesting because of the views. And, although the finish between a pig farm and a sewage works is, as you say, a sad end to your section, the easy downhill road into the Calder Valley was delightful: the sun was warm, the autumn colours of the birch woods glorious. In fact, before industry took over the valley, this must have been a beautiful countryside. I didn’t expect it – but perhaps its sweetness is exaggerated in comparison with the many miles of peat moors crossed since Edale. I am always surprised to find that this area is Yorkshire, which seems completely wrong because it is so much identified with Lancashire; geographically it certainly ought to be Lancashire.
As before, I found your notes and diagrams wonderfully
accurate and helpful, and I would often have been quite bewildered without them. I will return them when I have completed my pages for this section.
Yours sincerely,
AWainwright
There were of course other things going on AW’s life while walking and researching the Pennine Way – and the reference in passing to some friends, not named, giving him a lift is interesting. One of his major concerns from this period was to do with animal charities. Now that he was making quite a bit of income from his Pictorial Guides – as he revealed at the end of Book Seven – he was keen to set up some sort of animal refuge.
LETTER 82: TO MRS BOYLE, 11 NOVEMBER 1965
38 Kendal Green
Kendal
11th November 1965
Dear Mrs Boyle,
I am prepared to enter into a covenant to pay to the Westmorland Branch of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals the sum of one thousand pounds per annum for seven years, the first payment to be made on 17th January 1967, for the purpose of providing a headquarters for the Society in Kendal. The annual payments would be made out of income that has already been subject to income tax, and the Society would, therefore, as a registered Charity be able to claim a refund of tax on each annual payment. In round figures the tax refund over the period would amount to about 4,500, and with interest accrued from investment of the annual payments as they are made, I estimate the value of the gift to the Society to be around 12,000 by the end of the seventh year.
This amount should be enough, I think, to erect and equip a small building with office accommodation for the Inspector (sufficiently large to be used as a Committee Room), a waiting room, clinic, surgery, store, and inside kennels and cages, opening on to an exercise yard or compound. I have in mind a central site, quiet and remote from private residences, which I hope it may be possible to acquire.
Apart from providing greater convenience for the Inspector, and freeing him from the present need to use his home as an office and animal shelter, the primary object would be to make available a ‘hospital’ where sick animals and birds could be brought for care and attention without charge, but voluntary contributions would be invited. I feel confident that there would be no lack of voluntary helpers to staff the building, but would expect the professional services of veterinary surgeons to be paid for in accordance with their normal charges.
I have discussed these and other matters with your Hon. Treasurer, Mr Cross, who will be able to explain my proposal in greater detail.
I should be grateful if you would kindly arrange for your Committee to consider this offer and let me know their decision in due course. In the meantime I should be obliged if the matter could be treated in confidence.
Yours faithfully,
AWainwright
Mrs Clara Boyle
Hon. Secretary
Westmorland Branch RSPCA
Eller How
Ambleside
Mrs Clara Boyle, local secretary for the RSPCA, was ‘overwhelmed’ by AW’s generosity, but when the proposal went up to headquarters, it developed into long drawn out discussions and meetings, with the RSPCA becoming worried that AW’s plan was too ambitious, would cost at least £20,000 and was possibly not worth it. In the end AW decided he would instead become involved with an existing animal sanctuary in Lancashire, and would have nothing to do with the RSPCA.
Meanwhile, he was still walking the Pennine Way and corresponding with Len Chadwick.
LETTER 83: TO LEN CHADWICK, 21 APRIL 1967
c/o Westmorland Gazette, Kendal
21st April 1967
Dear Mr Chadwick,
Thank you for keeping me informed on the latest ‘gen’ about the Pennine Way. It certainly does appear from what you say that a change in the route is proposed on the Crowden-Black Hill section. I find this disturbing. I was under the impression that the precise route had been determined and approved long ago, and cannot understand why the Ramblers’ Association or any other body should seek to alter it. The present route, as you say, is a good one and could not be improved upon. Please let me know if you hear of any developments. I think it’s a bit thick, but as I shall be having a few days in Penistone very soon I had better walk the new line, just in case.
I reached the stake on Alport Low, wet through, but things were impossible: I couldn’t take photographs and I couldn’t refer to maps in all that rain, so I fled back down Doctor’s Gate to Glossop, not without further troubles, for the beck was flooded and I couldn’t get across at the ford. So I am no nearer with the southern section. And this explains why your Bleaklow volume will look as though it’s had a rough time when you finally get it back. I will try again very shortly.
In complete contrast I had a magnificent day on the Penyghent section last Tuesday – a glorious day, the best of the year so far. I have now completed the whole route between Crowden and Dufton, having made a few trips recently to the Hebden Bridge – Keighley – Skipton area to fill in the gaps. I am enjoying making the book enormously, but if I hadn’t the book in mind I doubt whether I should spend my time on places like Ickornshaw Moor.
I am glad you are keeping well, getting new recruits, and still planning bigger and better expeditions. I don’t think I ever thanked you for the photograph, which I will treasure. Someday, perhaps to celebrate ‘A Pictorial Guide to the Pennine Way’, we must arrange a meeting.
In the meantime, best of luck and good walking.
Yours sincerely,
AWainwright.
In his reply, Len revealed that he worked as a shorthand typist in the office of a Manchester cotton importer. Alas, it later transpired that this job was not all that secure.
LETTER 84: TO LEN CHADWICK, 29 JUNE 1967
c/o Westmorland Gazette, Kendal
29th June 1967
Dear Mr Chadwick,
Thank you for your letter of several weeks ago, written in Kendal on the eve of your expedition to the Howgills, which I hope proved successful. It was useful to have your notes about changes in the Pennine Way, which I will keep by me for the final revision, but I think I must come over again to see what is happening to the Trans-Pennine Motorway and try to find out from the engineer-in-charge how they propose to get the Pennine Way across it. I still haven’t done the Edale-Crowden section, but am making good but slow progress northwards where I have now reached Bellingham in Northumberland. A visit to Kirk Yetholm in May was a complete washout – 3 days non-stop rain and mist – but I expect to be up there again in August on a do-or-die attempt, because time is now running out on me. Then I must have another shot at Edale-Crowden, and take a look at the new route to Black Hill although I have seen no references anywhere to the change you have reported here. Who makes these changes, anyway, what authority have they, when the whole route has been approved by the National Parks Commission?
Hope you are having a good year with the Club.
AW
LETTER 85: TO LEN CHADWICK, 27 JULY 1967
Kendal, Thursday 27/7/67
JULY 27 – 67
Dear Mr Chadwick,
Thank you for your very kind letter, and offer of further help. It does appear, from what you say, that I shall have to include the new route up Black Hill from Crowden (damn nuisance) and it would be a help if you would kindly reconnoitre it and let me have a few notes before the end of August.
A fortnight ago today I reached the Border at last, just above Byrness, with 20 miles still to do to Kirk Yetholm, and this last lap I hope to finish next month. Everything is going OK.
I was very sorry to hear of the threat of redundancy at work, and do hope that nothing comes of this. It must be very unsettling, at your age, to have a feeling of insecurity about the future, and I sincerely trust your fears prove unfounded.
Yours sincerely,
AWainwright
LETTER 86: TO LEN CHADWICK, 19 NOVEMBER 1967
38 Kendal Green, Kendal
19th November 1967
Dear Mr Chadwick,
/> Just one final enquiry. Will you please ascertain the correct name of the buildings and masts on the summit of the Denshaw – Ripponden road? In your notes you have referred to this place as the Bleakedgate Moor TV Booster Station and I have done likewise in the book, but a doubt is creeping in. In a newspaper article about the new motorway I find it referred to as the ‘BBC Radio Transmitter on Windy Hill’. I wondered if you could look it up in the telephone directory, or ask at the Post Office, or, better still, give them a ring and ask how the place should properly be described.
The book is now nearing completion. I want, of course, to pay acknowledgment to those who have helped me, and should be glad if you would let me know the year of your birth and whether you are an active member of any recognised rambling or mountaineering club, or of any mountain rescue team, or anything else of particular interest. I take it I can correctly describe you as the Hon. Secretary of the Kindred Spirits Fellwalking Society – is this the right title? And your occupation, please.
I will soon be returning all the notes you kindly let me have.
Yours sincerely
AWainwright
Please reply to 38 Kendal Green, Kendal to save time, the Gazette office often hold letters up for weeks.
LETTER 87: TO LEN CHADWICK, 17 JANUARY 1968
38 Kendal Green, Kendal
17 January 1968
Dear Mr Chadwick,
I have now completed the book and got it away to the printers. It will be published around Easter under the title of PENNINE WAY COMPANION. I feel pretty confident that you will like it, and will send you a copy when it is ready.
With regard to The Mystery of Bleakedgate Moor, I have described the contraption as a G.P.O. Wireless Telegraphy Station. This seemed safest. There is the authority of the Ordnance map for referring to it as a W.T. Station, and I cannot think that the W.T. can mean anything but Wireless Telegraphy. And you established that it belonged to the G.P.O. You will note that Holme Moss, which is a TV station, is described on the map.
The Wainwright Letters Page 15