This projected trip to Wester Ross is good news. This is where you really start to live. The world will have a new dimension for the Ainleys next year.
My switching of favours from Lakeland to places north merely demonstrates that there is nothing partisan in my make-up, that I can appreciate the beauty of mountain landscapes wherever they may be. And not only of mountain landscapes. I will now make you swallow your criticisms, your charges of infidelity, your unfounded claim to have detected a change of loyalties, your accusation of fickle devotion, by announcing that for several months I have turned my steps time and again to, guess what, the Yorkshire Dales, and in a few weeks will have completed A DALES SKETCHBOOK, for publication later in the year. This news should make you writhe with shame. Why, only last week, hours after receipt of your letter, I was making a study of Shibden Hall, and going on from there, past innumerable road signs that beseeched me to turn aside to Brighouse, to Kirkstall Abbey. Shame on you. After all, remember that I am going ultimately to the shore of Innominate Tarn, not of Loch Carron. I haven’t changed my affections, not really.
Yours sincerely
AWainwright
LETTER 217: TO MARGARET AINLEY, 13 AUGUST 1977
38 Kendal Green, KENDAL
13th August 1977
Dear Margaret,
Thank you for the latest news from Brighouse, of which perhaps the most important item is not the failure of the washing machine but Catherine’s ascent of Glyder Fawr, a superlative performance. Who would have thought it likely five years ago? Then, Smearsett Scar was the primary objective! As for the ascent of Snowdon by railway, let not your conscience be troubled. In Glen Shee a month ago I was carried up a mountain by chairlift for the first time ever. So much easier. Why don’t all mountains have them?
I share your opinion about Wales. Grand mountains, but harsh and unfriendly, quite lacking the beauty and charm of the Lakeland hills. But what I cannot stomach about Wales is the speech of its inhabitants. Imagine being in a community where everyone talks like Clive Jenkins! This is what really puts me off about Wales, and why I never go.
We were back in Plockton again in April, finding it as devastatingly beautiful as ever despite an ugly oil rig across the bay. And a few weeks ago we paid a very successful visit to Braemar, a most delightful area and one you should seriously consider if ever you acquire a tent because there seems to be very little restriction of campers, who we saw scattered along the banks of the Dee in glorious surrounding and all apparently without charge. But keep out of the hotels, which are everywhere in Scotland now very expensive. My week in Braemar, for two, cost around 200 pounds all told.
Yours sincerely,
AW
LETTER 218: TO MARGARET AINLEY, 18 SEPTEMBER 1979
38 Kendal Green,
KENDAL, Cumbria
18 September 1979
Dear Margaret,
Thank you for your letter. I am sending 5 packets of notelets, but unfortunately cannot let you have more of one subject without upsetting the system.
I’m sorry 1979 has not been a good year for the summits but hope 1980 makes up for it. The cottage on Loch Awe sounds delightful.
We went up to Plockton (9th year in succession) at the end of April with the firm idea of climbing Ben Alligin at last, but all the mountains were completely plastered with snow and in fact there was new snow and bitter winds every day. We had often wondered what the Highlands were like at Christmas – now we know. We went north as far as Kinlochbervie. The white landscape was beautiful but it was never fit to leave the car.
We were more fortunate at the end of June, enjoying the only fine week of the summer on a first serious visit to Wales. We had a cottage at Dolgellau, remarkable for its lack of necessary equipment and furnishings, but had a splendid week nevertheless, the highlight being an ascent of Cader Idris – a splendid mountain, but avoid the Foxes Path if ever you do it. We have a cottage booked at Beddegelert for next May.
I hope you are all well despite the traumas of 1979. Your move to a new house sounds exciting. Has it a view of a noble mountain?
Yours sincerely,
AWainwright
LETTER 219: TO MARGARET AINLEY, 25 JUNE 1980
38 Kendal Green,
KENDAL, Cumbria
25th June 1980
Dear Margaret and family,
Thank you for the eight-page account of your second Loch Awe holiday, all of which made good reading apart from your vindictive attack on innocent caterpillars – sweet little things, I always considered them. You really must learn to love your fellow creatures.
We had better fortune with the weather than yourselves for our week at Beddgelert, a charming place (May 10–17); in fact it was absolutely super. Cloudless skies and unbroken sunshine every minute of every day, and not a drop nor even a hint of rain. You went to bed every night certain that the morrow would be exactly the same, perfect. It is not often one can set off for a day on the mountains unimpeded by protective devices against wet weather, but so it was during that memorable week. The idea of setting forth armed with waterproofs and rain-gear and over-trousers was just too ridiculous to think about. No waiting for the mist to lift or the showers to pass. It was just perfect. And reassuring for me because I found I could still get up on the tops, although slowly, and enjoy the summits as much as ever. Five savage peaks were trodden underfoot and 80 super photographs obtained. The cottage we hired was clean and well-equipped – we enjoyed this too, and have booked it again for the end of September. All told, this was probably the best and most rewarding holidays I have ever had.
Yes, do try Lochinver next year. A charming place with a strange and exciting landscape. A good new restaurant has opened recently and will provide you with splendid evening meals at reasonable cost. And there are NO CATERPILLARS at Lochinver. Only midges.
Photos returned with thanks. It seems incredible that eight years have gone by since you first broke the news of an interesting event in the family and that soon afterwards you reported the successful ascent of Smearsett Scar by a very young Catherine. Now she looks almost a veteran hiker!
Yours sincerely,
AW
[He has drawn caterpillars all over this letter.]
Part 18
Letters to Chris Jesty, 1973–80
AW also conducted several long correspondences of a more technical and work-related nature, connected with his books, or other people’s books. They show the amount of work and thought he put into his own books – and also his strong opinions on the work of others. Most of all, they show how generous he was, keen to help others in a similar field.
Chris Jesty first wrote to him from Wales in 1973. He had worked with the Ordnance Survey as a cartographer and was now drawing and publishing his own maps, though not with enormous success. To make a living, he was working as a taxi diver.
AW was most impressed when Jesty sent him his panorama of the views as seen from Snowdon – and addressed him as Chris in his first letter, a sure sign of acceptance, though it wasn’t till his fourth letter that AW revealed his home address.
He offered help and advice to Jesty and in 1978, co-operated with him on a Guide to the View from Scafell Pike in which he agreed his name could be used. He put in about 100 hours of work, but refused to take any money.
From time to time, AW tried to be matey, making jocular and teasing references to a woman called Margot whom Chris had happened to mention – but alas, Chris had only admired her from afar and there was never a relationship.
LETTER 220: TO CHRIS JESTY, 26 APRIL 1973
c/o The Westmorland Gazette
KENDAL
26th April 1973
Dear Chris,
It is a pleasure to report safe receipt of a copy of your Snowdon panorama. Many thanks for sending this along to me.
You have my most sincere congratulations on the success of a mission I would have thought no man would ever have the resolution to tackle even if equipped with the necessary powers of
intelligences, topographical knowledge, draughtsmanship, ability to record facts with meticulous care, and, perhaps most of all, incredible patience. All these qualities you must possess with an over-riding love of Snowdon.
I have never before seen any project conceived with such care and dedication. It must have been like planning a military campaign.
I confess I have never seen Lakeland from Snowdon, or, more surprisingly, North Wales from Lakeland. Therefore I cannot vouch for the details of your view, but, from careful study of the map, contours and altitudes, I see no reason for doubting your findings. I have only two comments: first, Lad Stones is an insignificant shoulder of Wetherlam, which, seen from the south, overtops it, and, since Lad Stones is a name hardly used locally, I would have preferred this sighting to be named as Wetherlam; and secondly, Little Hart Crag is a minor height dominated by neighbouring Dove Crag and Red Screes, which, I feel, should have been named instead.
Having tried to do panoramas myself on a much less ambitious scale, I can well understand the amount of painstaking work you have put into the task and all the frustrations and doubts that must have arisen, quite apart from all the homework converting miles to metric and measuring distances. I don’t know whether you have seen Shearer’s panorama from Ben Nevis, done in 1895 (if not, I’ll send it on for you to see): this too was a considerable effort, though lacking the precision of yours. It is interesting to note that, after first being published, it was subsequently revised, which can only mean, since the panorama could not change, that the original contained errors. I think you must expect some doubts to be expressed about your own conclusions, in some respects, although my own feeling is that the wealth of detail, so obviously compiled with great care, inspires confidence in its accuracy.
Your printer, too, has done an excellent job. Not even Waterlow and Sons could have done a better.
I hope Margot has recovered from her ordeal. The things some women will do for men! This caps all.
If I may, I would like to keep the copy you sent me. I have a number of friends who will be interested, mightily so, and it will be a joy to me to let them see what you have done.
Yours sincerely,
AWainwright
LETTER 221: TO CHRIS JESTY, 10 MAY 1973
c/o The Westmorland Gazette
KENDAL
10th May 1973
Dear Chris,
Thank you for your further letter of the 1st.
When I suggested that Wetherlam should be substituted for Lad Stones on your Snowdon panorama I did so without reference to maps, feeling in my bones that Wetherlam was sufficiently east of Coniston Old Man to be visible from Snowdon, south south west. Now, roughly aligning my maps, I find you are right: Wetherlam is hidden. But if the 1500’ contour on the Old Man is in direct line with the 2000’ contour on Lad Stones I would expect the latter to be overtopped by Fairfield or very nearly so, and not separated as much as your diagram suggests. But I haven’t got the right maps or instruments to be sure about this. I take your word for it.
No, I am sure I have never seen Snowdonia from Lakeland, but this summer will be making several trips to Black Combe for another purpose and will keep a sharp lookout with binoculars.
Shearer’s panorama is by no means as detailed as yours (no mileages, etc) and probably far less accurate. If you ever wish to borrow my copy, please let me know. Bear in mind, before you get too involved with Ben Nevis, that the top is in cloud for 300 days a year.
Margot would go raving mad if she were to see the last paragraph of your letter. There would be no question of her living in the observatory ruins on Ben Nevis with you for three weeks or more. I am beginning to feel a little sorry for Margot, poor kid. I think she must have a rough time of it.
Yours sincerely,
AWainwright
Off tomorrow for a week in a rented cottage in Wester Ross. The weather reports from there are appalling.
LETTER 222: TO CHRIS JESTY, 14 JUNE 1973
c/o The Westmorland Gazette
KENDAL
14th June 1973
Dear Chris,
Thank you for your further letter, which relieves my apprehension about Margot considerably.
I enclose Shearer’s panorama from Ben Nevis. This you may keep for as long as you wish.
While I am sorry you are not finding much demand for your Snowdon masterpiece (which it is), I am not greatly surprised. It lacks visual appeal. A drawing of the panorama, after the fashion of Shearer’s crude effort, or, better still, a composite photograph, would be more attractive to the general public, and would sell in thousands to the hordes who frequent Snowdon. The effect of your style of presentation must be to scare most people off. They need to study it carefully, and careful study is not a popular pastime. They want things that can be seen and easily understood. You have, in my view, tried to cram too many statistics in. The result is that your panorama looks as though it has come out of a computer. A simple but accurate drawing on a long folded strip would have proved more popular. Friends I have shown your panorama agree with this opinion while lost in admiration of your prodigious effort. As I said before, you made a wonderful job of it, but I think fell into error, so far as the ordinary observer is concerned, by including too much detail. People don’t like complications. No, I think a drawing, a la Shearer, would have sold better, but better still a composite photograph with a really good camera. I have books of mountain panoramas published by a W.M. Docharty, which contain some real beauties, mostly from Scottish summits, and built up from upwards of twenty prints all joined together so precisely that the joinings can hardly be distinguished. Mr Docharty’s books were each limited to 250 copies and given to his friends, so that they cannot be purchased. His panoramas are quite magnificent, presenting the scene exactly as it appears, clouds and all. Unfortunately these books are large and heavy volumes or I would have sent you one to see.
Four times in the past two weeks I have been on Black Combe. On no occasion was there the slightest chance of seeing Snowdon. I am now reconciled to the fact that I shall never see North Wales from Lakeland.
You will never do the panorama from Ben Nevis, but it might be an excuse for getting Margot up there with you.
Yours sincerely,
AWainwright
LETTER 223: TO CHRIS JESTY, 13 JULY 1973
38 Kendal Green
Kendal, Westmorland
13th July 1973
Dear Chris,
Thank you for your interesting letter of 28th June, which arrived while I was on holiday with a camera in the Torridon and An Teallach areas, hence the delay in replying.
Your ideas and comments give much food for thought. Panoramas based on colour photographs would be superb provided the viewpoint gave good depth to the foreground so that the view is downward (into the valleys) as well as distant. The trouble with photographs is that they tend to flatten out the verticals, and, short of using a telescopic lens (which distorts distances) there seems no answer to this problem. It is important that the viewpoint should be sharply elevated above its surroundings on all sides; a flattish summit is useless.
I would like to see your panorama from Aran Fawddy very much but, because it is way off the beaten track of tourists, it would never be a commercial proposition, and in fact could be expensive to produce, colour work being very costly. If you care to send it, you may do so to my home address (as above), and I will have a talk with a local printer about the possibilities including costs.
I don’t think you should entrust the Schulthess photograph to the post, just as I would not like the Docharty panoramas of mine be subjected to the risk of loss. There may be an opportunity later on to exchange opinions on these.
Incidentally, before going to Scotland, I climbed Black Combe four times in the space of a fortnight only to find each time that the distance was shrouded in haze: on only one occasion was there a sight of the Isle of Man, and that but faintly. I have now abandoned all hope of ever seeing Snowdon from Lakeland.
One thing that always strikes me forcibly every time I go to Scotland is the stark clarity of the distant views. The mists and hazes that shroud the Lake District for so much of the time are quite unknown in the Highlands, where fifty-mile vistas are a common experience even under a cloudy sky. I did not have particularly good weather on this latest trip, most days having a high cloud ceiling, yet the distant views were always starkly clear. Even in rain the mountain tops often remain free from clinging mists.
I will look forward to seeing the Aran Fawddwy [sic] photographs.
Yours sincerely,
AWainwright
LETTER 224: TO CHRIS JESTY, 13 DECEMBER 1973
38 Kendal Green
Kendal, Westmorland
13th December 1973
Dear Chris,
Thank you for returning the Shearer panorama from Ben Nevis. I think your slight criticism of this effort are probably justified and that a detailed check on the spot would be likely to reveal many more defects, the fact that it has once been revised (although the subject matter remains static) suggest original discrepancies which, I feel sure, have not been wholly corrected.
I wouldn’t mind having a shot at drawing the foreground for some future distant panorama of yours, provided I can do it from photographs and am not expected to sit on some freezing mountain-top waiting for the clouds to lift, but I must express the opinion again that a single panorama without a narrative or walkers’ routes to the summit would never be a commercial proposition except possibly for Snowdon or Ben Nevis. A booklet devoted to a single mountain, giving routes, illustrations, notes on botany and geology with a panorama that opened out might just pay its way, and I think you should plan on these lines. The subject would, of course, have to be a popular one such as Snowdon.
The Wainwright Letters Page 35