Middle-aged flash packers

I never imagined that I would be writing about travels in England but then again, I never imagined I would be forbidden to leave the UK and have to wear a mask every time I set foot in a shop. Crazy times.

Still, you can’t keep a good woman down, so I shall try to entertain you with mine and Steve’s shenanigans in the Lake District while trying to hike up all 204 Wainwrights.

Without going into too much detail, A.Wainwright was a curmudgeonly old git who loved the Lake District (a hilly area with lakes in the North West of England) and meticulously and also quite eclectically climbed and noted various hills and mountains in the aforementioned area that took his fancy.

It is the randomness of his collection that piqued my curiosity . Why this unprepossessing hillock and not that beautiful mountain over there? It doesn’t make much sense but he wrote books about them, detailing their position, the best way to ascend them and musings such as “ Fellwalking accidents happen only to those who walk clumsily. The only advice you need is watch where you are putting your feet”. And on the positives of fellwalking: “you can’t get these benefits through the Welfare State, nor from a doctor, nor from pills.”

I can’t help thinking we need more Mr Wainwrights.

So far, Steve and I have already “bagged” (awful term, I won’t use it again) 100 of his fells on earlier trips. This week, we have an optimistic goal of climbing between 20 and 23.

We have based ourselves in Cockermouth (I do apologise) which is a little rough around the edges but is just the type of place we like and also reasonably close to the Wainwrights on our list. Steve is recovering from a bad back which might hinder us a little but (he assures me) won’t stop us.

We start tomorrow, although I don’t think we’ll be off at the crack of dawn as Steve has decided he “needs” red wine and has hot-footed it down to the little shop round the corner. Suits me. And it is his birthday tomorrow.

For now, here are some photos of previous Wainwright’s we have hiked to give you a taste of what is to come.