BBC4’s celebration of some of the Grumpy Old Fellwalker’s most famous routes ends on a high tomorrow night.
Pictured: Scafell Pike, right, and Scafell
Julia Bradbury tackles England’s highest fell Scafell Pike in the last of a series of four in which she has followed Alfred Wainwright’s celebrated Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells.
En route, she encounters celebrated Wasdale sheep farmer and fellrunner Jos Naylor, whose most famous feat was the completion in 1972 of 63 peaks and 92 miles of running to set a world record, helped by former Olympic runner Chris Brasher.
We doubt that Julia will be going at Jos’s pace, even though he is now in his 70s. Her previous appearances have seen her on Castle Crag, Blencathra and Wainwright’s favourite – and final resting place – Haystacks. Tomorrow you can watch her attempt on the 978m (3,210ft) fell which looks down on all the other Lake District peaks.
Let’s hope TV realises the huge potential audience of outdoor fans out there, not all of whom want to watch variations of Celebrity Big Ego on Castaway Ice.
The final Wainwright’s Walks screens on BBC4 at 8.30pm tomorrow, Monday, repeated the same evening at 11.15pm and, for the insomniacs among us, at 1.45 in the morning.