Alfred Wainwright

The journalist and author who wrote a biography of Alfred Wainwright will speak to a meeting of his fans this autumn.

Hunter Davies will deliver the 2011 Wainwright Memorial Lecture at the Rheged Centre near Penrith in October.

The annual event is staged by the Wainwright Society.

Mr Davies, who splits his time between London and his home near Loweswater on the western edge of the Lake District, wrote the 1995 study of the guide book writer and artist, Wainwright The Biography, and is currently working on The Wainwright Letters, due for publication in October.

He first met the curmudgeonly fellwalker in 1979 when he was writing A Walk Around the Lakes.

For his latest book, Hunter Davies was given access to Wainwright’s archive and has also been sent copies of many letters that Wainwright wrote to other people during his lifetime.

Derek Cockell of the Wainwright Society said: “This new book, containing more than 300 of AW’s letters to his family, friends and many fans with an informative commentary by Hunter Davies, should provide a fascinating new insight into the personal and professional life of Allred Wainwright, the author of the Pictorial Guides.”

Hunter Davies

The Scots-born journalist also wrote an authorised biography of the Beatles. He is also a patron of the Wainwright Society.

The lecture will take place on Friday, 28 October; tickets are priced at £8 for Wainwright Society members and £12 for non-members and can be obtained by ringing Rheged on 01768 868000.