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Wainwright Revealed is a major new assessment of Britain's most important guidebook writer by Richard Else, the award winning television producer/director who succeeded in tempting Albert Wainwright out of his front room and onto the nation's television screens. It was the most improbable of relationships – the highly reclusive Wainwright and and a young inexperienced television producer less than half his age – but Richard succeeded where many others had failed and Albert Wainwright became the most unlikely celebrity with his BBC films drawing in an audience of millions.
Over almost 10 years Richard and Wainwright travelled around 5000 miles throughout northern England and Scotland and, in doing so, established a working relationship that was different from those Wainwright had with any other person. This book sheds new light about their time together but is much more than simply a memoir. Wainwright Revealed contains a re-appraisal of his position within the guide genre and it investigates, for the first time, the forces that motivated Albert Wainwright and shaped his life – forces he may not fully have understood himself. The book is lavishly illustrated with over 70 photographs – many previously unpublished.
Foreword by Eric Robson
Introduction
1. In the beginning.
2. Just this once.
3. The reluctant star
4. Wainwright - as seen on TV
5. A pilgrimage to Haystacks
6. Wainwright - follower or leader?
7. The achievement of A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells
8. A Scottish Odyssey
9. Coast to Coast - Wainwright style
10. The making of a celebrity
11. On home ground
12. Wainwright revealed
13. Wainwright's legacy - and a final goodbye
Acknowledgements
Further reading
Index
Richard Else is generally regarded as one of the world's foremost adventure filmmakers and has won over 30 major awards worldwide, including Best Mountain Adventure Film at Kendal; two from BAFTA, Scotland; the Royal Television Society and from film festivals in Canada, America, Japan and mainland Europe. His landmark series include The Edge, The Face, Wild Climbs and the groundbreaking live Great Climb. For over 12 years he's been Executive Producer of BBC Scotland's primetime series The Adventure Show. He has co-authored eight walking and climbing books including the best selling Wilderness Walks and More Wilderness Walks and his images have been seen in many books, newspapers, magazines and outdoor publications. He lives in the shadow of the Cairngorms with fellow film maker Margaret Wicks.
"When Richard first mentioned this book to me and outlined the themes he hoped to address in it, I confess that I didn't think he'd be able to carry it off. Surely we only ever scratched the surface of Alfred Wainwright's complex character? I was wrong. Richard has produced a book that's entertaining and knowledgeable in equal measure. I should never have doubted him. It was, after all, the young Mr Else who persuaded Albert Wainwright to sup with the devil in the first place and against his better judgement agree to work with us television people. Richard's fondness for and knowledge of Wainwright have created a readable and fascinating new portrait of a charming, gentle and obsessive man."
– From the foreword by Eric Robson
