By HELEN COMPSON helen.compson@hexham-courant.co.uk

Published at 09:50, Friday, 23 October 2009

HE WAS renowned as a curmudgeonly, solitary soul, so it’s hard to imagine a romantic Alfred Wainwright walking the bounds of Haltwhistle.

Forest find: Gordon Beakes on the fungal foray during the autumn walking festival.

But in 1938, on the eve of war, the great guardian of the Lakeland fells was absorbed by his yearning for a soul-mate – despite the fact he was already married – as he walked a section of the Pennine Way.

He would perhaps have taken comfort from the fact that 70 years on, his book A Pennine Journey, The story of a long walk in 1938 has given rise to a fresh venture in the main town he passed through.

For hot on the heels of Haltwhistle’s autumn Walking Festival – the most successful one to date – organisers Haltwhistle Partnership and The Friends of Haltwhistle Rings are planning a series of new, headlining walks for the spring festival.

Harnessing the national appeal of Alfred Wainwright’s life and times, they will retrace the route he took through Tynedale.

The four linear walks will take participants from Blanchland to Hexham, on a two-day stretch along Hadrian’s Wall and then, finally, into Alston using the Pennine and Maiden Ways.

It’s not to say, though, that Wainwright was overly impressed with the Haltwhistle of the day. He comments that the town didn’t look any better even after it had stopped raining, so he would probably have approved of the huge improvements made since then.

A member of the Friends of Haltwhistle Rings committee, Marjorie Baillie, said: “The reason this particular book is so interesting is that it was written just before the war. He talks about how the people were preparing for war and the atmosphere in the villages he passed through.

“He had a terrible cold, though, and he was feeling quite ill, so that probably accounts for some of his negative comment.”

A private man to his very core, the book also offers an unexpected insight into his thoughts and feelings. Wainwright was married twice, the first time unhappily. “In the book, he’s talking about the characteristics that would make up his ideal woman. It’s quite sad, really, that he was still searching,” said Marjorie.

Wainwright’s circular walk that year began and ended in Settle. The highlight of his trip was visiting Hadrian’s Wall for the first time, but some of his low points were the houses he stayed in along the way.

He would simply knock on doors he passed in villages and on farms, requesting board for the night. Travelling without a change of clothes, in poor households he quite often couldn’t get his sodden garments dry overnight, and he occasionally went without an evening meal.

Modern day visitors to the twice-yearly Haltwhistle Walking Festivals enjoy a far superior level of accommodation, needless to say.

Of the 450 people who took to the trails in the latest festival, which ended on Sunday, many stayed in the town’s hotels and B&Bs. Visitors came from as far afield as London, Hertfordshire and Scotland, with some making the festival the heart of a holiday in the district.

Marjorie said: “Our ethos is that, firstly, we want people to come and enjoy walking in a beautiful part of the world. But the festival is also about drawing tourists into Haltwhistle to the benefit of the local economy.”

Next year’s spring festival will run from April 25 till May 3. Further information is available on the website at www.haltwhistle walkingfestival.org.

Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk