WAINWRIGHT ON THE LAKELAND MOUNTAIN PASSES.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.FINE/NFINE.No owner inscrptn,but price-clip to dw/dj. Bright,crisp,clean,glossy laminated,colour photographic illustrated dw/dj [Nan Bield towards Small Water and Haweswater scenic photograph - front,and author portrait photograph - rear]; with negligible shelf-wear and creasing to edges - no nicks or tears present.Minisculely bumped with reciprocal creasing to head+foot of spine/backstrip and a few indents to upper wrap,which in some cases has gone through to boards beneath.Top edge lightly dust-soiled and minimally foxed/spotted, fore-edge clean; contents bright,tight and near pristine.Publisher's original clean air-force blue cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked silver gilt letters to spine/backstrip and immaculate identical,colour scenic photographic endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,7-223pp [paginated] includes scenic colour photograph illustrated half-title page [High Sweden Bridge],double-page scenic colour photograph illustrated title page [Honister Pass],reverse of which has half-page scenic colour photograph [Hallin Fell from pier at Howtown],contents list,author introduction,49 chapters,b/w maps by Boris Weltman, profuse full+part page colour scenic photographs throughout the text and the book,and an index. No one in modern times has done more to make known the joys of the Lake District than A. Wainwright.In the steps of the outstandingly successful 'Fellwalking with Wainwright' - which remained on the bestseller list for almost a year - the master fellwalker now turns his attention to Lakeland's mountain passes, the ancient routes which,before the days of modern roads,provided the sole means of communication for the valley communities.Today most are still available only to travellers on foot and as Wainwright shows,together with Derry Brabbs's stunning photographs,the passes offer some of the most dramatic and vareid scenery in Britain.Writing with all the evocative power that has made him such a doyen of Lakeland,Wainwright describes the routes over each of the forty-nine crossings that fits his definition of a pass - that it should permit access from either side,allowing a transit between two valleys.The original rough paths,used only by shepherds,were gradually improved,to evolve into vital routes for the local traders. When in due course better tracks and later rough roads were provided for vehicular traffic,the old ways were virtually abandoned and it was only in Victorian times that they regained popularity. Then,scorning the fears and legends of mountains hitherto unclimbed except by shepherds,intrepid pioneers began to wander freely over the fells and ridges,and to value once again the old routes. Today,with Wainwright as our guide,the high and lovely places have become accessible to everyone sound of limb.Again beautifully illustrated by Derry Brabbs's superlative photographs,this book will be a treasured source of pleasure for everyone who loves the Lake District. Each pass is the subject of a separate chapter,the description of the route accompanied by a simple location map with a mile-scale, north being at the top.Heights are given in English feet and distances in English miles despite the current regrettable practice of quoting them in foreign metres and kilometres to which the author,a jingoistic Englishman,refuses to comply. This is a book about the English Lake District.Let's go on thinking of it as English!! See also rja270,rja30938 for other author/subject related titles. Please contact seller @ rpaxtonden@blueyonder.co.uk ,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!