Wainwright's WeekPublisher: Neil's Tours |
Review Author:
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At first sight 'Wainwight's Week' seemed an unusual choice for a flight simulator add-on, but the more I read it, the more I wanted to visit the places in the book.
The English Lake District, the jewel in the English Crown is by American standards tiny, covering a mere 930 square miles. However, the beauty of the place really is what sets it apart.
There is so much to see and do in the Lake District, and this is what first attracted Alfred Wainwright to this part of England way back in the 1930s.
This book covers as much as possible the route he and his friends took when they spent their first ever week here in May 1931.
Note: All images in this review are taken from the book in question.

Alfred Wainwright 1907 - 1991

Alfred Wainwright loved the Lake District like no one else and spent over 50 years walking over the hills in all weather conditions (once he went down Borrowdale in the middle of winter with 6 foot snow drifts).
The walks he undertook were written down in a series of books for people who wished to follow in his footsteps.

If memory saves me correctly, Neil Birch first wrote about the Lake District way back when FS98 was the current simulator of choice, in which he introduced us to his "flying bike".
Neil's father apparently used to enjoy cycling around the Lake District at around the same time as Afred Wainwright (I wonder if they ever bumped into each other). He used to cycle up from Lancashire, throw his bike over a wall and go camping. A few days later he would come back to the same wall and his bike was always there, just as he left it (try and do that today)!
FS98 (perhaps a tad later), was about the time when photographic scenery was becoming available for flight simulators. As such, Neil updated it for FSX, then X-Plane, and then to its latest version, Flight Simulator 2020.
Neil's book goes into great detail following Wainwright's journey from the first day over the fells to the tiny hamlet of Patterdale when it rained all day (plenty of guide arrows to help you). In fact, according to the book, this was the worst weather since 1925, so not a good start to the week.
On the second day, following in Wainwright's footsteps, Neil took us over the famous or infamous Striding Edge, and then further on to the summit of Helvellyn. Finally, before landing at a fictional field near the town of Keswick, we performed a quick tour around Blencathra.
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