Editing Alfred Wainwright (section)

==Life==
[[File:AW's Memorial Window Tablet in St James' Church, Buttermere. - geograph.org.uk - 1307454.jpg|thumb|left|Plaque to Alfred Wainwright in [[Buttermere, Cumbria (village)|Buttermere]] parish church|alt=black stone plaque reading: Pause and remember Alfred Wainwright: Fellwalker, guide book author and illustrator who loved this valley. Lift you eyes to Haystacks his favourite place. 1907–1991]]

Alfred Wainwright was born in [[Blackburn]], [[Lancashire]], into a family which was relatively poor, mostly because of his stonemason father's [[alcoholism]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Wainwright: The Man Who Loved the Lakes |first=Martin |last=Wainwright |date=30 June 2012 |publisher=BBC Books |isbn=978-1448140718}}</ref> He did very well at school (first in nearly every subject)<ref>BBC 4 documentary, February 2007</ref> although he left at the age of 13. While most of his classmates were obliged to find employment in the local mills, Wainwright started work as an office boy in Blackburn Borough Engineer's Department. He spent several years studying at night school, gaining qualifications in accountancy which enabled him to further his career at Blackburn Borough Council. Even when a child Wainwright walked a great deal, up to {{convert|20|mi|km|abbr=off|adj=off}} at a time; he showed a great interest in drawing and [[cartography]], producing his own maps of England and his local area.

In 1930, at the age of 23, Wainwright saved up for a week's walking holiday in the [[Lake District]] with his cousin Eric Beardsall. They arrived in [[Windermere, Cumbria (town)|Windermere]] and climbed the nearby [[Orrest Head]], where Wainwright saw his first view of the Lakeland [[fell]]s. This moment marked the start of what he later described as his love affair with the Lake District. In 1931 he married his first wife, Ruth Holden, a mill worker, with whom he had a son, Peter. In 1941 Wainwright moved closer to the fells when he took a job (and a pay cut) at the Borough Treasurer's office in [[Kendal]], [[Westmorland]]. His first home in the town was 19 Castle Grove, which boasted a view of Kendal Castle from the front window.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Davies |first=Hunter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mwtCXNiDAkMC&dq=wainwright+19+castle+grove&pg=PP91 |title=Wainwright: The Biography |date=2013-01-31 |publisher=Orion |isbn=978-1-4091-3966-9 |language=en}}</ref> 

He lived and worked in the town for the rest of his life, serving as Borough Treasurer from 1948 until he retired in 1967. His first marriage ended when Ruth left three weeks before he retired (suspecting him of infidelity) and they divorced. In 1970 he married Betty McNally (1922–2008), a divorcée, who became his walking companion and who carried his ashes to [[Innominate Tarn]] at the top of [[Haystacks (Lake District)|Haystacks]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Alfred |last=Wainwright |title=Memoirs of a Fellwanderer |publisher=Frances Lincoln |location=London |date=1993}}</ref><ref name="Inde 26 08 08" />

Wainwright was a lifelong [[Blackburn Rovers]] fan and a founder member of the Blackburn Rovers Supporters Club.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wainwright.org.uk/events/2007/centenary.html |title=The Alfred Wainwright Centenary 2007 |publisher=The Wainwright Society |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081223032853/http://www.wainwright.org.uk/events/2007/centenary.html |archive-date=23 December 2008 }}</ref> He had no time for [[organised religion]], and was [[agnostic]].{{citation needed|date=March 2023}} On ''[[Desert Island Discs]]'', he described himself as having once been shy but having grown up to be antisocial and would avoid speaking to others, even lone walkers on fell tops.<ref name="DesertIsland">{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/p009mfrs |title=Radio 4 Desert Island Discs |date=4 September 1988 |publisher=BBC |time=32 minutes}}</ref>

Wainwright died in 1991 of a [[heart attack]]. According to his biographer, [[Hunter Davies]], he left everything, including his house and royalty income, to Betty. His son Peter received nothing.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Davies |first=Hunter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mwtCXNiDAkMC&q=Peter |title=Wainwright: The Biography |date=2013 |publisher=Hachette |isbn=9781409139669 |access-date=20 October 2013}}</ref>