Review of Wainwright Walks: Complete BBC Series 2

Introduction

Which DVD site is so dedicated to bringing you great reviews that they send their DVD reviewers up mountains? Yes, this one.

In the course of reviewing this DVD, my wife & I found ourselves in the Lake District, trying out some of the walks featured in this second series of Wainwright Walks. That, dear readers, is commitment to the cause.

For those who have no idea about Wainwright and this series, here`s a quick biography. Alfred Wainwright (AW) was a keen walker and he produced pictorial guides of all the fells in the Lake District, with every page painstakingly hand drawn and hand written. The level of detail (never before seen in guide books of this kind) made his books very popular, and you`ll still find people poring over these books whilst you`re out on the hillsides of Cumbria.

Wainwright Walks: Series Two is the DVD of the second series of this popular BBC programme, first aired on BBC 4 then repeated on BBC 2. Julia Bradbury attempts to recreate some of Wainwright`s favourite walks in a series of half hour programmes featuring stunning aerial photography and lots of Wainwright facts, as well as some quotes from Wainwright himself.

Series Two takes in the following walks:-

Helvellyn via Striding Edge (not for the faint hearted)

Catbells (described by Wainwright as the perfect family walk)

Crinkle Crags and Bowfell

Helm Crag aka The Lion and the Lamb (if you`ve ever been to the Lakes you`ll have seen this on the A591 heading out of Grasmere)

High Street (an ancient Roman route taking in Haweswater, a reservoir made by flooding an entire village)

Pillar (another favourite of AW)

Video

An exemplary 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, as first broadcast. Nothing wrong from a technical point of view and the ideal way to witness some of the stunning scenery that the Lake District has to offer. If watching this doesn`t make you want to go there, nothing will.

Audio

A DD2.0 stereo soundtrack, again as first broadcast, and again perfectly fine technically. The accompanying music suits the visuals perfectly.

Features

A few extras added on too - an interview with Eric Robson (chairman of the AW society), an Alfred Wainwright biography, picture galleries from each walk and a Julia Bradbury filmography (if anyone cares for such a thing).

Conclusion

So this is a DVD of someone walking in the countryside then? Well, essentially that`s what it boils down to, but it`s really so much more than that. There`s information about each walk, background information about the areas featured, bits of Wainwright history and also a few chats with some local people along the way. It`s almost a perfect advert for a Lake District walking holiday. Did I mention the stunning scenery? Oh yes, I did. Several times.

It`s possible that I`m biased as we`ve been to the Lakes at least once a year for the last 10 years and have clocked up hundreds of miles of walking in the area. Over New Year we did the Helm Crag walk featured here, and unsurprisingly it looks just like it does on the telly (although we didn`t meet a 10 year old who had bagged all the Wainwrights like Julia did).

But I think that anyone who enjoys walking in general will be interested in this DVD. If you enjoyed the TV series then you might like to watch it again. It`s a handy tool for preparing for a walk (how often do you get a proper visual introduction to a walk you`re doing?) and it`s also good for reminding you what you did (and remembering all those things you took photos of).

Recommended.