Man About Tarn: How A Londoner Learned To Love The Lake District

"Warm, entertaining and quite enchanting" -- Cumbria magazine. "Really wish I'd thought of this title. Hats off, Sir!" -- Stuart Maconie. "Great title!" -- Julia Bradbury. Since climbing to Stickle Tarn in a pair of Doctor Martens on his A Level Geography field trip, southerner Pete May has been fascinated with the Lake District. Man About Tarn tells the story of a moderate mountaineer in London, covering many years of train pilgrimages to the Lakes to sample peaks, pints and pub dinners. Pete persuades his wife to walk Wainwright's Coast to Coast walk where their relationship almost ends on Kidsty Pike in a hailstorm. He coaches his children up Skiddaw and Scafell Pike, carries a dog in a backpack along Sharp Edge and has intimations of mortality on the Kentmere Round. He encounters dry stone wallers and fell runners, taking in Wainwright and Wordsworth. From Ambleside to Wasdale, it's the side of the Lake District the tourists do see, via tent, hostel and hotels. This is the story of how a man with a Wainwright wallchart got all the gear and a little bit of an idea. Told with warmth and humour it's a tale of sweaty socks in B & B drawers, full English breakfasts and many a soaking on the glorious fells