Walks From Ratty: Some of … Enjoyed by Using the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway by Alfred Wainwright, First Edition

Alfred Wainwright (1907 to 1991)—British fell walker, guidebook author and illustrator, best known for his seven-volume Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, the standard reference work to the 214 fells of the English Lake District, which are now known as 'Wainwrights'. He also wrote and illustrated numerous other books on the Lake District, Scotland, Northern England and Wales including two of his other major works, Westmorland Heritage and Wainwright in Lakeland

Westmorland Gazette—(Founded in 1818) A British publisher which publishes the main weekly newspaper for the Lake District, but is probably best known as the publisher of books by Alfred Wainwright. They were the publishers all but one of of Wainwrights books from 1964 (with the publication of The North-Western Fells) to the last Sketchbook (the Peak District Sketchbook, which was the last ever Wainwright book containing new illustrations) in 1984. Wainwright in Lakeland, although originally published by Abott Hall, was printed by The Westmorland Gazette and published by them in a later edition. Walks from Ratty is the only true exception, published by Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway Company. The first printing was printed by the Westmorland Gazette (this later changed to Titus Wilson), but they never actually acted as the publisher. Note on identifying first editions: The Westmorland Gazette had no consistent system for identifying first editions. Most Pictorial Guide Series books have an impression number printed in them if they are later printings, although this practice seems to have been abandoned some time in the 1980s. First editions of other books can only be identified by reference to specific points on a book by book basis, with the published price being a common issue. Lists of other books in print found at the start of many titles were rarely updated after the early to mid 1970s and provide almost no assistance in identifying editions.

Pictorial Guide Series—The first and best known series of Wainwrights books to be published, initially containing just seven seven volumes: The Eastern Fells, The Far Eastern Fells, The Central Fells, The Southern Fells, The Northern Fells, The North Western Fells and the Western Fells. The series is an entirely hand drawn set of books (including all the text) in fine detail, providing an informative guide to the Lake District. The series was gradually extended with the addition of The Pennine Way Companion, Walks in Limestone Country, Walks on the Howgill Fells, The Coast to Coast Walk, The Outlying Fells and finally Walks from Ratty. Each chapter of each book describes a series of routes up one of the fells through strip maps and accompanying commentary and illustrations of the topography. The original series features 214 summits, which have become known as 'The Wainwrights'. The series contains 13 books. The first book was originally published in 1955 and the last book was originally published in 1978. Titles in the series include: 'Book 1: The Eastern Fells (1955)', 'Book 2: The Far Eastern Fells (1957)', 'Book 3: The Central Fells (1958)', 'Book 4: The Southern Fells (1960)', 'Book 5: The Northern Fells (1962)', 'Book 6: The North Western Fells (1964)', 'Book 7: The Western Fells (1966)', 'Pennine Way Companion (1968)', 'Walks in Limestone Country (1970)', 'Walks on the Howgill Fells (1972)', 'A Coast to Coast Walk (1973)', 'The Outlying Fells of Lakeland (1974)' and 'Walks From Ratty (1978)'

A series of illustrated walks in a similar style to the Pictorial Guide Series, all starting from the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway.

There are ten walks: 1—'Muncaster Fell', 2—'Irton Fell', 3—'Miterdale', 4—'Blea Tarn', 5—'Burnmoor Tarn', 6—'Eel Tarn', 7—'Dalegarth Force', 8—'A Riverside Walk', 9—'Hardknot Roman Fort' and 10—'Harter Fell'.