First viewed : 15 January 1990
This was the last of the three Wainwright series made in his lifetime, looking at his long distance trail, the Coast To Coast Walk from St Bees to Robin Hood's Bay. By this point, the poor bloke was clearly on his last legs and none of the places where he and Eric Robson venture are far from a road. There was a lot of calling in for refreshments and finding bridges and boulders where AW and Robson could converse sitting down.
The most memorable bit was when the pair ventured into Kirkby Stephen. First he was stopped by an old guy in the street who wanted to meet him and they left that footage in the programme. Then they went in a cafe for fish and chips where it became clear that AW liked his vinegar.
It was quite melancholy viewing and Wainwright died aged 84, a year after the series was broadcast.
I wonder if they walked from St Bees up to Whitehaven, as there a few sections even on that short walk that are a few miles from a road... can imagine the drop down to Fleswick Bay and up again being a hard graft for an old bloke... it was hard enough for me a couple of years ago at 34!
ReplyDeleteI did that stretch on the Cumbria Coastal Way back in 2008. I very much doubt they went anywhere near it; even if he was up to walking it, his failing eyesight would have made that section very dangerous.
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