Walter White
When I downloaded this free ebook to my Kindle, I had no idea that the book was first published in 1861. The modern-looking cover gave no hint of what to expect, but of course as soon as I started reading, I realised that this was not a contemporary author's writing.
I still wanted to know what the author had to say about his month in Yorkshire, and although I found it a little hard-going at first, I soon got into Mr White's account and let him lead the way along the Yorkshire coast, across to moors, through places big and small, and followed his conversations with all sorts of people and guided tours of industrial sites as well as visits of churches and castles, ruins and caves.
Walter White lived from 1811 to 1893, and a quick internet research didn't yield much more information than that, apart from the few things I learned about him from his own writing*.
He was 50 years old when the book came out, but his actual journey had taken place two years earlier. It wasn't his first time in Yorkshire; every now and then he refers to fond memories of a stay when he was much younger, and notices the changes since then.
Many of the places he comes through are familiar to me, although of course they have changed considerably, sometimes beyond recognition, since Mr White wrote his travelogue. Ripon is mentioned, as are Scarborough and Whitby as well as Bolton Abbey, York, Sheffield, and many more.
I found it interesting to read his account of Ribblehead, more than 20 years before work on the famous viaduct began.
Also interesting to me was how a fellow walker back then would go about finding his way when there weren't as many sign posts and no maps to check on one's phone. Hardly surprising, he often relied on Ordnance Survey maps, but also on his own sense of orientation. It doesn't stop him when there is no recognisable path, as long as he is certain of the general direction, and he mentions only a couple of times having had to retrace his steps.
A total distance of 20 miles - often on rough terrain - in one day is not unusual for him, and he doesn't seem to carry much in his knapsack. While he does not appear a wealthy man, he has enough money to pay for modest accomodation every night, and always tells the reader whether a certain inn or hotel is worth its money or not, how good (or less so) the food and ale are, how friendly the host and how agreeable the locals.
He takes the train when it makes sense, but most of his days are spent walking, no matter the weather. As the month in question is July, he does not meet with unfavourable conditions often, but mostly enjoys the cooling shade of a large tree by a river for a rest during his walks.
After the initial time needed to get used to the fact that this was not quite what I had expected, I enjoyed the read. I must admit, though, that I skipped most of the poems and snippets he cites from other, much older, works; they were meant to contribute to the atmosphere of the place the author was visiting at that moment but did little to enhance the experience for me.
He gives detailed information about the inns, hotels and sights he visited, even the names of his hosts, advising his readers to look them up (or avoid them!) should they come that way.
*I did learn more and found this summary of his life at the start of a book published after his death, "The Journals of Walter White", by the Cambridge University Press. Click to enlarge:
Project Gutenberg mentions other travel books by him, but I guess there were more: A Londoner’s Walk to the Land’s End; and a Trip to the Scilly Isles; A July Holiday in Saxony, Bohemia and Silesia; Northumberland and the Border; All Round the Wrekin.
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