The Wainwrights in Colour by Andy Beck, £39

ON A LATE afternoon walk from Red Pike to Black Crag Andy Beck happened to glance back at the summit behind him and, realising he must be standing in the very spot that Wainwright was when sketched the mountain, he took a photograph. From that beginning in 2006 Andy set out to recreate every image from Alfred Wainwright’s seven Pictorial Guides.

Taking on a such a project was no small feat. The bar, of course, is set very high when the original books are so beloved as an icon of Lakeland but Andy Beck’s dedication, passion and artistic talent have more than measured up to the challenge. Although the passing years have inevitably altered some locations through erosion, the planting or felling of trees for example, much has remained, reassuringly, just the same as when Wainwright sat with his sketchbook in hand.

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With more than 1,500 beautifully atmospheric paintings this would be a collection treasure on its own. That it treads Wainwright's footsteps, breathing new life into his original journey makes this truly special.

I have no doubt The Wainwrights in Colour will quickly become a Lakeland classic.

CAROLINE REECE

WATERSTONES KENDAL