CUMBRIAN landscape is acknowledged the world over as some of the most dramatic and beautiful on this planet – but less well recognised is its starring role in numerous films over the past 70 years.

From the latest Star Wars movie to gems like Swallows and Amazons or black comedy Withnail & I, film-makers have braved every adversity that Cumbrian weather can produce, weaving its spectacular scenery into a wide variety of genres incorporating: adventure, comedy and romance to thrillers, sci-fi, and horror. Yet the scene-stealing role of Cumbrian landscape has been somewhat under-played until now.

However, a new book by David Banning, An A-Z of Cumbria and the Lake District on Film, is set to put Cumbria’s name up in lights.

Around 60 films feature Cumbrian locations, and considering it took David almost three years to track down, view and research them all, it’s not surprising this is the first truly definitive guide.

However, the wealth of detail about the people and places involved make it more like a treasure trove of memorabilia.

Trawling through various sources online made it all possible, while directors, producers and local people were only too pleased to reminisce about the stars and adventure of film-making.

Hand-drawn maps of the filmic landscape by local poet and artist Eileen Pun, a distinctive cover design by Paul McGeoch, together with an entertaining foreword by one of the original Swallows & Amazons stars, Sophie Neville, should make this book a cinema classic in its own right.

David’s background includes time at prestigious galleries in both London and Cumbria, whilst working in the music industry before then. In between he developed a strong affection for the Lake District, which merged to become a fascination for films containing Cumbrian footage.

“I hope it encourages people to look at the landscape differently, while promoting it to visitors in a new way,” David said. “In the earliest pieces of film, there was ground-breaking footage of climbers on the exposed crags. Nowadays, you have Hollywood blockbusters creating alien landscapes, intimate family portraits like Tom Browne’s Radiator or Terry Abraham’s mountain homages.”

The book also features classics like Brief Encounter and The Dam Busters from the ’40s and ’50s onwards followed by Across The Lake, about water-speed ace Donald Campbell, and two adaptations of Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons.

The 1980s brought The French Lieutenant’s Woman, while leading film-maker Ken Russell’s contribution to his so-called ‘magical’ area is underlined. Intriguingly, the book reveals how many directors preferred out-of-the-way locations, away from tourist crowds, and each one comes with helpful OS map references.

“If I have a personal favourite, it’s the timeless Withnail and I,” David said, which is shown annually in situ at Sleddale Hall, or Crow Crag as it is better known to fans of the cult classic.

Published by Hayloft at £12, David’s book is a celebration of social history and landscape, a must-have for film fans, and a novel guide to discovering less frequented gems of Cumbria.

Will it inspire ‘on location’ themed tours? “Why not – they do it for Harry Potter!” said David.