'Map Man' returns for Coniston Walking Festival

9:21am Friday 26th September 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

A WELL-KNOWN television presenter whose groundbreaking programmes have entertained and educated millions, returns to the area where he got his first job for this weekend’s Coniston Walking Festival.

Nick Crane, renowned for his work in the popular BBC shows such as Coast, Great British Journeys and Map Man, is taking time out of his schedule to take part in the three-day event, which begins today (Friday).

Coniston Walking Festival

September 26 - 28

He will give a talk tomorrow (Saturday) at Coniston Institute from 8pm, and on Sunday lead a sold-out walk taking in some of Coniston’s most popular peaks.

The geographer and journalist told The Westmorland Gazette he was looking forward to it.

“When I was asked, I didn’t give it a moment’s thought,” he said. “I thought: ‘What a fantastic idea’.

“We are all walkers – human beings are bipeds and with the motor car we kind of forget that walking is the most exciting way of travelling of all.

“The idea of celebrating walking in the most beautiful landscape in England is just a winner.”

In the 1970s, after completing his geography degree, Mr Crane, who grew up in East Anglia, began working as a warden at Coniston Youth Hostel, and he says he has happy memories of the experience.

“Because it was my first job, it had a disproportionate effect on my life,” he said.

“I would get up in the morning, help to cook 60 or 70 breakfasts, clean the rooms, and then the afternoon until 5pm would be our own time, so I could go off cycling and climbing mountains before coming back for the evening shift. It was a really enjoyable life.”

He added: “The Lake District is the most exotic and exciting part of the British Isles.

“I come back all the time – I filmed in the Lake District a lot for Great British Journeys and for Coast – and I come back and holiday with my own children, camping, canoeing and sailing.

“We are very fortunate in the British Isles. It is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. I remember being up on Catbells, and the mist was just lifting on Derwentwater. All of the peaks were resting on this fluffy eiderdown of low cloud and as the sun burnt the mist away, this great black lake steadily came in to view.

“There up on Catbells, all you could see were these ‘v’ shapes trailing off from the bow of the ferry and it just stopped me in my tracks. All over the Lake District there are places like that, when if you catch them on the right moment, you realise you are looking at something beautiful.”

For more information on Coniston Walking Festival, visit the website www.conistonwalkingfestival.org or email the organisers at info@conistonwalking festival.org