Feast of fell running photography
Every now and again a book lands with a thud through the AW mailbox. They are often hardback, full of colour and have plenty of pages. Invariably you are impressed before even turning the first page.
A new book showcasing the best photographs taken by fell running specialist Pete Hartley (main image, above) certainly falls into this category. It is a splendid-looking publication with 200 pages packed full of images taken by a man who was synonymous with the fell scene.
Sadly, Hartley died from cancer when the book was still merely an idea. But his partner Denise Park has determinedly ensured his legacy will be kept alive.
Together they attended many events in the Lake District or abroad, with Hartley taking pictures and Park working as a physiotherapist. Steve Chilton, the successful author of a number of fell running books, has also helped with some words for this book.
Those words provide an interesting background to Hartley’s impressive career. In addition there is a foreword from six-time world mountain running champion Jonathan Wyatt. But the real star attraction in the book are the photos themselves.
They are split into logical sections such as Hartley’s personal favourite shots, pictures from Lakeland Classics, images from the Original Mountain Marathon, Bob Graham Round and international races.
There are also sections that illustrate the challenging weather that fell runners often face, the mass start of particular races, painful or amusing facial expressions, plus a large selection of action shots of members of the fell running fraternity who were part of Hartley’s world.
Looking through the book you are reminded just how big the fell world is too. Or mountain or hill running world, depending on where you live.
As well as well-known fell running characters like Joss Naylor, Billy Bland, Kenny Stuart and Angela Mudge, there are images of Kilian Jornet, Chris Brasher and Jonny Brownlee among others. The book is a tribute to Hartley and an opportunity to showcase his life's work, but it is also a superbly enjoyable trot down memory lane as many of the key events on the fell running calendar have fallen under Hartley's lens over the years.
Turning the pages, it is difficult to pick a favourite image and the reader is spoiled for choice. I particularly enjoyed a photo of junior runners trying to negotiate an impossibly steep looking uphill taken in 2006. There are some stunningly picturesque images of the mountains not only in the UK but throughout Europe too. Then there are some simply amusing shots like a picture of a hapless runner struggling to get his footing on an icy uphill path at the Wadsworth Trog in 2012.
Certainly it has been a labour of love for Park and Chilton as they put it together. Park says: "I searched through approximately 60,000 images which were on a variety of hard drives, CDs, memory sticks, slides, negatives, computers and boxes of printed images! While Pete had them all catalogued in his head - I'm sure you will appreciate the enormity of the task.
"Pete wanted to publish this book before he passed away, but his cancer was far more advanced than he ever wanted to accept. It has been my wish to do it for him at some stage, but had I not had a chance meeting with Steve (Chilton) in November 2019, followed by the announcement of lockdown in March, I'm sure it wouldn't have happened for quite some time."
The cover price is £25 but any fell runner worth his or her salt will want this book on their coffee table or bookshelf.
» Fell and Mountain Running: Through the Eye of a Lens – A Tribute to Pete Hartley: Fellrunner and Photographer is available for £25 from Denise Park – for full details click here
» The main photo above of Pete Hartley was taken by Denise Park in Austria in 2007
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