The Launch of the Wainwright X Millican Pack, inspired by legendary creator of the Lakeland guidebooks, sets hearts aflutter at Ernest HQ and has us longing for the rise and fall of the fells
The Wainwright X Millican Pack, Limited Edition, £195
“The fleeting hour of life of those who love the hills is quickly spent, but the hills are eternal. Always there will be the lonely ridge, the dancing beck, the silent forest; always there will be the exhilaration of the summits. These are for the seeking, and those who seek and find while there is still time will be blessed both in mind and body.” Alfred Wainwright
In A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells Alfred Wainwright detailed the hills and mountains of the Lake District, in Northwest England. From 1952, the guides were devotedly hand-produced in pen and ink over the space of 13 years. For his labour of love the 214 fells described in the seven volumes have, over time, become known as the Wainwrights.
Now, with a unique collaboration, Millican celebrates Alfred Wainwright's exceptional life. Handmade by craftsmen across the Great British Isles, the Wainwright X Millican is a rather alluring limited edition pack. Formed from an outer fabric of Halley Stevenson's 12 oz canvas, lined with a Harris Tweed from the Isle of Lewis and hand-finished with leather veg-tanned at Whitehouse Cox in Central England, it is stamped with a detailed Wainwright illustration.
It seems fitting that the hero of the fells, who caught the spirit of the land so completely - stitching together waypoints, mapping paths for a hundred generations to come and interpreting so beautifully what his footsteps absorbed - should be the inspiration for this hard-wearing, weatherproof pack, with such devoted attention to detail. With its classic ‘A’ shaped design and impressive list of features, it’s got us all affected in the Ernest office.
- Sam Browne closure lid with a stamped leather tongue
- 2 external expansion pockets with storm closure, secured with a set of natural stained wood buttons
- Adjustable padded shoulder straps
- Branded metal buckles
- Leather yokeback patch - stamped with a detailed Wainwright illustration
- Internal padded laptop pocket (up-to 15” laptop)
- One external bottle pocket and two internal organiser pockets
Limited edition, each batch consists of 100 bags, hand-numbered under the leather grab handle. And, like Wainwright himself, it’s been built to withstand a life on the Fells, so we can be confident it will serve us well wherever our chosen stomping ground.
If you are anything like us, a durable comfortable pack is paramount but the Wainwright X Millican Pack appeals also to our romantic rambling soul, with its seductive design. There's space both for essential kit and for all the treasure we might find along the trail, room enough for the hoarding of mementos, for all the golden precious moments of a Wainwright-life.
“The precious moments of life are too rare, too valuable to be forgotten when they have passed; we should hoard them as a miser hoards his gold, and bring them to light and rejoice over them often. We should all of us have a treasury of happy memories to sustain us when life is unbearably cruel, to brighten the gloom a little, to be stars shining through the darkness.” Alfred Wainwright
Surely there's no better place to hoard those precious memories from the trail?