About the PhotogrAPher
Steve Watts' love of the mountains and the great outdoors began over forty years ago and has seen him scale the heights of Kilimanjaro, Kala Patthar and Everest Base Camp. Combined with a love of running Steve has raised millions of pounds for charity taking on epic challenges, most recently completing the Everest Marathon, becoming the first and only person in the world to do so with a pacemaker aged 63.
In 2014, Steve moved to his favourite place in the world, England's Lake District and set up Lakeland Walks & Talks to lead corporate groups, families, friends and most importantly children, inspiring and motivating everyone to enjoy the great outdoors. In the unprecedented year of the pandemic Steve combined his love of fell running and photography, deciding to take photos every day and post them on social media in order to bring the outside in for those suffering the long months of lockdown.
The results are epic, enduring rain, hail and snow along with glorious early sunrises and late sunsets. It's this that makes his photographs so special, why they have received international recognition and why they were featured on BBC national television. This book presents the very best of Steve's images showcasing the jewel in England's crown.
About the ChArity
This book and it’s profits are supporting the fund raising efforts of a remarkable 'Pride of Britain' award winner, 6 year old Tony Hudgell. Tony was so badly abused by his birth parents that, at the age of two, both his legs had to be amputated. Soon after he was adopted by Paula & Mark Hudgell.
In 2020 Tony saw Captain Sir Tom on TV walking round his garden and was inspired to try to walk 10k himself on his new prosthetic legs and crutches. His objective, to raise £500 for the Evelina Children’s Hospital that saved his life. He managed it and in so doing captured the hearts of the nation and raised over £1m.
‘Summit’s Up For Tony’
Many future challenges lie ahead for Tony, one will see him summit his first Lakeland mountain Loughrigg Fell, a 1,099 foot high peak in the Lake District near Grasmere. It will be a celebration of Tony’s ambition and courage, of England’s beautiful Lake District and of all past, present & future mountaineers like little Tony. Go Tony Go.
A Year Like No Other
Over 350 spectacular images by phOtOgrapher & lakeland guide, steve Watts, taken thrOugh spring, summer, autumn and Winter
A Year Like No Other
Grasmere & the Lake District
Image Credits:
Top: Steve Watts, courtesy of Healthcare Heroes
Bottom: Tony Hudgell, courtesy of Paula Hudgell
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A Year Like No Other
Grasmere & the Lake District
Steve WattS
All rights reserved
A Year Like No Other
Grasmere & the Lake District
Copyright 2021 Steve Watts
The right of Steve Watts to be identified as the photographer of these photographs has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published in hardback in the UK in 2021 by Lakeland Walks & Talks www.lakelandwalksandtalks.com
ISBN: 978-1-5272956-3-6
Printed by Beamreach Book Printing, Cheshire www.beamreachuk.co.uk
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that it which it is published.
None of the photographs in this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted electronically, in any form or by any means including photocopying, recording, or other electronic methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except for up to six photographs being included in a critical review about the book. For permission requests write to the publisher above.
All publisher’s profits from this book will be donated to charity.
Special thanks to:
Performance io is all about providing people access to information when they need it most. Information that can help them improve and save lives. At Covid Through the Lens we love the idea of people getting access to broader experiences and new horizons that can help alleviate the challenge of everyday life. What wonderful thought and vision well done Steve; proud to be involved.
Nicole & Malcolm Thorogood
Joss Naylor MBE
I hope you have enjoyed looking at the pictures as much as I have loved taking them, if you would like to know the locations where each of them were taken, or explore them with me, please email me on:info@lakelandwalksandtalks.com
Thank you for purchasing my book and contributing towards a worthy cause.
Steve
I dedicate this book to all those who have been a part, played a part or shared a part in my life so far, especially to my loving family for their unwavering support.
Steve WattS – Not oNly a photographer!
“If I can inspire people to get out into the great outdoors to experience the majesty of it all, then I’ll be a happy man.”
Steve Watts is a photographer, runner, mountain guide and fundraiser but above all his greatest love is to inspire young people to experience the beauty of the great outdoors, a beauty that he is able to enjoy every day around his Lake District home. It was the idea of combining fundraising with inspiring people that gave birth to this book and to giving young Tony Hudgell the opportunity of climbing a ‘mountain’. Of course, it’s made possible because throughout the year of the Coronavirus pandemic Steve brought the outside in for many people around the world having taken thousands of inspiring photos that have received international recognition and have featured on BBC Breakfast national television!
Combining fundraising and inspiring youngsters began early in Steve’s life when he completed a 58 mile run with his dog raising three thousand pounds for Booth Hall Children’s Hospital. Just a few months later his 3 year old son, Matthew, was rushed to the very same hospital. The consultant remembered Steve’s earlier fundraising and asked him if he could help with their CT scanner appeal.
Steve organised a number of large scale events one of which was called ‘Children running for Children.’ Seven thousand children took part and it raised over £130,000. Throughout the next eighteen months many more events were organised by Steve, resulting in the hospital hitting the £1million target and enabling it to buy their own dedicated scanner.
So successful was Steve at fundraising that it then became his day job as the Booth Hall Children’s Hospital Events Manager. He set up Krypton Factor Assault Course events, ran the London Marathon and climbed Kilimanjaro as well as many other achievements. After a number of years Steve stepped back from that role and took a normal job enabling him to spend time with his family while still enjoying his running.
Then in his late 50s Steve found himself lying on a medical table having a pacemaker fitted where all he could think about was the recent death of his older brother from a heart attack and the worry that he himself may never run again. In fact the pacemaker gave Steve a new lease of life.
Enter Steve’s younger brother Peter. For Steve’s 60th birthday Peter gave him a trip for them both to go to Everest Base Camp and then to try to climb Kala Patthar, a neighbouring peak to Everest.
Shockingly a day before arriving at Base Camp an avalanche had buried 16 Sherpas in Everest’s worst ever tragedy. They witnessed body bags being brought down by helicopter. The Summit Sherpa Guides cancelled all expeditions but Steve’s group with their Sherpa Guides was allowed to continue to Base Camp and on to Kala Patthar where they managed to reach the summit of 18,373 feet.
The body bags experience was so strong in Steve’s mind that on his return it caused him to start fundraising again. Under the slogan ‘Heartbeat for Everest’ he raised thousands of pounds for the Himalayan Trust and The British Heart Foundation and he vowed to return to Everest to take part in the Everest Marathon, the highest and toughest marathon in the world. Aged 63, Steve’s objective was purely to finish but three and a half hours in, he fell and bust his big toe. In great pain but undaunted, with his usual guts and determination Steve managed to finish the course in a little under 10 hours and became the only person in the world to complete the Everest Marathon with a pacemaker.
Perhaps unsurprisingly the manufacturer of Steve’s pacemaker got to hear about his achievement and invited him to speak at their 40th anniversary celebrations in Minneapolis, USA.
Steve’s fundraising adventures have taken him to many great places but his spiritual home is in the Lake District where running Lakeland Walks & Talks and inspiring others is what he loves best.
Steve says: “Whether those young people are in schools, whether it’s an individual or groups or families, if I can inspire people to get out into the great outdoors and experience the majesty of it all then I’ll be a happy man.”
Continue to follow Steve’s future adventures across social media; Instagram: @lakelandwalkstalks | Twitter: @LakesWalksTalks | Facebook: @LakelandWalksAndTalks
