From an early age Peter has been walking up hill and down dale, having been taken on family holidays to places that were invariably, but not exclusively, wet and windy – most usually the English Lake District but quite often amid the sublime beauty of the western isles of Scotland.
He reached his first summit at the tender age of four – Conic Hill (all 361 metres of it) overlooking Loch Lomond, encouraged by his parents and elder brother. Ben Lomond soon followed and that was it: he was hooked on the great outdoors, and he’s never looked back.
When it came to choosing which university to attend, Lancaster was the obvious choice. The history department had an excellent academic reputation, but – more importantly – the hills of the Lake District were only a bus ride away (on the famous ‘555’).
Over time, he got to know the fells and dales of Cumbria intimately, and it wasn’t long before he had climbed every one of the 214 peaks described in Wainwright’s seven classic walking books, summiting many of them several times over.
Meanwhile, the intensive research and writing involved in his academic studies proved to be good practice for what was to come. He has written a number of walking books and booklets, and has delved deeply into his family’s history, whilst continuing to travel, walk and – almost compulsively – take photographs. In a 'former life' he learned a few useful ‘tips of the trade’ while working as a photographic assistant on location in Canada, South Korea, New Zealand, USA – and even Borrowdale. More recently he has fallen in love again (he first went on family holidays as a child) with the Outer Hebrides, and most specifically, with Lewis and Harris. A thrilling trip to St Kilda is planned for Easter 2017!
Passionate about travel, walking, research, writing and photography, he often wondered what kind of job this would eventually lead to. Well, since 2008, he has been route-walking, feature-writing and photo-taking for Inntravel. A dream job? Absolutely.