Arthur Harry Griffin (15 January 1911 – 9 July 2004) was a British journalist and mountaineer. He is particularly remembered for his evocative recording, in his writing, of rock-climbing in the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

in the inter-war years, especially a group called 'The Coniston Tigers'; for his long-running 'Lakeland Diary' column in

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

(spanning a period of 53 years); and for having inspired, via these columns, and an article in the ''Lancashire Evening Post'', the rebirth of interest in the

Bob Graham Round The Bob Graham Round is a fell running challenge in the English Lake District. It is named after Bob Graham (1889–1966), a Keswick guest-house owner, who in June 1932 broke the Lakeland Fell record by traversing 42 fells within a 24-hour period ...

. Fuller details of his life, including his wartime service as an intelligence officer, may be found in the Guardian obituary. He was friends with Alfred Wainwright but somewhat disapproved of the damage to the fells that the popularity of Wainwright's guides could cause.find articles

References

Bibliography

(In print) :Griffin, A. H. (2000) ''The Coniston Tigers'', Sigma Press, (foreword C. Bonington) :Griffin, A. H., ed M. Wainwright (2005) ''A Lifetime of Mountains'', Aurum Press - edited collection of extracts from the Guardian's

Country Diary ''Country Diary'' is a daily natural history column in the English newspaper ''The Guardian'', first published in November 1906. It is also now freely available on the newspaper's website. Past and present contributors include Pete Bowler, Arnol ...

:Griffin, A. H., ed. P. Hardy (2008) ''The High Places: Leaves from a Lakeland Notebook'', Frances Lincoln. :Griffin, A. H., ed. P. Hardy (2011) ''Heritage of Lakeland: A Centenary Collection'', Frances Lincoln. (Out of print) :Griffin, A. H. (1961) ''Inside the Real Lakeland'', Guardian :Griffin, A. H. (1961) ''In Mountain Lakeland'', Guardian :Griffin, A. H. (1966) ''Pageant of Lakeland'', Robert Hale :Griffin, A. H. (1968) ''The Roof of England'', Robert Hale :Griffin, A. H. (1970) ''Still the Real Lakeland'', Robert Hale :Griffin, A. H. (1975) ''Long Days in the Hills'', Robert Hale :Griffin, A. H. (1975) ''A Lakeland Notebook'', Robert Hale :Griffin, A. H. (1976) ''A Year in the Fells'', Robert Hale :Griffin, A. H. (1978) ''Freeman of the Hills'', Robert Hale :Griffin, A. H. (1980) ''Adventuring in Lakeland'', Robert Hale :Griffin, A. H. (1990) ''A Lakeland Mountain Diary'', Crowood Press The Guardian journalists People from Barrow-in-Furness 1911 births 2004 deaths {{UK-climbing-bio-stub