Bill Rollinson

A lifelong devotee of the Lake District, Bill Rollinson mapped its geography, history and culture - and spread the word in books and broadcasts.

Bill Rollinson died in 2000 at the age of 62. He was the leading historical geographer of the Lake District - probably the best there has ever been. He published a number of books, one of which, Life And Tradition In The Lake District, is a classic which will endure as long as anyone is interested in Wordsworth's patch of ground. He was an outstanding lecturer with a substantial personal following in the north-west. In an area carefully combed and commented on over 250 years, he made an original and substantial contribution. He spread the word on local radio and Border Television, never lowering his standards.

Bill Rollinson was born in Barrow-in-Furness in 1937, and eventually became Captain of Barrow House. His father was a bricklayer at the Barrow iron and steel works. After Barrow Grammar School for Boys, he took a first in geography at Manchester University. In 1962, he became a lecturer at Liverpool University, eventually moving to the department of continuing education, from where he retired in his late 50s. He continued to lecture to local societies in the far north-west, increased his published output and found a niche in local broadcasting.

Rollinson's first public work was an article on the Lost Villages And Hamlets Of Low Furness. His last, a trio of booklets on Making Charcoal, Making Drystone Walls, and Making Swill Baskets. Between those typically local and particular concerns came several outstanding works on the landscape, traditions and language of Cumbria. These were what fascinated him, particularly the Scandinavian connection.

Although he was, in a very competitive field, supreme in his work on the Lake District, there was perhaps an even deeper pull to Norway, especially to the Fjord Mundal. Probably Rollinson's best television documentary, and most charming book, compares Mundal and Wastwater - uncannily similar in look and history. Bill was entranced by the connections and, year after year, hauled boatloads and busloads of hardy audiences to Iceland and Norway to examine the origin of the folk who, more than a millennium ago, became the core settlers in the lakes, giving it its unique language and character.