The company was founded in 1969 when the late Walt Unsworth (1928-2017) and Brian Evans, in frustration at the lack of suitable climbing guides to areas of the English Lake District, came together to produce a climbing guide. Since 1999, Cicerone has been developing under the ownership of Jonathan and Lesley Williams. The company is based in
Kendal, Cumbria. The Cicerone podcast 'Footnotes' was first released in 2020 and new episodes are available twice a month. The company also hosts a monthly Cicerone Live event with authors and guest speakers, events are streamed live on the Cicerone website, YouTube, and Facebook. In 2008, readers of
Walk Magazine, published by the
Ramblers Association, voted Cicerone guides into first place in the "Best Walking Book" category of their annual "Top Gear Awards". In 2019, the Cicerone Press celebrated its 50th anniversary with the publication of
Cicerone: Celebrating Fifty Years of Adventure, edited by
Kev Reynolds. ==References==