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Catrake Force is passed on the way out of Keld (Day 10)
PREFACE
Of all the many guidebooks I have written this one is the most personal. The Pennine Way is intricately bound up with my family history. I was born and raised only six miles from the Pennine Way and the route was opened when I was only seven years old. My family included some staunch walkers who used to talk about it from time to time. My Uncle Gerard walked the trail in its early years, returning with tales to inspire others. As young teenagers, a friend and I stumbled across a Pennine Way signpost on the moors and wondered how long it might take us to walk to Scotland. Soon afterwards, a chance copy of Alfred Wainwright’s Pennine Way Companion, laid it all out for me in black and white.
I could have walked the Pennine Way at the age of 16, but I chose to follow it northwards only as far as Cross Fell, then made a beeline for the Lake District, explored for a week and walked home via the Yorkshire Dales. I finally walked the whole route for the first time when I was 21, and it snowed for the first five days!
Throughout the 1970s, if you told anyone you were a keen walker, they would ask, ‘And have you walked the Pennine Way?’ Anyone actually walking the route might have been asked, ‘Are you walking the Pennine Way, or just walking for pleasure?’, as if the two were mutually exclusive! The route was regarded, rightly or wrongly, as something that every ‘proper’ walker should aspire to, generating something of a backlash, with some people vowing never to set foot on it.
One thing became painfully obvious throughout the 1970s; the Pennine Way was being trodden to death. Although I always enjoyed walking parts of the route, it was distinctly unpleasant to wade through the mud, occasionally plumbing waist-deep bogs where the peat had been trodden into the consistency of cold, black porridge. Apart from occasional forays during the 1980s, I left the route well alone while the problems of over-use and erosion were addressed, ultimately by completely rebuilding several stretches of the trail.
Once everything had bedded down and grassed over I renewed my acquaintance. It was worth the wait, and as the years roll by, the stone-paved paths will become as much a part of the Pennine Way as the centuries-old packhorse ‘causeys’ that preceded it. The scenery remains the same as ever and only the conditions immediately underfoot have changed, and for the better.
Following the 50th anniversary of its opening, the Pennine Way seems to be enjoying a surge of popularity. This is remarkable, as today’s walkers have many other National Trails to choose between, as well as infinite opportunities to walk challenging trails abroad. The Pennine Way remains the toughest of the National Trails; one that every long-distance walker should aspire to. Long may it enjoy a future as part of Britain’s rich outdoor heritage.
Paddy Dillon
Looking across a meadow to Low Way Farm near Holwick (Day 12)
INTRODUCTION
Wanted: A Long Green Trail
You could say it all started on 22 June 1935. An article appeared in the Daily Herald newspaper entitled ‘Wanted: A Long Green Trail’, written by the ramblers’ champion Tom Stephenson. ‘Why should we not press for something akin to the Appalachian Trail?’ he asked. ‘A Pennine Way from the Peak to the Cheviots.’ He imagined that the route would be ‘a faint line on the Ordnance Maps which the feet of grateful pilgrims would, with the passing years, engrave on the face of the land.’ Well, the engraving went rather deep in places, even to the extent that you could claim the route was carved in stone, but that is only a testimony to its popularity.
Plaque marking the start of the Pennine Way at Edale (Day 1)
It took 30 years of lobbying and hard work to steer the Pennine Way to its official opening in April 1965. As a long-distance walk it is impressive. It traverses three National Parks, one Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and a World Heritage Site. In fact, the route could be broken down into five or six unequal stages according to the type of area being traversed.
Only the northern part of the Peak District National Park, the Dark Peak, is on the route. It is characterised by broad, bleak, high-altitude moorland. The Peak District only features for the first two days of walking, from Edale as far as Standedge, where it gives way to the gentler South Pennines. While this isn’t a National Park, it does have a distinct identity as far northwards as the Aire Gap, taking two or three days to cover.
The Yorkshire Dales National Park captures the attention of wayfarers for four or five days, from Gargrave to the Tan Hill Inn. Next comes the enormous North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which, although never given National Park status, is one of the wildest and bleakest upland areas of England. It is home to enormous National Nature Reserves and is claimed to be the most scientifically studied upland region in the world. Crossing this area on the Pennine Way takes five or six days.
When the Pennines peter out at the Tyne Gap, the route enters the Northumberland National Park, which is traversed in four or five days. This includes a splendid day’s romp along Hadrian’s Wall before heading to and through the Cheviot Hills, and finally hopping over the border into Scotland.
It measures over 427km (265 miles), involving a cumulative ascent of 11,200m (36,700ft). Most walkers take between two and three weeks to cover the distance, and there are many ways to create a schedule to suit people’s different expectations.
It is well worth reading The Pennine Way – the Path, the People, the Journey, by Andrew McCloy, published by Cicerone. The book explains how much hard work, lobbying and political manoeuvring went into the creation of the Pennine Way, and introduces many people and personalities who have been involved in the route over the past half-century.
PLANNING YOUR TRIP
Choosing an itinerary
The Pennine Way is the toughest of the National Trails, so it suits those with previous long-distance walking experience. Those with little or no experience should consider gaining some in advance. Try a weekend walk here and there, staying overnight on your route. Progress to a week-long walk, preferably in upland terrain, carrying everything you would
