The weekend's Pennine Way birthday celebrations saw the entire route walked in a day in a fitting participatory tribute to Britain's first official long distance path.
As
we pointed out last week, the weekend marked the 40th anniversary of
the good old Pennine Way, and the event was celebrated with an
organised 'Way In A Day' event.
The idea was that walkers signed up for one of 50 linked circular
walks ensuring that the entire route was walked on Sunday, albeit not
in one go. The good news is that on a perfect spring day, the plan
seems to have worked brilliantly with Countryside Agency trai
lofficer, Steve Westwood assuring the Guardian newspaper that "It's
confirrmed: every stretch has got groups of walkers registered
today."
The 268-mile route runs up the Pennine spine of northern England
from Edale in the Derbyshire Peak District to Kirk Yetholm in the
Cheviots and feels like a permanent feature of the British walking
landscape. The Way actually opened for walkers on 24 April, 1965,
though its origins lay with Tom Stephenson in the 1930s.
It's a walk that every British walker should tackle once taking in
a huge variation in landscapes from the peaty bog of Bleaklow and
Kinder in the Dark Peak, through Bronte country above Hebden Bridge
then onwards into the beautiful, springy limestone grasslands of the
Dales and onwards up into the Cheviots.
Apparently some 150,000 people use the Way annually, but most of
these are day or section walkers with just 3,500 of them being, to
use the American term, 'through hikers'. Things have changed over the
years too - when a teenaged OM editor walked the route some time ago,
much of the southern end of the route and particularly the sections
between Mill Hill and the A57, across Bleaklow and up to the
notoriously boggy Black Hill were becoming savagely eroded. Now these
areas have been 'restored' using stone slabs salvaged from local
mills and making for much more user-friendly walking.
If you do fancy walking the Pennine Way this year, do yourself a
favour and take along a copy of Wainwright's classic Pennine Way
Companion. Somehow, Wainwright's slightly dated prose and tone suits
the walking to a tee and you can always giggle at his fear of Black
Hill.
Finally, hats off to the Countryside Agency for organising a
participatory event that's in the original spirit of the Pennine
Way.
There's a nice report
of the event in today's Guardian newspaper along with some background
and if tyou want more information on the Pennine Way generally, check
out the official
Pennine Way web site.
