An opportunity has opened up for me to fulfill an ambition I have held since I was a teenager to walk the Pennine Way. This 270 mile national trail celebrates 60 years this year. It was opened after mass trespass on Kinder Scout led to changes to rights of access in the UK.
The Pennine Way Companion by A Wainwright (AW) will be one of my companions on this trail along with a more modern guide and a phone and Garmin plus compass for navigation.
I am carrying my world on my back for 18 days and will be camping, youth 😂 hostelling making use of various B&B and Pubs along the way.
I can’t promise updates every day as I know phone and WiFi signal can be patchy but hopefully you will get some sense of my progress.
AW is a classic Northern Englishman with a great if sarcastic sense of humour for a passionate hiker and outdoorsman. He comes across as a proper grumpy old man which is who I am sure I will become. (My family may already tell you that has happened! ❤️)
In the first few pages of his Companion guide he complains about the route that was chosen including his view that “neither Kirk Yetholm or Edale have any features that make them obvious choices as termini: both are small villages without any outstanding characteristics or geographical highlights or historical importance”
He does finally conclude begrudgingly having given his opinion that
“the official Pennine Way is a jolly good walk, no doubt at all about that.”
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