Backpackers Britain – Northern England

25 great backpacker’s routes throughout northern England from the Dales and Forest of Bowland, to the Lakes and Pennines, and up to the Cheviots on Scottish border. Tough routes if done in one day, but good two-day outings in remote spots.

Background

The mountains of Britain encompass surely one of the richest, most diverse landscapes to be found anywhere in the world. True, our mountains lack the magnificent heights and grand glaciers to be found in the greater ranges, but this is more than compensated for by the immense sense of compact beauty to be found here. Only in Britain can the hill-bound walker leave his home in the city and be among hill and mountain ranges of such wonderful openness and scale within such a short space of time. Indeed most of our major cities are within an hours drive of the nearest mountain range or national park. It is this closeness to our main conurbations that has led to the great British ‘weekend away’ among the hills. Some go in search of rock to climb, birds to watch, rivers to canoe or summits to reach, while many are happy to pursue all of these activities and more to an equal degree.

These days, we as a race seem to be entering a phase of re-exploring our mountains. A night around a cosy fire in a busy bothy in the Kielder Forest will rarely feature talk of climbing Scafell Pike by the ‘tourist route’, or of ‘doing’ the Lyke Wake Walk. Today, the trend seems to be towards that of escaping the crowds, of re-discovering the hidden corners of our great little kingdom. Of course, many areas are best explored over a period of time, and so the weekend walker will often take a tent and sleeping bag with him on his forays into the wilderness. This is surely the best way of getting to know a particular part of the country. Crossing a range from end to end, or climbing a set of peaks around a desolate valley will introduce the walker to hitherto unknown regions, and where such a trip involves the commitment of an overnight stopover, so much the better. For to spend a night in a primitive but comfortable way amid our mountains, waking to a dewy dawn of cackling grouse and browsing deer is one of life’s great pleasures, and one that is only open to those with a will to discover these quiet places, and to make an albeit temporary home among our mountains and wild shores.

All this is not to imply that the routes within this guide are suitable only for those wishing to stay overnight, for there are walkers aplenty out there who have the necessary fitness and stamina to complete some of these routes in a single day. These walkers too will enjoy this book and the routes contained within, while realising that not all walkers who head for these wild places will be capable of, or would wish to match their achievements. This is a book for all. There are long routes and short routes, high mountain routes and lowland routes. Tackle them your own way, and reap the fine rewards. To this end, it is perhaps worth my mentioning that although each walk is split into two or more days of fairly amenable going, those wishing to enjoy the routes in a single push each day should just ignore the references to overnighting as mentioned throughout the text, and do their own thing.

Of course, there is much to be discovered within the various mountain ranges of Britain, though indeed, some of our coastlines and lesser hill ranges deserve mention in this book too, for they are just as vital a component of our natural heritage as any of our higher but no more grand regions. There is a limitless variety of possible backpacking routes throughout the country, all as good as each other in terms of sense of achievement to be had from a successful trip, and for this reason alone this volume covers only Northern England.

Further volumes in this series will give detailed coverage of the best backpacking routes to be had in Southern England, Wales, Northern and Southern Scotland, and possibly even Ireland.

For the purposes of these volumes, I have taken Northern England to be that magnificent country north of an imaginary line draw from the River Humber to the River Mersey, and south of the Scottish border. Wonderful explorer’s country lies within these boundaries, including the Yorkshire Dales National Park, the Forest of Bowland, the Lake District National Park, the Northern Pennines, the Kielder Forest and the Cheviots including the Northumberland National Park, the North York Moors National Park and finally, the little-known walking region of the Yorkshire Wolds.

Twenty five of the very best backpacking routes within these boundaries are described here, all but one taking the backpacker only two days to complete, with an overnight stop at either a bothy, a youth hostel or camping, either wild or at a recognised camp site. These should all be suitable for a weekend away among the hills, and as the only longer walk takes a mere three days to complete, it too should be achievable by all who read this book. Here I feel it necessary to emphasise that though this book contains what are in my opinion the very best backpacking walks in the region covered, there is endless scope for further exploration, and this should be seen only as an introduction, an aperitif perhaps, for other longer routes that can be planned and tackled by those who have gained experience through following the routes described here.

This book is laid out along simple lines. Each chapter covers one route, and begins with a fact file and walk summary. These give details of where to start the walk, the number of days needed to complete it, the distance of each day and where to stay overnight, which will help you decide whether to carry equipment for camping, youth hostelling, bothying or staying in a bunk barn. Maps needed along the way, and a brief area summary are also included, before the actual route details are given.

Sketch maps are intended to be used only as such. It is advised that the relevant Ordnance Survey map is used during the walk, and that steps are taken beforehand to learn the complexities of navigation. Many useful books have been published which can help with this, and Navigation Courses are regularly organised by the author (see appendix for address).