Britain's oldest and best-known long-distance footpath has a story unlike any other. Stretching 268 miles from the Derbyshire Peak District to the Scottish Borders, the Pennine Way set a benchmark for personal challenge and adventure that has endured for over half a century, drawing hundreds of thousands of walkers to its bogs, moorlands, and upland ridges since it opened in 1965.

Part personal journey, part social history, this compelling Cicerone book by author Andrew McCloy traces the full length of the Pennine Way while uncovering the remarkable story of the path itself, from the initial struggle for access and the battles to tame the notorious bogs to the fluctuating fortunes of the rural hostel and the enduring appeal of the long walk through our own wild country. Personal, thoughtful, and often humorous, it is a book for everyone who has walked, is planning to walk, or simply loves the Pennine Way.

• Walk the Pennine Way through the pages of this book, following Andrew McCloy's journey through 12 chapters from Edale and the Peak District to Hadrian's Wall and the final testing stretch through the Cheviots to Kirk Yetholm, with each chapter bringing to life the landscape, history, and character of a different section of the path.
• Discover the fascinating history behind Britain's first long-distance footpath, from Tom Stephenson's original vision and the landmark Kinder Scout mass trespass to the decades of campaigning, access battles, and path-building that brought the Pennine Way into existence.
• Meet the people of the Pennine Way, from crusading ramblers and hard-working path rangers to resourceful B&B landladies and fanatical trail walkers, whose conversations and memories are woven throughout the narrative to reveal the changing fortunes and special significance of the path.
• Explore the path's most dramatic and characterful sections, including the notorious bogs of Kinder Scout and Bleaklow, the waterfalls and wildflowers of Teesdale, the sweeping moorland above Hawes and Keld, the challenge of Cross Fell, and the wild Northumberland borderlands of the Cheviots.
• Reflect on what the Pennine Way means today, and why reconnecting with wild places and the unhurried rhythm of the long walk continues to provide a much-needed antidote to busy modern life, through the voices of the walkers and local characters Andrew meets along the way.

A book to inspire, move, and send you reaching for your boots, The Pennine Way: the Path, the People, the Journey is essential reading for anyone with a connection to Britain's most storied long-distance path. Discover the Pennine Way as you have never seen it before.

The Pennine Way: the Path, the People, the Journey – Quick Facts

Format: Larger-format narrative non-fiction
Location: England and Scotland – the Pennine Way National Trail, from Edale in the Peak District to Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders
Route covered: The Pennine Way, 268 miles from Edale to Kirk Yetholm
Content: 12 chapters each covering a section of the Pennine Way, combining personal journey with social history, character portraits, and reflections on the path's enduring appeal
Ideal for: Anyone who has walked or is planning to walk the Pennine Way; lovers of walking literature and outdoor history; those interested in the history of access and the British countryside
Companion title: Walking the Pennine Way (also available from Cicerone)

Author Highlight

" I would walk continuously for 17 days from Derbyshire to the Scottish border, up the backbone of northern England, and try to understand the Pennine Way phenomenon – how it came into being, its evolution over five decades and why it has endured for so long, despite all its problems. I would talk to as many different people as I could about the path, especially those, like me, who were walking it in its 50th year, and would try to make some sense of why and how a mere walking trail could develop such an identity. This is the story of a most remarkable path." 

- Andrew McCloy, author of The Pennine Way - the Path, the People, the Journey

Acknowledgements

Overview map

Introduction

1. Edale – Crowden: 'The cockpit of the battle for access'

2. Crowden – Hebden Bridge: 'Repairing the green trail'

3. Hebden Bridge – Malham: 'Tom Stephenson's big idea'

4. Malham – Horton-in-Ribblesdale: 'We have waited long enough'

5. Horton-in-Ribblesdale – Hawes: 'Racing and relaxation in the open hills'

6. Hawes – Keld: 'A tale of two trails'

7. Keld – Middleton-in-Teesdale: 'The Pennine Way's eccentric side'

8. Middleton-in-Teesdale – Dufton: 'Waterfalls, wildflowers and wilderness'

9. Dufton – Alston: 'Close to the sky: overcoming Cross Fell'

10. Alston – Once Brewed: 'In the footsteps of history along the Roman Wall'

11. Once Brewed – Byrness: 'A question of motivation in Northumberland's woods'

12. Byrness – Kirk Yetholm: 'The testing home stretch through the Cheviots'

Afterword

Bibliography and sources

Index

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