HSomewhere between the water of Malham Tarn in Yorkshire Dales and Kirk Yathlam at the Scottish border, a 31 -year -old woman stands in a group of male infantry. She wears jeans from the bell, which is a long -equipped summit and Alice’s band to keep her hair from her face in the prevailing western wind. Its name is Joyce Neville and the year in 1952. It is in the middle of walking along a proposed national path – Benin Road
Joyce witnessed an advertisement of “Walk Pioner Walk” described in Sunday newspapers a few months ago. It was developed by the writer and activist Tom Stefenson Which was asking for a “prominent infantry, FIT and more than 18” to participate in a 15 -day rise on “Trail Long Green Trail”, which was proposing it in Britain (inspired by the 2200 -mile Appalachian Trail path). Few women wore jeans at that time, according to Joyce’s notes (which was transferred to me by Badi Delon, author of the Sekeron book Benin’s road walks Manual guide), the entire trip costs only 25 pounds.
After more than 70 years have passed, my friend Cerys and I stand in Pennines, on a lip feature known as High Cup Nick. This valley is evidently sits in the shape of the ul -fascinated letter, known as Grand Canyon, in England, over the village of Dovon in Compera. We are on the first day of walking for three days on the Pennine Road (which was officially opened in 1965) to celebrate the diamond memory. We started on a cold but sunny day in February in the town of Middleton rich in waterfall, and we have already dragged alongside Cauldron Snout clothes, which listened to the Cornccras call in agricultural lands from the Aden Valley, and attached along the path in Mods (outside the border to the side of the side). The course of 268 miles.
The scene was the same when Joyce intervened in the fifties of the last century, although some things certainly changed.
“At that time, it was a difficult picnic because all the blanket quagmire will be refuted in a dirty circle that sometimes reached a large extent.” He was accompanied by five deputies, including Barbara Castle (one of the tallest female deputies in British history) and Arthur Blinninsop (a deputy action of South slices that became a deputy president of Rambles). “You could wear the properties and kept you clean. Now, thanks to the tire evidence, you can do this in carpet soles.”
We were not bold just like getting rid of long -distance walking shoes, but our equipment was definitely changed from Joyce. At that time, you notice that when women were expected to wear long tuberculosis skirts, he was wearing a complete scandal. Somehow, we have Joyce and other women like her to thank them for the fact that we can now wear warm, dry, wool trousers without offending anyone. We also had our light -weight water -resistant jackets, and we had no heavy fabric tents as they did. When Joyce was walking on this road, hikers had to negotiate with the camp farmers in their fields; Later, after the official opening of the path, there were about 20 hostels along the way. There is only a handful of the left, so the homes of guests and bars with rooms, the location of the camp and the crosses are the way most people do things.
While we stand, we get to know the dilapidated stents and the lens lined up on the edges of the Hai Cup, we meet a 73 -year -old wardrobe with his dog, Renjo, who says he lived all the way in IRBi when the Benin Road opened.
“I remember that we heard the frying pan before we see the infantry,” laughs. “They were flowing on the back of the backpack for the factory workers from Manchester who would register on Saturday and start walking and know what extent they could get before they returned to work on Monday.”
Similar to these early infantry, we were walking between work. On the other hand, we will stay in the warm “huts” in Dufton Caravan ParkAfter walking from Brunswick House B & B.And run by Andrew Milns, who told us that pedestrian paths represent a third of his annual work.
Despite good residence, the distance is not shorter, and when we get to Dovon at dusk, we immediately go to a delicious meal in Hostel – We do not need to cook our dinner. We are talking to Amanda behind the bar that vibrates around the corridor section in which we were walking. “Do you think it will last for another 60 years?” Ask it. “60?” She says. “6000 other people will last – he will not go anywhere.”
However, we were, after a comfortable night, we start our career on the harshest and highest part of the corridor – above Cross Fall, the home of the famous bitter winds (the only winds called in the United Kingdom). There are frosts on the ground, and the temperature -4 c (25 Fahrenheit).
By the time when we reach the peak slopes of 893 meters (2,930 feet), we reached the snow line. The atmosphere is cold, but the Earth is made of frost, and we are easily hosted by the top plateau, which was characterized by a large stone cross (Ward that – we later discovered from the woman who runs the post office in Garrigill – which was built on the opening of the corridor by the priest from Scotland that received a message “from the top” to create walking). And while we get to it and see the tops of Lakeland spread in front of us without even breaths of the wind, I may work.
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We stop having lunch at Greg’s Hut, a previous housing of miners that take care of the mountain mountains run by volunteers, and by reporting the posts in the visitor’s book, which many Way Walker are frequented.
From there, the corridor is heading to Garrigill and ON to Alston, and it makes its way between a mass of land to shoot Grouse, the place where it was tightly to run with the guards of games keen to protect birds that have collected money-a practice that still causes hot discussions between landowners and scientists to keep access.
Walking may seem to be a sincere recreation, but the assets of the Pennine method swing firmly in politics. The origin of the corridor, Tom Stephenson, did not actually walk the entirety of his creation, the idea that came in 1935, after three years of collective transgression Kinder ScoutProtest in the peak area of infantry rights. “He was not interested in walking, but he was sure to do others,” says Badi. “His idea was if he could collectively enter people into the countryside into areas previously prohibited from walking, such as Kinder Scout and Bleaklow [also in the Peak District]He can use this as a lever to get more rights in general for people to reach the previous lands. “
After a night in Comberland In In Alston, we put our compass for the Greenhead and Hadrian wall, where we will hold a taxi, then the train at Haltwhistle to return home. We plow a distance of 17 miles easily, listen to the song Curlews, spy the wild deer at the previous Lambley (now private house), and enjoy the snow that exploded on the ground.
Since Stephenson is a pioneer in the concept of walking that allowed everyone to exceed the backbone of England, more methods have been created, such as South Tain Trail. For 23 miles, the victorious Haltwhistle railway (which was closed in 1976; it was opened as a pedestrian path in 2004) in parallel with the Pennine Road, which is much easier and more common in which Paddy was included in his updated guiding book.
The Pennine Way was the first national path in the United Kingdom-there are now 17 in England and Wales, and four long-term “wonderful paths” in Scotland. The latest and longer after the path of the 2700 -mile King Charles III coast is scheduled to be a completely path by the end of 2025; Many parts of it are open now. However, there is still a lot to fight for him. According to the campaign group, only 8 % of England has been removed for hikers – nearly 49,000 miles of historical paths were removed from official maps and 32,000 road rights are banned. Access is more limited to those who want to swim, cycle, or camp (except for one – legal camping on Dartor, but this is done The disputed in the Supreme Court By the owner of the wealthy lands).
Sixty years old feel a long time, but walking is still a political. Perhaps, like Joyce Neville in 1952, we must all reach paths to exercise our right to roam. Jeans are optional.
