One afternoon, on the approach to Bleaklow in Derbyshire’s High Peak, a movement caught my eye. It was a meadow pipit, common enough on these moors. It settled on the causey paving 10 metres ahead and took flight again as I walked on. But rather than veering into the miles of grass on either side, it flitted on down the path, where it settled again, ticking its tail and monitoring me as I approached. And as soon as I had closed the distance and was 10 metres away again, it flew onwards – we continued like this for maybe half a mile; it was as if the bird was guiding me, waiting for me to follow.
As with most of those who have set foot on the Pennine Way, my experience of it has been piecemeal. I’ve never “done” the whole thing end to end; nor have I been tempted to. I’m happy to leave most of its 432 stiles, 287 gates, 204 bridges and 267 miles to stouter sorts. For me, the Pennine Way is not so much a path as a bridge, and I value above all the easy access it grants to what its chief instigator, Tom Stephenson, described as the “lonely entrancing country” of the Pennines.
The son of a Chorley calico printer, and Labour to his marrow, Stephenson had spent 1917 in Wormwood Scrubs as a conscientious objector. “The right to roam” was more than a slogan to him. Writing in the Daily Herald 18 years later, he called for the creation of a “Long Green Trail … from the Peak to the Cheviots”, a counterpart to America’s Appalachian Trail.
My own memories of the Pennine Way, it must be said, are not exactly green: I think of the denuded black nightmare of Kinder Scout, eroded to a terrain that seems newly released from a flood; the ankle-turning, ash-toned plateau of Cross Fell, a sudden fog contracting visibility to a metre’s ambit; the bog flats of Brontë Land, tinged blood-red by the stalks of dying cotton grass.
But then I remember that fairytale pipit on Bleaklow, and the delicious abundance of the tops in high summer: those same red mires turned to meadows of white-waving cotton grass, noisy with the song of the larks suspended invisibly overhead (and the sense that somehow your heart has been sent up among them).
It is visions like these that Stephenson and others have gifted us: not just the chance to say we’ve “done” it, ticked it off – Edale to Kirk Yetholm, and how quickly – but to resuscitate our sense of wonder; to be reminded of our land’s strangeness and variety. To extend our view, in other words, further than the eye can see.
• William Atkins is author of The Moor: Lives, Landscape, Literature, out now in paperback (Faber £9.99) and shortlisted for Thwaites Wainwright Prize 2015. To order a copy for £7.99 including UK p&p visit the guardian bookshop or call 0330 333 6846
Where to stay, eat and drink along the route
First conceived in the 1930s by journalist Tom Stephenson, the 267-mile Pennine Way footpath, from Edale in Derbyshire to Kirk Yetholm in Scotland, officially opened on 24 April 1965, and crosses some of the UK’s most beautiful scenery. Whether you tackle it on simple day trips, or hope to bust Mike Hartley’s incredible 1989 record of two days, 17 hours and 20 minutes for the whole route (he ran it and didn’t sleep; most people take three weeks), you will need shelter and sustenance along the route.
A map of all the places mentioned below can be found at the end of the article
1. Old Nags Head, Edale
It is the mark of a great footpath when it begins with a pub: in this case the Old Nags Head at Edale is the official starting point. As you might expect, walkers, dogs and muddy boots are welcome here, and there is a decent selection of hand-pulled pints.
• the-old-nags-head.co.uk
2. Upper Booth Camping Barn, Edale
A bit of luxury will do no harm on your hike, but save it for later. For a first stopover, try this stone-built, no-nonsense barn with a couple of picnic tables inside and room to cook. There’s no electricity, no heating and no running water inside, but there are hot showers at the campsite and a “hampers for campers” food parcel service can include beef from the farm’s herd of Galloway “belties”.
• £8pp, 01433 670250, upperboothcamping.co.uk
3. Mankinholes YHA
The YHA has some good accommodation along the Way, and Mankinholes is one of the best, near the Battle of Waterloo monument. The 16th-century building has a lounge with a log-burner and a well-equipped kitchen – or you can eat at the Top Brink Inn nearby.
• Beds from £10pp, rooms from £25, 0845 371 9751, yha.org.uk
4. Bothies
There are four bothies (shelters) on the path, free for single overnight use by hikers carrying everything bar a tent. If you’re starting from Edale, the first is at Top Withens, west of Haworth, where you might just spot the odd foreign tourist. But you won’t see any at the next bothy: Greg’s Hut on Cross Fell, Cumbria, is as remote a night’s sleep as you can get in the UK. The other two bothies are on the final section, between Byrness and Kirk Yetholm.
• mountainbothies.org.uk
5. White Cottage Tea Room, Gargrave
Bang on the path, and halfway between popular overnight stops in Earby and Malham, is this 17th-century cottage-cum-tearoom. Allan and Vicky Warburton only do homemade and the cakes get rave reviews: the Yorkshire curd tart is the local favourite.
• 5 West Street
6. The Traddock Hotel, Austwick
Frequently cited as the high point of a Pennine Way experience, the Traddock offers a bit of luxury at around day six for most people, but you do need to make a detour from the track. It’s smart, but wet clothes and boots will be dealt with and log fires lit. Cuisine is inspired by the slow and local food movement: Dales lamb, moorland rabbit and Yorkshire rhubarb and cheeses.
• Half-board from £82.50pp, 015242 51224, thetraddock.co.uk
7. Pen-y-ghent Cafe, Horton-in-Ribblesdale
Whenever the Pennine Way celebrates a birthday, so does Pen-y-ghent cafe. Founders Peter and Joyce Bayes came to see the footpath open in 1965, fell in love with the village’s old grocery store and turned it into a cafe. Don’t forget to sign the visitors’ book: it’s a 50-year chronicle of Pennine Way walkers.
• Penyghent View, Settle
8. Green Dragon Inn, Hardraw
Gnarly, ancient wooden panelling, the gleam of brass, a crackling fire and flagstone floors – the Green Dragon is everything a pub should be. Don’t miss the short walk through its grounds to Hardraw Force, England’s highest single-drop waterfall.
• Camping £8pp, bunk room £15pp, rooms from £35pp, 01969 667392, greendragonhardraw.com
9. The Farmers Arms, Muker
The traditional black-and-white facade of this pub bodes well, and it delivers: a straightforward, no-nonsense place where visitors feel welcome. In good weather it’s a delight to sit out front with a pint of Black Sheep and a pub lunch, but the bar is convivial – you won’t feel out of place with muddy boots or a dog in tow. If you can’t drag yourself away, there’s a holiday apartment opposite (two-night minimum stay), and camping options nearby.
• Apartment from £280 a week or £170 for two nights, 1748 886297, farmersarmsmuker.co.uk
10. Keld Bunk Barn & Yurts
The walking around Keld in Upper Swaledale is some of the Way’s most beautiful. Park House Farm has something for all walkers, with a great campsite by the Swale river, yurts, log cabins and a hot tub (hardier folk use the natural swimming hole below Rainby Force). The real triumph, however, is Keld’s luxury bunk barn.
• Bed £21, double room £56, hot tub £20 for 90 mins for 2, 01748 886549, keldbunkbarnandyurts.com
11. Tan Hill Inn, Reeth
The highest pub in England is a bit of a legend – ungentrified and remote. There’s a great bar with hand-pulled beer, decent food, simple rooms, a campsite and a bunkhouse.
• Camping £3, bunk bed £25, twin rooms £70, 01833 628 246, tanhillinn.com
12. Demesne Farm Campsite and Bunkhouse, Bellingham
Demesne Farm started welcoming campers in 1972, and there is still a good flat grassy campsite, but now there’s a comfortable bunkhouse, too, in a converted barn. There’s a self-catering kitchen-diner and a sitting room with log-burner, or you can leave your kit drying and head to the village for a choice of pubs and restaurants.
• Bunkhouse £18pp, camping £7pp, 01434 220258
13. Forest View Walkers Inn, Byrness
A Pennine Way classic, this is the last stop before the finish for most people, 28 miles before Kirk Yetholm. But owners Joyce and Colin will ferry you back from halfway for another night, then drop you at the same place to carry on next morning.
• Half-board £49.50pp, two nights £99 with bus service, 01830 520425, forestviewbyrness.co.uk
• This article was amended on 29 April 2015 to correct the location of the Traddock hotel.
