Stottie Walks

On 16th April 1963 we travelled home by train from the Youth Club’s Easter YH trip to the Lake District. We’d met all our hiking objectives. Neil wondered aloud what we could do next. I owned a copy of Kenneth Oldham’s book “The Pennine Way”, so I tentatively suggested we might try that. It was agreed there and then with John and Neil.

I’ve walked it since 1963, once in each direction, plus one failure when I dropped out just after Knock Fell with plantar fasciitis. I decided about five years ago that I wouldn’t hike the whole route again until the fiftieth anniversary year of my first trip. My thought was, “If I find I’m fit enough, I’ll do it”. I couldn’t commit to repeating the start or finish dates in August/September, so I went for April, beginning after the Easter holidays.

Take it easy, stop and stare, and don’t race against yourself: that became my mission statement. Book accommodation and use baggage transfer. Don’t plan any long days. I suppose I did take it easy, because I never felt physically or mentally stressed. I did stop and stare, but the strength of the wind and its chilling effect spurred me to get moving again. The idea of short days in the South Pennine didn’t appeal to me, so I walked from Crowden to Mankinholes in one day, whereas most people take two. Similarly, I don’t like the Bowes Loop, so I scheduled a long day from Muker to Middleton in Teesdale. My other long day was from Greenhead to Bellingham, because I’d spent quality time on Hadrian’s Wall four years earlier and felt no urge to repeat that. I booked my beds, and I used baggage transfer during the time Helen walked with me, though I carried my own gear at other times.

Fifty years to the day after we three decided to tackle the Pennine Way, my Golden Jubilee walk took me to Malham. Its stunning landscape never fails to thrill me. It was good that Helen could join me there to enjoy the best of the scenery, and it was great to walk over Penyghent with John. His recollections of events during our 1963 trip were remarkably consistent with mine.

I doubt I’ll do this walk again. The fiftieth anniversary of the Pennine Way’s official opening will be celebrated in 2015, and I guess for that reason there’ll be more people than usual giving it a go. Having done my personal celebrating, I don’t expect to be among them, though I shall be there in spirit.

Preparation

Accommodation: Used www.sherpavan.com and www.penninewayassociation.co.uk to choose lodgings.

Baggage Transfer: www.sherpavan.com

Maps: Harvey strip maps, plus pages from road atlas in case I needed to choose an emergency exit route.
Route cards: Years ago I typed route information (place names, grid references, distances, ascents, bearings) into an Excel spreadsheet with my version of Naismith’s Rule. I adjusted the value for my walking speed and printed the results.

Training: I devised two local routes, one of about 24km, the other about 36km, and I walked them regularly in the month before departure, increasing my rucksack weight as the start date drew near.
Footwear and foot care

I kept my toenails short, and in the days before the walk I reduced hard skin with a pumice block and wiped my feet in surgical spirit. At the start of each walking day I applied Vaseline to my feet. I wore Coolmax liner socks and Teko expedition socks. My boots are Altberg Tethera, fitted by Foothills of Sheffield where they know what they’re doing. They are the best boots I’ve ever had. I didn’t treat the leather during the trip.

Despite wet ground, my feet stayed dry. I had no foot trouble and was never tempted to abandon my boots on a fence post, as some do.

Kit

Accommodation list, Addresses, Antiseptic cream, Base layer, Batteries, Blister kit, Bogroll, Boots, Brazil nuts, Camera, Charger, Coat, Compass, Deodorant, E45, Ear plugs, Eye shade, First aid, Flannel, Flask, Food, Glasses, Gloves, Hankies, Hat, Knee bandage, Knife, Maps, Medication, Mid Layer, Nail clippers, Notebook, Overtrousers, Pants, Pen, Pencil, Phone, Phone numbers, Poles, Rail reservation details, Railcard, Route cards, Scissors, Soap, Socks, Stamps, Sunglasses, Sunscreen, Survival bag, Toothbrush, Toothpaste, Torch, Towel, Vaseline, Wallet, Watch, Water bottles, Whistle, YHA card, Zipoffs.

Statistics

From	To	Distance (km)	Ascent (m)	Time door to door (h)	Speed door to door (km/h)
Edale	Crowden	24.0	650	8.0	3.0
Crowden	Mankinholes	33.2	741	10.5	3.2
Mankinholes	Cowling	27.9	840	10.0	2.8
Cowling	Malham	28.4	623	7.5	3.8
Malham	Horton	24.4	730	8.0	3.1
Horton	Hawes	21.9	412	6.0	3.7
Hawes	Muker	18.7	616	6.5	2.9
Muker	Middleton in Teesdale	34.9	735	10.25	3.4
Middleton in Teesdale	Forest in Teesdale	12.5	140	3.5	3.6
Forest in Teesdale	Dufton	22.6	290	7.25	3.0
Dufton	Alston	29.3	885	8.0	3.7
Alston	Greenhead	23.5	130	6.0	3.9
Greenhead	Bellingham	34.1	730	10.0	3.4
Bellingham	Byrness	21.5	530	6.0	3.6
Byrness	Trows via Windy Gyle	22.5	690	7.5	3.0
Trows via Windy Gyle	Kirk Yetholm	23.5	785	6.5	3.6

For clarification, “door to door” includes rest time, navigation time, etc. Distance and ascent figures are mine, and they probably differ (insignificantly in my opinion) from other people’s measurements.

Comparisons

Item	1963	2013
Date of decision to walk	April	January
Date chosen	August/September	April
Walking days	Thirteen	Sixteen
Transport to start	Dad’s Dormobile	Friend’s car
Accommodation	Ten hostels & three B&Bs	Thirteen B&Bs & three hostels
Transport home	Bus and hitch-hike	Friend’s car, train & taxi
Companions	Two	One from Malham to Dufton
Average walking speed (door to door)	3.5km/h	3.3km/h
Knowledge of route	Malham-Hawes only	Walked it all twice since 1963
Signage	Very sparse	Generally good
Ground condition	Peat moors very difficult	Mostly good, with much paving
Navigation challenges	No visible path for long stretches	Used compass one day in mist

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