Bill's Walks

Wainwright’s Pennine Journey

I do not put walks on this website that are covered by existing guide books and do not intend to… however last week I walked on a section of Wainwright’s Pennine Journey from Blanchland to Hexham which was a distance of 12 miles from Blanchland to the banks of the Tyne, finishing next to the beautiful bridge reminiscent of the French bridges on the Loire, Dronne and Dordogne that l am well acquainted with. The whole route was a joy to walk!

A Pennine Journey is a 247 mile walk which is a circular starting at Settle which then goes to north to Hadrian’s Wall via the eastern side of the Pennines, then along the best parts of Hadrian’s Wall returning to Settle on the western side of the Pennines. The walk was established by David Pitt, a member of the Wainwright Society and published in 2010. However the genesis of this walk goes back more than seventy years to 1938 when Alfred Wainwright walked a route to Hadrian’s Wall and wrote a book on his walk a year later. Wainwright stated “l wrote a book of my travels, not for others to see but to transport my thoughts to that blissful interlude of freedom”. It must be remembered that these were exceptional historic times with Europe on the brink of war and great uncertainty. The book was kept at home in a drawer and in 1954 Alfred Wainwright came to the public eye when the first of his Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells was published. This was seized on by walkers as a superb unique book and over the years the series was completed with the publication of another six books. Many others followed.

Village Square, Blanchland

Go forward to the 1980s and the Pennine Journey book was seen by his editor Jenny Dereham at his publishers (Michael Joseph) who persuaded him to get the book published and indeed, having had the book for nearly thirty years like many others, it is an absolute treasure. In 1998 David Pitt and his wife who were members of the Wainwright Society and who, by then had spent several years devising a route which covered all of the places mentioned in the book, were successful in getting their book published. In his book he acknowledges the help he got from others.

Their route follows footpaths, much of which are on National Trails, and the production is “a la Wainwright” with good hand drawn maps, some good illustrations and excellent route descriptions. Since then those of who have recent maps will see that the whole walk is now highlighted on the OS Explorer Maps and the route is waymarked throughout. Our group recently walked a section from Sandford to Kirkby Stephen on lesser known paths and on a very hot day this was perfect to walk with some tree cover from the sun.

Regatta Day at the River Tyne, Hexham

David Pitt and the Wainwright Society have done a great job in creating and developing this walk and l cannot recommend it too highly. To me it comes in my top five long distance walks closely behind Offa’s Dyke as a favourite walk. The guide is published by Frances Lincoln and even if you do not walk the complete route it will still give you many days of pleasure!