Pennine Way Blog 3 – Days 7 to 8

The Purposeless Pennine Way, in which while blithely enjoying my favourite hike in perfect weather, I meditate upon feeling weird, failing, annoying other people and disliking a book.

Something of a Philosophical Pennine Way. Practical Pennine Ways are also available, both south to north and north to south.

A trail gnome that seemed to have lost his fishing rod, at Ling Gill Bridge

We must be purposelessnessless, as Rowan Atkinson said in a comic monologue that seems highly relevant to the Pennine Way ¹. To achieve a purpose is virtuous ‘work’, requiring ‘effort’. An absence of purpose on the other hand is a hallmark of vacuous laziness.

Strangely, I found once I’d embarked on the Pennine Way purposelessly, with neither objectives nor a plan, mentally I was working harder. I had very little idea from day to day what I was doing, let alone why. Each day I had to work it out, to reinvent it, as atheism imposes the intellectual effort of devising your own morality.

Rather than easing my mental Mercedes on cruise control along a mental motorway, I was a learner on a wobbly mental moped in a dark and narrow country lane. Was I proud of my lack of purpose, or embarrassed by it? Did I feel settled, at home, at peace with The Way and with myself or was I now even more of a guilty loner, a shifty outsider, a weirdo, for repeating the same trail?

The two nearest hummocks in this picture are (seriously) called Rough Hill and Dismal Hill; just past them my mental moped got lost and had to retrace its wobble.

Was I happily and lazily liberated by my independence from maps, guides and itineraries, or more busily and anxiously concerned about my consequent dependence on the fortuitous reappearance of vaguely remembered landmarks, not to mention random food and shelter?

Walking entirely without a plan, it was necessary to give actual thought to where I might end up sleeping and eating. The Pennine Way isn’t an entirely trivial exploit; as I’d learned yet again on descending from Pen-y-ghent it’s quite possible while walking it to become tired, cold and wet.

Did I even want to walk the entire Pennine Way again? Protestant Work Ethic me wanted to chalk up another success. Liberated, alternative me wanted to fail, to digress, to snap my fingers at the impertinent tyranny of an official trail. Part of me wanted perversely to subvert my objectives.

I hope you’re not expecting answers to any of these questions. I always say that if walking the Pennine Way answers your questions, they must have been pretty daft questions.

Day Seven – Horton to Hawes

I was woken by some very loud Irish snoring from an adjacent tent; that will teach me to remember bunkhouse prices correctly. I was happy about this, though, as I didn’t want to miss my traditional Wensleydale sandwich at the Hawes Creamery so I needed to get going.

Everything was very wet and everywhere was very quiet, in fact I didn’t meet another human being for several hours, not until the Cam High Road where a young, long-haired lad was walking the Dales Way in the guise of a tinker with billy, socks, shirt and all manner of other gear hanging from the outside his pack to dry.

After a while, a splash of sunshine painted Ribblesdale with a brighter palette.

There were a few more wild flowers along this section; quite a bit of Sneezewort by the trail and then behind the sheep-proof fence at Ling Gill nature reserve in a hint of what the moors might have looked like before over-grazing, masses of Devil’s-bit Scabious with lots of Red Admirals feeding from it.

Sneezewort Achillea ptarmica

Ling Gill itself is hidden below the trail but the flowers and butterflies along its top edge were pretty, with lots of Devil’s-bit Scabious Succisa pratensis

On Birkwith Moor I carelessly managed to get lost, carrying straight on over Low Birkwith Moor towards the forestry instead of turning left immediately after the gate (point C on the National Trail Guide map, page 89). I was quite pleased though that I’d realised my error fairly quickly, from increasingly becoming aware that I didn’t remember these surroundings. I retraced my steps and a sneaky peep at the GPS told me I’d gone astray near the appropriately-named Dismal Hill.

Seriously, Rough Hill and Dismal Hill. Note the GPS arrow pointing in an embarrassing direction as I retrace my steps. Mapping copyright the OpenStreetMap contributors, from OsmAnd 

Take the left fork uphill after this gate, rather than the alluring path straight on.

At Cam End I suddenly encountered the answer to something I’d wondered about for years – why this section of the trail is so wide and is maintained to such a high standard. It’s used by enormous forestry trucks – keep your eyes peeled!

So that’s why the trail is so well-maintained hereabouts.

Looking over to Whernside from the path to Old Ing

At Kidhow Gate I was depressed to witness the employment-creating ritualised cruelty of driven shooting. Large, shiny expensive vehicles whizzed up and down the ugly tarmac road that’s been dumped onto a formerly picturesque moor. I could smell the diesel fumes and hear the engines, as well as the shots, from a mile away. Then, looking back over Snaizeholme I was cheered to recall an observation my Irish chum had made in the pub.

In the West of Ireland, he said, there are little houses everywhere, hardly anywhere feels actually remote. He’d been amazed, he said, by how in England with our much greater overall population density we could somehow still have kept wild, remote landscapes, and right in the centre of the nation.

It’s been subsequently explained to me that this has to do with the relative timings of enclosure acts, famines, clearances and other historical catastrophes and that all these hills and moors would indeed at one time have supported small, visible homesteads. Gazing nowadays on the North Pennines moors that we value for their bleak emptiness it’s certainly something to ponder.

The bleak emptiness of this landscape is both wonderful and baffling.

In the Wensleydale Creamery, a cheese factory, where they make cheese, a plain cheese sandwich is no longer on the café menu. I had to negotiate with a very busy young lady of East European heritage to obtain one, fortunately with her good-humoured collaboration. Our mutual subversion of the official repertoire was aided by a samizdat list of ‘simple sandwiches for awkward old people’ that she kept hidden under the till. Mine was delicious.

The now traditional Wensleydale sandwich.

Just uphill from Hawes I’d met a young Belgian Wayfarer, southbound. On my asking what had been his favourite bit so far, he recalled his traverse of The Cheviot and every detail sounded suddenly, happily familiar to me. For a moment I felt as if, like Simon Armitage, I was ‘walking home’, albeit in the other direction.

Another impressive experience had been his breakfast at the Hawes Hostel, where with the Golden Lion’s WiFi I’d booked my first night indoors on this walk in consideration of their large drying room and the soaking wetness of all my kit. That was annoying, as I was planning to leave Hawes too early to sample it.

I did enjoy once more the fabulous Cod Special in The Chippy which was as utterly perfect in its hot, fresh simplicity as ever and, again, faultlessly and kindly served by a young East European woman. It baffles me what will happen to our hospitality industry post-Brexit. Perfect too was the Timothy Taylor’s Landlord in The Old Board Inn, where I gave up my table and sat at the bar so a couple could eat. They were from Norfolk. As was the next couple along – five of us flatlanders, meeting randomly, in a pub in Hawes. As our talk was of familiar places, in an odd way I felt I’d already walked home.

A perfect sunny evening at Hawes

Walking The Way as familiar territory, knowing the way (except at Dismal Hill), I often found myself wondering whether I was now truly at home, in my own back yard. Whether as a veteran, already a member of the Free Half at The Border Club, I was to a greater or lesser extent part of a community.

Whenever I encountered another Wayfarer, I couldn’t help wondering whether in their eyes my prior experience promoted me to Trail Sage, or demoted me to the awkward squad. Often I deliberately kept quiet about it. Normally when you meet other walkers on the Pennine Way there’s a certain camaraderie as you’re all in the same bog of despond. The last thing you need to see is someone who mysteriously isn’t lost, swanking along without even a compass round his neck.

As I got further north this problem receded. As at Dismal Hill, my memories became a little vague in places and I started making the odd comforting mistake, acquiring the odd comforting anecdote, handy scraps of self-deprecating conversational currency. To feel at one with a community of travellers, perhaps you need yourself to be feeling a bit lost, a bit deracinated. The times I felt most at home on The Way were also those when I most felt a stranger to my fellows.

Day Eight – Hawes to Tan Hill

This was a great day, great views from Great Shunner, a great lunch, a great pub, a great supper. Oh, and a nice walk too. It started badly though when the hostel warden threw a spectacular sulk because I asked him if he’d reconsider his having turned on a loud radio in the lounge where I was sitting peacefully, all alone and in contented silence, at 6.45 am.

A peaceful morning stroll through quiet Hawes

Morning light on the way out of Hawes

To be fair, I may have spoken rather intemperately. Switching a radio on without asking first would be considered the height of rudeness in our house and would probably instigate the rapid movement of heavy objects through the air, not to mention bad language. I tend to forget other people like the radio, something he pointed out with surprising vehemence. ‘But there’s only me in here’, I recklessly retorted, ‘and it’s not for long, I’m going soon’. ‘GOOD!’ he snapped.

Rather than acquiesce with professional grace he insisted on further prolonging this embarrassing argument in a manner too tedious to transcribe. Honestly, where does the YHA find these people? I sloped off up Great Shunner Fell in a bad mood, luckily with a legendary mince and mushy pea pie in my pack to cheer me up. Also sunshine.

The view of Hawes improved the further I got from the hostel, but I’m sure this was just coincidence.

Cheesy clouds down below in Wensleydale

Yes, there was sunshine on Great Shunner Fell! And – ta daaa – extensive views!

On the way up – the sky looks promising!

The air was still and warm, I was alone, it was very quiet. Shame I didn’t have a portable radio to liven things up.

Approaching the summit shelter

It was actually a pleasure to mooch about on the summit; the last two times I’d been here conditions had been foul.

Extensive views, as promised.

Cloud inversion in the Vale of Eden

The clouds rose and swirled about as I watched. On the skyline right of centre, Cross Fell. I could clearly see the radar station on Great Dun Fell.

Northbound, the route off Great Shunner is easy to find even in poor visibility.

Even in poorer conditions I quite like Great Shunner Fell. Route-finding is easy and the ascent although long is not particularly arduous in either direction. At the top you always somehow feel as if you’ve got somewhere meaningful, even if you can’t see a thing. The vegetation is surprisingly colourful and there’s supposed to be Black Grouse up there although they’re darned elusive. In weather like this, it’s one of the great highlights of the trail.

On the way down I started to meet people. The lovely Kearton Country Hotel at Thwaite was quite busy, but not too busy to serve me a nice lunch of a fish finger butty and classic fruit cake with Swaledale cheese, as well as their famous ginger biscuits with the coffee.

The classic view back to Thwaite

In places above Thwaite the trail has been seriously undermined by rabbits. I won’t be surprised if it starts washing away soon at this rate.

Parts of the trail along here are basically a rabbit warren

Walking into Keld is always quite exciting, it feels magical.

For some reason Keld always has a slightly magical feel, it’s definitely a bit of a cosmic omphalos, snuggled in its bosky dell, its energies stirred by pixy picture-book waterfalls. I always expect my photos of Keld will turn out to have unexpected fairies lurking in their corners. To get them on a phone rather than on film I’d probably have to download a supernatural app.

The cosmic omphalos of Keld

You’d be a pretty wet fairy if you stood where I’m standing in winter…

Smart new signage, much appreciated.

It takes longer than you think to get up the hill from Keld to the wonderfully-named Arkengarthdale, but the first view of the pub is another magical Pennine way highlight. Especially so if you can’t actually see it due to freezing fog or blizzard, but today was a day of continuing extensive views.

Classic first view of the Tan Hill Inn.

Tan Hill was under new ownership and I was concerned by reports they planned to professionalise the place. Thus far they’d got the balance right, investing judiciously but leaving much of the pub’s character unchanged. There was even a typical Tan Hill moment when a couple moving rooms found their possessions had been hidden away by the cleaner and nobody knew where. The barman ineffectually tried to find them, becoming a little flustered. After an hour of this pantomime his young lady colleague offered to take over the search. She opened one cupboard and immediately reached down the lost items. My partner would have had something to say.

It was a lovely evening, the beer was great and my dinner was fantastic. As I was feeling mildly heroic for getting this far, I met a man who’d walked the Pennine Way in 1966, soon after it had opened and through its notorious but now only legendary bogs. In jeans and dubbined leather boots, carrying a canvas tent. I felt mildly silly.

He was pleased, he said, that the trail is now easier and more enjoyable walking, as it enables people to see more of the landscape and in different ways. In those days the Pennine Way was indeed an arduous struggle. He’d enjoy walking it again a lot more now, he felt, were he physically able.

This reminds me that I didn’t really enjoy Simon Armitage’s Pennine Way book² when I first read it. It was given to me when I was preparing to walk The Way in 2016 and I suppose I’d hoped to glean from it simplistic information specifically about the trail and about the process of walking it. It seemed an unsatisfactory and in itself dissatisfied sort of book.

As with the BBC programmes, just walking the Pennine Way wasn’t interesting enough. To sex up the story it was necessary to bolt on the spurious ‘purpose’ of walking ‘home’, and the conceit of purposefully paying his way as a ‘troubadour’. The book ends with a mean-minded calculation that he has made a loss on the enterprise, as if any of us don’t walk the Pennine Way in permanent and profound debt, to the trail pixies, to Tom Stephenson, to Bill Gore, to road builders, train drivers, parents, teachers and the NHS, to slaves, kings and songwriters. Possibly also poets. My entire lifetime earnings would nowhere nearly fund all the gates, waymarkers and flagstones that have been installed and reinstalled on The Way in its fifty years of existence.

Armitage gets lost multiple times, even though for much of The Way he is not alone but in jolly, diverting and often professional company. He can’t even get it together to finish the damn trail! He uses baggage transfer. What a shambles.

Re-reading the book now I’m seeing it with different eyes. Relieved by my own serial completions from needing to learn about the Pennine Way and its walking per se, I’m able to absorb his trenchant observations of people and places, the verve and sheer competence of the writing with its consistent wry energy. The poetry of it, his rueful but defiant ultimate position that finding your way home is more important than finishing any arbitrary trail. I’m now engaging with the book on a much broader front rather than seeking in it a narrow, specific purpose. Now I’m over the practicalities it’s more fun and it’s teaching me more things. Not that I’m re-reading it purposefully, of course.

¹ Many thanks to Lonewalker for kindly reminding me of this monologue via Twitter.

² Armitage, Simon (2012), Walking Home – Travels with a Troubadour on the Pennine Way. London: Faber & Faber. I’ve a soft spot for the boy Armitage as when I owned a nature reserve he kindly gave me permission to reproduce a poem from this book on my signage. Cheers!

Tags: backpacking, camp, camping, hiking, national trail, Trail, trekking, walking, yorkshire