This should only take a few phone calls...
It's dark. It's cold outside and it's January. We've just got down from the Malvern Hills and are looking forward to our summer break. And we've just decided that we will walk the Pennine Way.
It's dark. It's cold outside and it's January. We've just got down from the Malvern Hills and are looking forward to our summer break. And we've just decided that we will walk the Pennine Way.
We know from experience that accomodation needs to be booked well in advance. But before booking accomodation we need to do some route planning. That means research on the Web and in books.
Unsurprisingly, Tom Stephenson's name keeps cropping up in all the literature. Definately one of the (relatively) unsung heroes of the British way of life, Stephenson proposed the concept of a National Trail in an article for the Daily Herald in 1935, and later lobbied Parliament for the creation of an official trail.
Invaluable sources were the Ramblers Association and the two National Trail Guides: Pennine Way South and Pennine Way North (£12.99 each). Which raised another question to walk from North to South - which seemed natural to us (downhill and towards home!) or South to North (wind and rain generally behind us and no sun in our eyes). South to North prevailed, although being Scots we perceive this as uphill! The Trail Guides were an excellent tool for outline planning of distances and likely accomodation places: just what you need at the early stages of planning.
In addition we used the Pennine Way Long Distance Path Directory which was a useful source of additional information. This helped with baggage and accomodation planning.
The Pennine Way Association, which seems a worthy institution - and owes a huge amount to John Weatherall - was revising its accomodation directory (£1.50 from the Association) at the time we were planning and we found their entries to be a couple of years out of date: not really a criticism, as this type of booklet is difficult to maintain, but certainly a nuisance when you have lots of planning to do. As a point of principle, we joined the Association anyway...I believe you should support people working for the community in this way.
Having bought the books, we now need decent maps. Walking Hadrian's Wall had taught us the value of Harvey's waterproof maps (£9.95 each): they are strip maps of the route, sometimes omitting necessary detail just off the main route; but at a scale of 1:40000 and broken into roughly day-sized strips, are ideal for this type of walk.
The final basic planning guide we used was the Youth Hostel Association. Joining the Association (£22.95 per annum per family) not only gives easy access to -and discounts (£3.00 pp per night) at - the Youth Hostels en route but also provides substantial discounts at many outdoor shops.
All we had to do now was plan the route in detail and book the accomodation: in the right order! Oh yes, and arrange for porter services for our bags (well, we are nearly pensioners!). And get fit! And book the time off work. And make sure we had appropriate gear. And actually get to Edale. And arrange to get home from Kirk Yetholm. And, and and....
Unsurprisingly, Tom Stephenson's name keeps cropping up in all the literature. Definately one of the (relatively) unsung heroes of the British way of life, Stephenson proposed the concept of a National Trail in an article for the Daily Herald in 1935, and later lobbied Parliament for the creation of an official trail.
Invaluable sources were the Ramblers Association and the two National Trail Guides: Pennine Way South and Pennine Way North (£12.99 each). Which raised another question to walk from North to South - which seemed natural to us (downhill and towards home!) or South to North (wind and rain generally behind us and no sun in our eyes). South to North prevailed, although being Scots we perceive this as uphill! The Trail Guides were an excellent tool for outline planning of distances and likely accomodation places: just what you need at the early stages of planning.
In addition we used the Pennine Way Long Distance Path Directory which was a useful source of additional information. This helped with baggage and accomodation planning.
The Pennine Way Association, which seems a worthy institution - and owes a huge amount to John Weatherall - was revising its accomodation directory (£1.50 from the Association) at the time we were planning and we found their entries to be a couple of years out of date: not really a criticism, as this type of booklet is difficult to maintain, but certainly a nuisance when you have lots of planning to do. As a point of principle, we joined the Association anyway...I believe you should support people working for the community in this way.
Having bought the books, we now need decent maps. Walking Hadrian's Wall had taught us the value of Harvey's waterproof maps (£9.95 each): they are strip maps of the route, sometimes omitting necessary detail just off the main route; but at a scale of 1:40000 and broken into roughly day-sized strips, are ideal for this type of walk.
The final basic planning guide we used was the Youth Hostel Association. Joining the Association (£22.95 per annum per family) not only gives easy access to -and discounts (£3.00 pp per night) at - the Youth Hostels en route but also provides substantial discounts at many outdoor shops.
All we had to do now was plan the route in detail and book the accomodation: in the right order! Oh yes, and arrange for porter services for our bags (well, we are nearly pensioners!). And get fit! And book the time off work. And make sure we had appropriate gear. And actually get to Edale. And arrange to get home from Kirk Yetholm. And, and and....
