Great Mountain Days in the Pennines. Terry Marsh

Pennines are not desolate and forlorn, but infinitely varied, rich in wildlife and opportunities for striding out in solitude.

      I first explored the Pennines in their entirety more than 20 years ago. I’ve just done it again with a joyous spring in every step... Well, almost every one!

      The view across from Rowlee Pasture to the Kinder plateau (Walk 48)

About this guide

      The walks in this guide are grouped into five regions – the North Pennines, the North West Dales, the Yorkshire Dales, the South Pennines and the Dark Peak. At the start of each walk is a box containing key information – distance, height gain, time, grade, start point and maps required, as well as details of where to obtain after-walk refreshments. To compare the walks, refer to Appendix 1, which summarises the route information for every route.

      The original intention of including at least one mountain in every route was thwarted, partially by the nature of the terrain, but mainly by a desire to ensure that worthwhile lower-level routes were not pushed out by the need to tick off even the dullest of summits. In any case, the Pennines boast remarkably few ‘mountains’, with barely 80 summits higher than 600m. The walks in this book do, however, visit 19 of the 32 Marilyns – summits with a relative height of 150m (492ft) in relation to its surroundings, regardless of actual height – in the area covered by this book. There are just two Marilyns in the Dark Peak, two in the Howgills, three in the Southern Pennines, five in the Northern Pennines and 20 in the Yorkshire Dales. Embracing mountain summits in every route in this guide was always going to be difficult but among the moors and valleys of the Pennines there has been no shortage of terrain with a mountainous feel to explore.

      In choosing the walks, the defining criteria was the Pennine watershed. The watershed, if defined literally, is a fine imaginary line that would divide in two a drop of rain falling on it, sending half to the North Sea in the east and the other half to the Irish Sea in the west. The nature of the watershed, which turns out to be nothing like as fine as that dividing line, is admirably described in Andrew Bibby’s book The Backbone of England (see Appendix 2).

      However, since walking the watershed is on many stretches neither enthralling nor inspirational, some sections of the watershed were shunned in favour of other defining criteria, namely the Pennine Way, the Pennine Bridleway and (of equal if not more importance at times) ‘clear characteristics of a Pennine landscape’. The Pennine Way is well known and runs from Edale in Derbyshire to Kirk Yetholm just across the Scottish border, following a route that was teased from the landscape under the guidance of Tom Stephenson. The Pennine Bridleway is a relatively new creation, a 320km (200 mile) adventure for walkers, horse riders and mountain bikers, following old packhorse routes, drovers’ roads and newly created bridleways.

      Ravenstonedale pastures (Walk 12)

      Looking down on Dove Stone Reservoir (Walk 45)

      What makes this approach rather tenuous is the very nature and characteristics of ‘Pennine’ landscape and ‘Pennine’ qualities. The gritstone that predominates in the Peak is scarcely evident in the limestone Yorkshire Dales, although it is there. Likewise, the peat bogs and groughs that are hallmarks of the South Pennines are almost nowhere to be found in the Howgills and the Dales. So, it becomes all the more evident that what must, geographically, define the Pennine landscape is whatever happens to flank the Pennine watershed. (It’s an argument that would never withstand close scrutiny, but in the context of a book about Pennine walks, it’s as useful as anything else.)

      Most walks therefore include one of these ‘Pennine’ criteria, while no walk is more than 16km (10 miles) from the watershed itself. But the author has had no qualms about including a few excellent walks that don’t comply with this constraint, such as Rombalds and Ilkley Moor (Walk 31), for example, Pendle Hill (Walk 32) and Ingleborough (Walk 21), in the belief that few would argue that they lacked Pennine qualities.

      Walk grades

      The grading of walks is a very subjective issue; what is ‘easy’ for one walker can be a scary experience for someone less experienced. In reality, nothing in the Pennines can safely be regarded as easy; the terrain is often bouldery and complex, marshy and trackless, or, more usually, a mix of all of these conditions. But, in order to convey some notion of the effort and walking skill involved in each route, four grades have been employed to categorise the walks.

       Moderate: shorter walks without significant height gain; some occasional issues with route finding or terrain, but generally straightforward

       Moderately demanding: devoid of serious hazard in good conditions, but requiring map-reading and compass skills; mainly, but not always, on clear paths

       Demanding: similar to ‘strenuous’, but usually shorter or with less height gain, but still rugged, remote and energetic walks

       Strenuous: lengthy, over rough and/or high ground, sometimes in remote locations; there may be long, rugged and/or trackless sections

      These grades are no better than a diagrammatic map, not least because almost all the walks in this book contain some stretches that meet each grade criteria; it is possible, indeed likely, that all four grades will be met with on each walk. The grades are therefore no more than a general overview of each entire walk. Within the book the more difficult grades predominate – there are 14 ‘strenuous’ walks, 17 ‘demanding’, 14 ‘moderately demanding’, and 5 ‘moderate’.

      Distances and height gain

      This information has been arrived at by a combination of methods, none of which assumes that if the highest point is 500m, and the lowest is 200m, that the amount of height gain is 300m; there are just too many variables to make it that simple. So, precision is not always possible.

      The average length of the 50 walks in this book is 15.4km (9.6 miles), and the average height gain is 456m (1495ft).

      Times

      Timings are subjective, and also depend on the individual’s level of fitness. Those given for each walk are the times taken by the author, carrying a day sack, camera and so on, and so they take the nature of the terrain into account. The timings do not include an allowance for any stops.

      However, rather than rely on the author’s figures, it is far better to learn by experience what your own pace is, and then use the distance and height gain information (in the information box at the start of each walk) to get an idea of how long it will take you, given your personal level of fitness. Then be sure to allow for the terrain, which in the Pennines is renowned for being difficult and boggy, to the extent that minor detours become necessary following wet weather.

      Maps

      Although the guide contains map extracts, you are strongly advised to take with you the relevant sheet map for the route, not only for safety reasons but also to give a wider picture of the landscapes you are walking through. Note that key landmarks that feature on the maps appear in bold in the text to help you plot the route. (The map extracts in this book are taken from these 1:50,000 maps, expanded to 1:40,000 so that 1km is represented by 2.5cm on the map.)

      The maps recommended for the walks in this book are Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer maps OL1 (The Peak District: Dark Peak area); OL2 (Yorkshire Dales: Southern and Western areas); OL19 (Howgill Fells and Upper Eden Valley); OL21 (South Pennines); OL30 (Yorkshire Dales: Northern and Central areas); OL31 (North Pennines: Teesdale and Weardale); OL297 (Lower Wharfedale and Washburn valley)

      GPS systems

      There is an increasing number of satellite-linked GPS systems on the market these days, some of which contain