Читать книгу The Pennine Way - the Path, the People, the Journey онлайн

5 страница из 86

ssss1

In the footsteps of history along the Roman Wall

ssss1

A question of motivation in Northumberland’s woods

ssss1

The testing home stretch through the Cheviots

ssss1

ssss1

Introduction

The Pennine Way and I grew up together. I don’t mean that it shared a room with me or was part of the family, but I was born within a year of it opening and I have always felt an attachment to the path. When I was young, our family holidays usually involved walking and the outdoors in some sort of way; and even growing up in suburban south London I was always aware of the Pennine Way. To my mind, it loosely shared the same company as a trek through the remote Himalayas or a walk from Land’s End to John o’Groats – a fabled journey, an extreme physical challenge undertaken by a handful of really grown-up people. It seemed daunting and exciting in equal measure, with an ever so slightly mysterious air to it. John Noakes and his dog walked it for his TV programme Go with Noakes, which only added to the thrill factor. Over time, it became lodged in my consciousness, but I had never even stepped foot on it.