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

59 страница из 86

In the period between the two World Wars, frustrated ramblers and access campaigners looked for ways to overcome these seemingly implacable obstacles. There had been the rallies and trespasses, of course, most publicly on Kinder Scout, where the mass trespass had made national headlines and highlighted the woeful lack of access to the Peak District’s moorlands. But for one journalist, walker and activist, there was another ploy.

Tom Stephenson was the ‘open-air correspondent’ for the popular Daily Herald national newspaper. He wrote a now famous, double-page feature entitled ‘Wanted – A Long Green Trail’, which appeared in the newspaper on 22 June 1935. This was the first time that an idea for a walking route the length of the Pennines had been properly aired. Reading the article today, it seems likely that Tom and probably others had been considering such a route for a while. As my own walk progressed, I would learn much more about the self-effacing and remarkable Tom Stephenson, creator of the Pennine Way and tireless access campaigner.