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

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The Bowes Loop, much further along the path, is an alternative section of the trail via the County Durham village of Bowes. It was introduced early on, to offer more accommodation choices, but ironically there are few places to stay in Bowes these days so the Loop has lost much of its original purpose.

I do like what the enterprising folk of Hebden Bridge have done and I like the idea that the Pennine Way can evolve and improve, offering future walkers more choice and a better experience. I also like the fact that Dave proudly displays a large map and photos of his own Pennine Way walk in the entrance of the hostel. This comfortable and welcoming independent hostel adjoins the Birchcliffe Centre, a former Baptist Chapel that is now the base for a lively arts and heritage charity called Pennine Heritage (which Dave is also involved in). The charity is devoted to preserving and promoting the landscapes of the South Pennines, and its local oral history recordings and photographic collections include, most fittingly, archive material from the Pennine Way Council (which later became the Pennine Way Association).