{"id":21977,"date":"2020-12-09T16:12:41","date_gmt":"2020-12-09T16:12:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/uncategorized\/wainwrights-yorkshire-masterpiece\/"},"modified":"2024-03-15T11:33:36","modified_gmt":"2024-03-15T11:33:36","slug":"wainwrights-yorkshire-masterpiece","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/walkshire\/wainwrights-yorkshire-masterpiece\/","title":{"rendered":"Wainwright&#8217;s Yorkshire Masterpiece"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Longer than the Coast to Coast, more varied than the Pennine Way \u2013 and circular. <em>Nick Hallissey<\/em> discovers the emotional story behind Wainwright\u2019s Pennine Journey, then grab your boots and try it yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The name of Alfred Wainwright might be more synonymous with a landscape on the other side of the M6. But long before he became famous for his Lake District guides, he embarked on an epic circular walk through the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/yorkshire-dales\/\">Yorkshire Dales<\/a> and the Pennines \u2013 a walk that uncovered some of the greatest landscapes in these Broad Acres. A walk that is only now being rediscovered and treasured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-id=\"121\" src=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/the-grand-hotel-york-1024x683.jpeg\" alt=\"Image name the image from the post in Yorkshire.com.\" class=\"wp-image-121\" title=\"image\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/the-grand-hotel-york-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/the-grand-hotel-york-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/the-grand-hotel-york-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/the-grand-hotel-york-600x400.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/the-grand-hotel-york.jpeg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-id=\"122\" src=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/ALFRED-WAINWRIGHT-GOOD-VINTAGE-PIC-1-1024x961.jpg\" alt=\"Image name the image from the post in Yorkshire.com.\" class=\"wp-image-122\" title=\"image\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-id=\"123\" src=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Wainwright-walkshire-images-1-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Image name the image from the post in Yorkshire.com.\" class=\"wp-image-123\" title=\"image\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-id=\"124\" src=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Wainwright-walkshire-images-3-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Image name the image from the post in Yorkshire.com.\" class=\"wp-image-124\" title=\"image\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-id=\"125\" src=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Wainwright-walkshire-images-4-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Image name the image from the post in Yorkshire.com.\" class=\"wp-image-125\" title=\"image\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-id=\"126\" src=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Wainwright-walkshire-images-5-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Image name the image from the post in Yorkshire.com.\" class=\"wp-image-126\" title=\"image\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-id=\"127\" src=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Wainwright-walkshire-images-6-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Image name the image from the post in Yorkshire.com.\" class=\"wp-image-127\" title=\"image\"><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Photos: Tom Bailey<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_65 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-662c0c9eea90f\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"ez-toc-cssicon\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-662c0c9eea90f\"  aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/walkshire\/wainwrights-yorkshire-masterpiece\/#The_gathering_storm\" title=\"The gathering storm\">The gathering storm<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/walkshire\/wainwrights-yorkshire-masterpiece\/#In_the_steps_on_the_Romans\" title=\"In the steps on the Romans\">In the steps on the Romans<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/walkshire\/wainwrights-yorkshire-masterpiece\/#Published_walk\" title=\"Published walk\">Published walk<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/walkshire\/wainwrights-yorkshire-masterpiece\/#The_Lost_Manuscript\" title=\"The Lost Manuscript\">The Lost Manuscript<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/walkshire\/wainwrights-yorkshire-masterpiece\/#Modern_update\" title=\"Modern update\">Modern update<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/walkshire\/wainwrights-yorkshire-masterpiece\/#The_journey_today\" title=\"The journey today\">The journey today<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/walkshire\/wainwrights-yorkshire-masterpiece\/#The_details\" title=\"The details\">The details<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/walkshire\/wainwrights-yorkshire-masterpiece\/#GPX_Route_Map\" title=\"GPX Route Map\">GPX Route Map<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/walkshire\/wainwrights-yorkshire-masterpiece\/#Hadrians_Wall\" title=\"Hadrian&#8217;s Wall\">Hadrian&#8217;s Wall<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/walkshire\/wainwrights-yorkshire-masterpiece\/#Our_own_Pennine_Journey\" title=\"Our own Pennine Journey\">Our own Pennine Journey<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_gathering_storm\"><\/span>The gathering storm<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The story begins in September 1938. The world was heading for war. Newspapers and radios blared with talk of Hitler; of rearmament, air-raid precautions and decontamination squads. As one man remarked: \u201cYou turned on the news and sat waiting, with an inside quaking and empty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That man was Alfred Wainwright, a 31-year-old clerk to the borough treasury of Blackburn. Already a lover of the hills of Yorkshire, it was to these very hills that he looked for escape from the dreadful tidings on the radio.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"In_the_steps_on_the_Romans\"><\/span>In the steps on the Romans<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>After taking a train from Blackburn to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/settle\/\">Settle <\/a>at the bottom edge of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/yorkshire-dales\/\">Yorkshire Dales<\/a>, he set off on foot with a plan to walk to Hadrian\u2019s Wall, some 110 miles to the north. To get there, he would follow the eastern edge of the Pennines. To come back to Settle, he\u2019d follow the western edge, thus creating a grand circular walk up and down the backbone of England. If that didn\u2019t get Hitler out of his head, he had no idea what would.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Halfway along the route, Neville Chamberlain came back from Munich declaring \u201cpeace in our time\u201d, and like everyone else\u2019s, the heart of Alfred Wainwright suddenly lifted. But by the time he got back to Settle, that peace had been torn up, and Britain was at war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Published_walk\"><\/span>Published walk<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Back home, Wainwright committed the whole thing to paper, writing a book titled A Pennine Journey. It was a meticulous account of a magnificent walk. It was the story of the people he met and the meals he ate. But it was also a superb documentary on the build-up to the Second World War and what it did to the hearts and minds of those living through it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There was only one problem. He didn\u2019t want anyone to read it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Lost_Manuscript\"><\/span>The Lost Manuscript<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The book was written \u201cnot for others to see but to transport my thoughts to that blissful interlude of freedom\u201d, said he. He showed it to a select group of work colleagues, but the war came and went, and the book lay in a drawer until 1986.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By then, he had become <em>A Wainwright<\/em>, the guide-poet-artist of the Lake District. Also in the interim, the Pennine Way had been created, with Wainwright himself writing a guidebook to it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Way shared fragments of the route of his old Pennine Journey \u2013 but only fragments. And it was linear, from Edale to Kirk Yetholm, rather than circular. And crucially, it wasn\u2019t his own creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So in 1986, when Wainwright and his publisher were discussing projects to help raise funds for his animal rescue charity, he remembered <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3QKJxQR\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow sponsored\">the Pennine Journey.<\/a> It emerged from the drawer and at his insistence, was published word for word and unedited. Thus it\u2019s an in-the-moment eyewitness account of Britain\u2019s national psyche and the landscapes of the Pennines, frozen in 1938 and thawed out 48 years later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But at this point it\u2019s still just a narrative. It was never intended to be a practical guide to walking the route.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Modern_update\"><\/span>Modern update<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For that we have to skip forward 12 more years to 1998, and meet compulsive long-distance walkers David and Heather Pitt. Having walked almost every other mega-mile trail that Britain has to offer, the indomitable Pitts were looking for something new. Wainwright fans both, they decided to see if they could translate the Pennine Journey into something they could follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It took a colossal effort of map-reading, cross-referencing and improvisation, but they not only managed it; they loved it. And in 2004 they convinced the newborn Wainwright Society to adopt the Pennine Journey as an official project, with a guidebook edited by David and Heather, and sections checked and updated by volunteers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since then, the Pennine Journey has attracted a cadre of devoted fans, and waymarkers have appeared at key points along the trail. But last year \u2013 25 years after the death of Alfred Wainwright \u2013 something has happened that is likely to make his first big walk go stratospheric. It\u2019s just gone on the OS map.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_journey_today\"><\/span>The journey today<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI would never, ever call it my baby,\u201d says David Pitt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis is Wainwright\u2019s journey; his story. That said, it has been part of our lives for 20 years or so, so I am very attached to it. Some people have called it an obsession, but I don\u2019t think it is. I just love this route and I want others to see it too. Evangelism, maybe, but not obsession!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it has been a team effort. David says the project would be nothing without the efforts of the volunteer route-checkers, and is full of praise for illustrators Ron Scholes and Colin Bywater, who provided the beautiful Wainwright-style maps and drawings for the guidebook.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the inclusion of the Pennine Journey on OS mapping is perhaps the biggest step forward in its history. It makes the route that much more obvious to anyone scouring a Pennine map for a good idea, and it gives the Journey equal weight against the far better known Pennine Way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>David loves the Way, but he thinks the Journey has more to offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt goes to many places that the Pennine Way goes nowhere near: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/buckden\/\">Buckden<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/attractions\/semerwater\/\">Semerwater<\/a>, Ingleborough, Weardale and Mallerstang, to name just a few,\u201d he enthuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBut it also includes a lot of the must-see highlights of the Way, so you don\u2019t miss out \u2013 like Pen-y-ghent, High Force, Cross Fell and the very best bits of Hadrian\u2019s Wall.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI also like the circular nature of it: the fact that you do this journey and it brings you back again, which of course the Way doesn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_details\"><\/span>The details<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Journey is 247 miles long; 20 miles shorter than the Way. It breaks down into 18 sections, in line with Wainwright\u2019s own walk, and most are between nine and 15 miles. The shortest (Day 1, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/settle\/\">Settle <\/a>to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/horton-in-ribblesdale\/\">Horton<\/a>) is 7.5 miles, while the longest (Day 17, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/sedbergh\/\">Sedbergh <\/a>to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/ingleton\/\">Ingleton<\/a>) is a whopping 17.5 miles. But there are options for downsizing some of the chunkier sections. For example, the 17.5-mile stretch from Buckden to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/gunnerside\/\">Gunnerside <\/a>can easily be broken at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/bainbridge\/\">Bainbridge <\/a>(in fact I urge you to try this, because Low Mill Guesthouse in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/bainbridge\/\">Bainbridge <\/a>is one of the loveliest places that I\u2019ve ever stayed).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wainwright himself didn\u2019t measure in miles but in valleys. Essentially each stretch of the Journey hops from one valley to another, taking in the likes of Ribblesdale, Wharfedale and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/wensleydale\/\">Wensleydale<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/swaledale\/\">Swaledale<\/a>, Weardale and Teesdale; the Eden Valley, Chapel-le-Dale and the Mallerstang Valley.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And thanks to some slight tweaks by David and Heather, the route also climbs all of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/walkshire\/yorkshire-three-peaks\/\">Yorkshire Three Peaks<\/a>. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/walking\/walk-pennine-way-national-trail\/\">Pennine Way <\/a>only climbs one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"GPX_Route_Map\"><\/span>GPX Route Map<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-7bf8a61f-0b2e-4925-a549-2b47ef9c7d33\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/penninejourney.gpx\">penninejourney<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/penninejourney.gpx\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-7bf8a61f-0b2e-4925-a549-2b47ef9c7d33\" download>Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<script>\r\n        if (typeof osDataHubMap != 'object') { var osDataHubMap = { mapList: [] }; }\r\n        osDataHubMap.mapList.push({\r\n            map: null,\r\n            options: {\r\n                mapId: 1,\r\n                openDataStyle: 'Outdoor',\r\n                zoom: 8,\r\n                minZoom: 2,\r\n                maxZoom: 12,\r\n                maxLeisure: 9.5,\r\n                zoomStep: 1,\r\n                center: '',\r\n                defaultCenter: '50.938064,-1.470971',\r\n                mapFit: 'auto',\r\n                gestures: true,\r\n                fullscreen: true,\r\n                autoFit: true,\r\n                autoFitMargin: 20,\r\n                popup: '',\r\n                restrictPan: false,\r\n                canPrint: false,\r\n                locate: false,\r\n                startLocate: false,\r\n                showScale: true,\r\n                gpxStyle: false,\r\n                waypoint: true,\r\n                imperial: true,\r\n                hover: true,\r\n                markerLink: '',\r\n                markerZoom: '',\r\n                startIconColor: '',\r\n                endIconColor: '',\r\n                gpxList: [\r\n                    { weight: 6, opacity: 0.7, color: '#ff49a0', group: 0, text: '', url: 'https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/penninejourney.gpx' },\r\n                ],\r\n            }\r\n        });\n<\/script>\n<div class='os-datahub-map-target' id='os-datahub-target-1'><\/div>\n<div class='os-datahub-map' id='os-datahub-map-1' style='max-width:100%; height: 400px;'><\/div>\n<a class=\"osmap_download\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/penninejourney.gpx\" title=\"Right click and choose save-as if the direct click does not work.\" download>Download file for GPS<\/a>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/tidd.ly\/3TJ1FK6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Get the OS App<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Hadrians_Wall\"><\/span>Hadrian&#8217;s Wall<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>And up at the apex is Hadrian\u2019s Wall \u2013 or at least, the sensational ten-mile stretch of the wall from Housesteads fort to the village of Greenhead, in which the wall lollops along the beetling crags of the Whin Sill.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The wall was Wainwright\u2019s primary objective; he\u2019d never seen it before. There\u2019s almost an irony there: he opens the book by comparing Hitler with Alexander the Great \u2013 remorseless empire-builders who sought to invade every corner of the worlds they knew. And yet his destination on this walk to forget all that was the very symbol of empire-building; a relic of another set of conquerors who wanted to possess and control everything they saw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But he was doing this before <a href=\"https:\/\/tidd.ly\/3I04oL3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">English Heritage<\/a> (#ad) was there to protect the wall and tell its story. Before there was a Hadrian\u2019s Wall National Trail. Before there were national parks, visitor centres or even walking guidebooks as we would know them today. In 1938, vast tracts of the countryside were still in private ownership and fenced off from public access.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This all makes Wainwright\u2019s endeavour even more remarkable: a man following his own path, using his wits, surviving on cartographical skill and occasional acts of charity; threading together corpse roads, green lanes and the trackways of forgotten industry.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And yet despite all this mental agility, the Journey did its job. With every mile, come rain or shine, Alfred Wainwright\u2019s mind found peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Our_own_Pennine_Journey\"><\/span>Our own Pennine Journey<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I walked several stretches of the Pennine Journey with photographer Tom Bailey, using David\u2019s newly-reprinted guidebook and relishing the lack of all the hardships mentioned above.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We met up with David and longtime PJ helper Jill King and walked from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/buckden\/\">Buckden <\/a>in Wharfedale to Bainbridge in Wensleydale. It\u2019s one of the loveliest days of the trail, and exemplary of its nature as an exercise in valley-hopping. From one splendid dale to another across high, wild moorland: that\u2019s what this journey is all about. Along the way is the unexpected treasure of Raydale, the secretive offshoot of Wensleydale that\u2019s home to the fine sheen of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/attractions\/semerwater\/\">Semerwater <\/a>and England\u2019s shortest river, the Bain. So, brain off, eyes and ears open, enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As an appetiser to the grand enterprise of the Pennine Journey, the day was delicious. The urge to free up two and a half weeks to do the whole damn thing is nagging at me as I type. It would be contrived to liken today\u2019s era of global anxiety to the circumstances in which Wainwright undertook his Pennine Journey. But with every awful thing we hear about on our radios, it\u2019s hard not to feel that going for a massive walk is a brilliant idea.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the other hand, you don\u2019t have to be unhappy to go on this walk. And you don\u2019t have to be alone either: David and Heather will vouch for that. The truth is, whatever your mental landscape when you set out from Settle, I\u2019m pretty certain that by the time you return, the world will look and feel a lot better.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s not about the destination, you see.<br>It\u2019s about the Journey.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Nick Hallissey and Tom Bailey are the deputy editor and photographer for<br>Country Walking Magazine. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Longer than the Coast to Coast, more varied than the Pennine Way \u2013 and circular. Nick Hallissey discovers the emotional story &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"Wainwright&#8217;s Yorkshire Masterpiece\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/walkshire\/wainwrights-yorkshire-masterpiece\/#more-21977\" aria-label=\"Read more about Wainwright&#8217;s Yorkshire Masterpiece\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":21982,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[939,924],"tags":[946,908,932,913,914,936,917,922,923,947],"location":[337,249],"person":[],"acf":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21977"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21977"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21977\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108979,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21977\/revisions\/108979"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21977"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=21977"},{"taxonomy":"person","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorkshire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/person?post=21977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}