Here are a few things I learned on the walk that might be of assistance to anyone else who's thinking of doing it.
| Standedge | For most people, Globe Farm at Standedge has been the destination at the end of the second day. Unfortunately - to say the least - Globe Farm has recently changed hands, and the word is that the new owners don't intend to offer either camping or B and B. I only learned of this at the campsite in Crowden the day before I was planning to walk to Standedge and camp at Globe Farm, and it's fair to say that it came as a bit of a shock. It's not clear how the situation might ultimately be resolved, but in the meantime the best solution for all but the wild campers seems to be to aim for accommodation in Marsden. I ended up walking from the A62 at Standedge Cutting - the point at which the Way crosses the road - to Forest Farm Guest House on the way to Marsden, where I was able to camp in the garden, but that made a long day even longer. If you plan in advance, you may well be able to arrange to have someone pick you up from Standedge Cutting and drive you back to a guesthouse, as I'm sure that B and Bs in Marsden will be glad of the new trade that this development will bring them. Be aware that another option is to cut along the side of (I think) Wessenden Reservoir directly to Marsden, but for those who wish to walk all of the original route that creates logistical problems for the following day. |
| Strip Maps | The National Trail Guides contain strip maps, and everyone I met was using them. Clearly they do the job, but be aware that if you get lost - or for some reason need to know what's round the corner (e.g. where exactly Marsden is, and how to get there - see above...) - then they're useless. I'm not sure what the solution is, other than either carrying a full set of maps or sending them on in advance so that you can pick them up one or two at a time. It's worth thinking about, though. |
| Pennine Way Accommodation Guide | This is published by National Trail, and it's available free from several sources. I can't say how reliable it is for B and B, but for camp sites I found it misleading and hopeless. It wrongly describes all sorts of sites as having extensive facilities - e.g. laundry, drying room, showers, shop - when there's actually nothing there but a field, possibly midge infested and badly drained, where you can get a pitch at an inflated price. This meant that it was impossible to distinguish between "real" sites and fields at the back of a pub/a farm/in someone's garden. I was told half way through the walk that sites had been included without being approached, so it's probably not fair to blame the proprietors: it seems that whoever put the Guide together just skimped on the research. Anyway, backpackers need to be aware that you can't rely on this Guide. Try to research the sites in advance, and if you can't do that then try the ones that offer facilities for caravans too, as they're likely to be superior. (There were notable exceptions to this rule, which you'll find in the descriptions of the walk from day to day.) |
| Camp Sites | I also learned along the way that the "real" campsites, with licences and relatively sophisticated facilities, are likely to be less expensive than the grotty fields at the back of a pub/farm/house. A really good option for campers is to try to camp at Youth Hostels. Not all of them allow it, but if they do then you get to use the facilities inside, which are likely to be better than any that you'll find at even the most sophisticated of camp sites. You'll also be able to use the residents' kitchen, or to buy meals if you'd like to. You may even find a television room with videos, as I was lucky enough to do at Blackton :-) |
| Shops | I've done the Coast to Coast walk, and I'd expected availability of shops to be comparable on the Pennine Way. I was wrong, though. There are many places where it's impossible to get even basic supplies, and I'm not sure how people doing their own cooking would actually manage to get fuel on a regular basis. Be aware that you may need to stock up when the opportunity arises on things that on other walks you might expect to be able to buy on a daily basis e.g. food for lunch, fuel, Compeed, painkillers etc. Several places used to have little shops which have have closed over the years, possibly as the numbers of people walking the Pennine Way have declined. |
| Comparison with Coast to Coast Walk | I've done the Coast to Coast twice. Well, two and a half times, actually :) I thought the atmosphere on the Pennine Way would be very similar, but in the event I didn't feel it was. In my experience, the Pennine Way was a less sociable walk than the Coast to Coast, with fewer people en route on a daily basis. That may simply have been a quirk of the time that I did the walk - August/September 2004 - but I'm not sure that it was. For a start, the Pennine Way takes most people 3 rather than 2 weeks, and it's less easy for a lot of people to set 3 weeks aside than 2 weeks. I imagine that that in itself reduces the number of walkers. The Pennine Way is also - in my view - a harder walk than the Coast to Coast, with a bit of a fearsome reputation. Perhaps that puts people off? In any event, don't assume that you'll run into significant numbers of people walking to the same schedule as you. Although if you walk in the summer you'll almost certainly find people to chat with in the pub in the evening, you should expect to do most of your walking on your own. Lots of people enjoy walking on their own, but those who arrive hoping for company may be disappointed. |
| Waymarking | Do expect to have to be able to read a map, because the route isn't marked from end to end, and it's quite easy to get lost on a fairly regular basis. The signing is confusing, I found, because some turns are marked whereas others are not, even within the same County. Therefore, the absence of a Pennine Way sign at a junction of footpaths shouldn't be taken as an indication that the route goes straight on. I used my compass on a regular basis, and I even dug out the GPS from time to time to get a grid reference :) |
| Zinc Oxide Tape | I bought some zinc oxide tape at Boot's before I left, and it was really easy to use because I didn't need scissors or a knife to cut it: I could just tear pieces off as I needed them. I assumed that all zinc oxide tape was created equal, but I was wrong. I wasn't able to find any other tearable tape along the route, so if you think you may need some then I'd recommend buying plenty at Boot's before you go :) |
| Byrness to Kirk Yetholm | In the past, lots of people have done this as one extremely long day, but unless you're Superman or Superwoman you're likely to find that a knackering, miserable experience which has the potential to spoil your walk right at the end of the trip, by leaving you with unhappy memories of extreme exhaustion and significant pain in every limb. A number of options exist for splitting the day into two. You could camp at Clennell Street as suggested in the National Trail Guide, or you can find B and B at Uswayford Farm, a few Ks off the route approximately half way in. (Do a Google search to find lots of information about Uswayford Farm.) Another possibility, and the one I took, is to stay the night at the 18 mile bothy, on the saddle beneath the summit of Auchope Cairn. If I was staying at the 18 mile bothy again I'd actually camp outside - there's some nice, flat ground - unless the weather absolutely prohibited it, because it's so extremely uncomfortable trying to sleep on a narrow plank surrounded by thousands of spiders :) If you need, or want, to get the early bus out of Kirk Yetholm to go home, the 18 mile bothy may well be your only realistic option. With a 6am start in perfect conditions, it took me 3 hours to get from the bothy to the Border Hotel via the original, high level route. I was moving pretty fast, but not so fast that others, similarly motivated, couldn't do the same. |
| The Border Hotel | I'd hoped to have a pint at the Border Hotel to celebrate the end of the walk, but it wasn't open until 11am. When faced with a choice between a pint at the Border Hotel or getting home to sleep in my own bed, I found the decision very easy to make. Those who also want to get home after a very long walk: don't worry! You can celebrate just as happily at Kelso or Berwick-on-Tweed :-) |