Putting One Foot In Front Of The Other: From Land's End to John O'Groats

Boy, I think both Sarah and I are glad tomorrow's a rest day! Today looked better to start with- less misty, with it all rising off the hills in columns as we set off, and although we set off in waterproofs most of the wet was coming from the grass rather than the sky, and with our hostess' instructions in mind we strode off across the fields, down into a valley and immediately back out of it again, unconcerned by the Pennine Way's ongoing reticence regarding signposts. We made our way across some moors and Proper Yorkshire Scenery, finally realised that the birds we've been hearing and calling skylarks for two days are in fact curlews (they were next to each other on the information board, give us a break) and generally waltzed along enjoying ourselves. Sure, it constantly threatened rain and it wasn't wonderfully warm but we could at least actually see where we were going and it's much easier to keep up the pace when you've got actual scenery to progre...

Today was my first day walking with the lovely Sarah since our epic, hot-chocolate-fuelled five mountain trek around the Brecon Beacons and- coincidence I'm sure- the weather was almost exactly the same as on that day in February, which is to say wet, windy, quite cold and relentlessly misty. We had a day off together first; we extracted all possible entertainment from both the Standedge Tunnel centre and the National Trust information booth at Marsden, learning a truly spectacular amount of very local history and probably more about both the longest, highest and deepest canal tunnel in the UK and about the management and ecology of the Yorkshire moors than I ever really wanted to. We then had lunch. We had wonderful plans for after lunch, involving a brief trip around a church and then ice cream and hot chocolate, but Sarah's much-travelled boots (I think they've been to more countries than I have) had other ideas: the right hand one and its sole had a rather dramatic fa...

Days since I was last hailed on: 0 The theme of today's section of the Pennine Way was very definitely "walking right on the edge of very steep drops in the wind". After rejoining the Way and crossing the reservoir at Crowden, I spent a good while climbing to find myself somewhat reluctantly creeping along a path just wide enough for my two feet above the kind of drop that makes the contour lines blur together. The wind of course blows up edges like that, which at least means it's blowing you onto the hill, but with a backpack that weighs a fifth your own body weight it felt a little precarious, so I spent quite a bit of it with one hand on the tiny bit of hill above me, half crouched and looking very gnome-like. I was caught up with by a couple of very Yorkshire men (one of them called 'Arry) as I finally came down again, which was very well-timed as we crossed Great Crowden Brook together, meaning I had a hand to grab onto on the far side. There were some ...

I can't really claim to have walked to Crowden today, which is where the campsite is- I'm two miles from there sitting at a bench in the garden of my B&B where I can get just about enough signal to publish words. This is the second place in nearly six weeks which hasn't had wifi, which isn't bad- but does mean you can't have the photos until tomorrow! Today was my first day on the Pennine Way, which I'll be following all the way to Scotland over the next three weeks. Honestly I hope it's not all like this, because today was relentless . No pretty stroll today! Essentially the first six miles were an almost constant climb, followed by what felt like hours following a very much not straight limestone pavement across a peat bog, interrupted by an A-road then another slog through yet more bog on rather less even paths. With the exception of the limestone pavement, every part of the route was rubble underfoot and often several paths running adjacent to ea...

I know that traditionally, British people in general and I in particular like to complain, and this can mean some complaints get taken lightly. However, I really must make it clear that: firstly, hiking over really quite noticeable hills during one of the weather's attempts at Summer is not much fun; and secondly, it is the height of rudeness to occupy the shared bathroom before someone who has just done that has had a chance to scour the film of grime and sweat off themselves. First: I had a day off! Priestcliffe, I neglected to mention, is a cluster of about five or six houses and farms at a point where three roads come together, and my hosts were quite keen that I should not spend my entire rest day there, I think out of concern for my potential extreme boredom should I do so. Instead, I was driven into Buxton, a few miles away and Britain's highest market town (when you start celebrating things like that, everywhere is unique), and told where to get the once-an-hour bus...

Today was another lovely day. The sun shone, the birds sang, I walked along a dismantled railway for half the day and had an ice cream on the village green at Monyash. The only issue with gorgeous days like this one is that I find them much harder to write about in an entertaining way. Those of you who received email newsletters from any of my other adventures (I'm particularly thinking of my missives from New Zealand, here) will possibly have already realised that the only way I know how to be funny is when complaining. I have nothing to complain about. I had a lovely breakfast, I chose the shorter, flatter route and my fear- that I'd see nothing worth seeing all day- was not realised, I got plenty of peace and quiet to enjoy the sunshine and general Outdoors, I arrived at a nice place for lunch at lunchtime with no particular effort, and I got to my B&B in time to have a shower before tea, which I drank sitting outside in yet more glorious sunshine. I'm even man...

Ladies and gentlemen, readers, friends- I have reached the Peak District! I can report that it is beautiful here. Today, everything conspired to make a really lovely day. I had a bit of a lie-in, the paths were well-walked and marked, I bumped into another crazy person, the views were stunning, the parts which threatened to be very busy weren't, and my hostess this evening has turned out to be an excellent and generous cook, which is a relief as there's nowhere eat within two miles of me. Oh, and the weather was good, a particular relief as in a moment of spectacular idiocy I left my raincoat in the back of my parents' car after they visited yesterday and it went back to Wales with them. Yesterday was also lovely. My parents and I visited Shugborough Hall, poked around the rooms and strolled through the gardens and- most importantly- ate lots. The sun was out and I was very glad to see them. Plus, having spent in the region of £30 visiting National Trust properties sinc...