Note that the diary entries from last year's trip, all the details from previous journeys, and lots of photographs from all of them can be found in separate pages on this blog. Nothing is ever deleted, just moved to one side to make room for the next adventure!
No word from me for a long time here, but now I can put that right, with the plan for another stroll in September 2024.
The timing is a little delayed; normally I would have set out in July, as in the previous two years, but some health matters needed attention, and the recovery time before training could start made a later date more sensible. Training has also been on a more gentle curve than usual, as I had several weeks where I was forbidden to do more than a short daily potter, let alone pick up a full backpack.
The planned route this year once again starts away from home, but this time it is a route of my own devising, dipping into various national and local trails but not sticking to any of them. It joins the cathedrals of Lichfield, north east of Birmingham, and Lancaster, far to the north west (thus coded “L to L”).
From Lichfield it heads north across easy flat land for the first day, landing at the little town of Tutbury, with its ruined castle. The northward progress continues then into Derbyshire, and to the foot of Dovedale, then next through several dales and onward to Bakewell. The traverse of the limestone “White Peak” is completed through more dales, then by Litton and Tideswell to Castleton. Next comes a challenging day in the “Dark Peak”, crossing some high points to reach Glossop. From here the route threads a line along the western edge of the Pennines to Littleborough, just beyond Rochdale, then dips into Yorkshire near Todmorden before crossing more moors and descending into Burnley. Now it heads west, offering a possible traverse of Pendle Hill, deep in witch country, and the final day takes it over the Forest of Bowland to Lancaster.
The plan distance is around 165 miles, much the same as last year’s pilgrim jaunt, although there are more ups and downs involved. While the training gives confidence (and some sore muscles) it can never quite account for everything that might turn up. Not least for the weather – in the end I was quite relieved not to have been travelling through the unpredictable weather of early July. Let’s hope the beginning of September will be more settled. We shall see.
As before I hope to be able to update this space at the end of each day with both words and pictures, always better written within the moment.
