Walking Home is an account of Armitage's
attempt to walk the 256 miles of the Pennine Way. Whereas most tackle the route
from south the north he decided to reverse the route and start in Kirk Yetholm,
where he was refused the privilege of signing the book of finishers on account
of just beginning. This back to front journey would have him walking to his
childhood home of Marsden. His chosen route threw up some interesting
challenges, not least having to navigate in the opposite direction. He
realised at several points that were he walking in the conventional direction
the trail would build up to spectacular features whereas he would witness them
first, diminishing what followed.
Part of the challenge was to go
penniless and rely on poetry readings en route for money, and the kindness of
strangers for somewhere to sleep (and transport the bulk of his luggage in a
large suitcase, affectionately referred to as The Tombstone, to his next stop).
This was of course made easier by his being one of Britain's best known poets and
the benefits of modern technology allowing for broad publicity before he set
off, ensuring he had a reliable host and event organiser at each day's
destination. This does not of course detract from the effort involved in
undertaking the walk and spending his evenings performing rather than
recuperating. The readings took place in varied venues from village halls,
pubs, and even a host's living room, with equally as varied audiences and
distractions.
He was lucky that for much of
the route he had companions, many of whom were experts in the landscape.
Nonetheless there were moments of getting hopelessly lost and reminders that
there are still wild areas of the country with hostile terrain. The times of
confusion during solo walks are all the more painfully described as he hopes
for help from passing walkers. There's no sugar coating his experience -
contained within the pages are tales of exhaustion, frustration and elation on
a trail he describes as '... a pointless exercise, leading from nowhere in
particular to nowhere in particular, via no particular route and for no
particular reason.'
Part travelogue part memoir,
this is an amusing tale of endurance on Britain's oldest, toughest National
Trail.
No comments:
Post a Comment