It extends for 250 miles from Edale in Derbyshire to Kirk Yetholm, at the northern end of the Cheviot Hills. Walk along the Pennine Way and you pass through a succession of solitudes. Everywhere there are sheep. The other sounds, in spring, come from the upland wading birds - from curlew, golden plover, lapwing and snipe. The tawny landscape unfolds slowly, rather like the plot of a good book.
Interest is sustained to the end.
The Pennine Way was first suggested in 1935 by Tom Stephenson, who mentioned it as an idea in a newspaper article. Possible routes were surveyed before the 1939-45 war. The National Parks Commission made the Way the first of the long-distance paths. Its recommendation was approved in 1951. Many years were to pass before the entire route was negotiated with landowners.