They wanted his advice for a walking holiday. For comparison, they mentioned the Appalachian Trail, a high-level walk of 1,500 miles in the United States. That gave me an idea for a newspaper article. So I suggested a high-level walk over the Pennines. To his great surprise, the article created a tremendous interest.
Most people allocate a fortnight to walk along the spine of England.
John Rawnsley, the Airedale cyclist, in 1976 completed it in less than three days, cycling, running or walking for no less than 271 miles and climbing a total of 28,000 feet, which is getting on for the height of Everest. He met his first mechanical trouble on the Cheviot Hills when the right pedal spindle shattered. He had to cover nine miles to where Malcolm Renshaw, a friend, was standing by with a spare machine. It took him two and a half hours. The Dales section begins where a walker exchanges the peat and mat grass of the Southern Pennines for the springy turf of the limestone country in Craven.