Walk - The Magazine of the Ramblers » Walk Summer 2010

A walk with Tom

Chris Hatherill — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 12:09:00 +0000

In one of his last interviews, Tom Stephenson

walked the Pennine Way with Roly Smith

in 1976.

In one of his last interviews, Tom Stephenson walked the Pennine Way with Roly Smith

in 1976…

“Aye,” said Tom, a warm smile creasing his weatherbeaten face. “It’s a grand valley isn’t it?”

We were looking up Grindsbrook Clough to the rock-rimmed Edale Moor. This was where it all began. The Pennine Way snakes northwards for 250 miles from here to beyond the Scottish Border, keeping to the upper vertebrae of England’s backbone all the way.

But when Tom Stephenson proposed, in a throwaway centre-spread filler for the Daily Herald 41 years ago, “a faint line…which the feet of grateful pilgrims would engrave on the face of the land,” he could have had no idea of what would follow.

“The way I feel, this route has given so much pleasure to so many thousands of people who perhaps otherwise would not have ventured onto the hills,” said Tom. “This is what I wanted in the first place, and when I see young people enjoying themselves on the Way, it makes it seem worthwhile.”

But there had been a mounting wave of criticism in mountaineering circles against the designation of all forms of long-distance footpaths. The proposed Cambrian Way and a long-distance route in the Cairngorms had attracted a storm of protest. Were there not too many ‘ways’ now?

“Mountaineers were always opposed to the Pennine Way,” he recalled. “The Times complained that ramblers were being molly-coddled when the Pennine Way was first proposed. But having a designated ‘way’ has meant more people enjoying the freedom of the hills, and I can’t see anything wrong in that.”

Talking to Tom about the inception of the Pennine Way, and the setting up of the National Parks Commission, you realise how important a part fate plays in these things. He was the right man in the right place at the right time. It is doubtful whether any of this important legislation would have passed onto the Statutes had not all these conditions have been in place at the time.

Tom’s face lights up and his tongue darts out mischievously as he recounts the tales of a judiciously-worded press release written with carte blanche Ministerial consent, or the publicity-seeking walks with leading MPs and Ministers along sections of the Pennine Way; all arranged when he was Press Officer to the Ministry of Town and Country Planning just after the war. “Aye, we had some fun,” he grins.

He frankly admits that one of the major reasons for the route was to clear up the longstanding and knotty problems of access over Kinder and Bleaklow. When the route was first proposed, there were 180 miles on existing rights of way, leaving about 70 miles of new rights of way to be negotiated. Half of these were in the Kinder-Bleaklow section. Tom has some horrifying tales to tell of the old access battles fought between ramblers and gamekeepers on the moors of the Dark Peak, and still keeps a dossier of gamekeeper assaults during that period.

It was an incredible 70 years ago that Tom had his introduction to the hills. He climbed Pendle Hill from his home in Whalley, Lancashire, one crisp February morning, ‘equipped’ only with his wooden clogs, and stood for the first time on a summit. The memory of that crystal-clear morning is still as fresh to Tom as if it were yesterday.

“It was breathtaking,” he recalled. “I saw range after range of snow-capped hills – Ingleborough, Penyghent, all of which I didn’t know then, but which were to become old friends.

“Oh gosh, I just hadn’t realised that this whole new world was on my doorstep. I made up my mind that day that this was for me.”

The nine-bob-a-week apprentice textile printer walked the Pennines from Dovedale to the Roman Wall during the next seven years, and got to know them intimately, although he admits he still hasn’t walked the whole length of his Pennine Way in one continuous trip.

Seventy years on, the attraction of the hills is still as strong. He was looking forward to a walking holiday in the Lakes when we met, keenly anticipating a reunion with his favourite hill, Glaramara – “not too high, but nice and knobbly.”

A recent television documentary renamed the Pennine Way ‘Stephenson’s Way’, and it is a fitting tribute to his imaginative conception to say that this was no exaggeration.

A version of this interview first appeared in Peak Park News, Journal of the Peak District National Park, in Autumn 1976

Celebrating 75 years!

Chris Hatherill — Fri, 28 May 2010 13:01:30 +0000

The media, politicians and walkers up and down the country have all been joining in the celebrations for the Ramblers’ 75th anniversary. So far, more than 3,000 people have joined in over 100 anniversary baton walks, with the baton journeying from the South West of England to the West Midlands, Wales and Scotland since January. BBC’s The One Show joined Ramblers from Colchester for one walk in February, and there were more journalists in attendance at a special walk organised by Manchester Ramblers to Kinder Scout, commemorating the Mass Trespass in April 1932 (read more in Tom Franklin’s column).

Just before the General Election was called, the Ramblers spent the week at the Houses of Parliament with a specially commissioned display celebrating past achievements and drumming up support for current campaigns, signing up 700 prospective parliamentary candidates to a new manifesto for walkers in the process. And there was a similar display mounted by Ramblers volunteers in Manchester’s town hall. There are plenty more celebratory events to come, including an ambitious baton walk that circumnavigates the capital and summer picnics, so for more information, visit www.ramblers75.org.uk or check out walk‘s ongoing anniversary coverage.

Ulster Way relaunches

Chris Hatherill — Fri, 28 May 2010 12:48:02 +0000

The Ulster Way has been relaunched – but with walkers recommended to tackle over a third of it by public transport. First conceived in 1946 by countryside campaigner Wilfrid Capper, the original 1,070km/665-mile circular route linked all six of Northern Ireland’s counties, with short sections straying over the border into the Republic, when it was finally created in the 1970s. But with the province lacking good legal provision for rights of way and countryside access, there were always problems, including long road sections and places where informal access had been withdrawn. By 2000 the route was badly neglected and the Countryside Access and Activities Network for Northern Ireland decided to stop promoting it.

Now, the full-length Ulster Way has been relaunched on a revised and slightly shorter route of 1,000km/625 miles, but with only selected ‘quality sections’ fully waymarked and promoted as ideal for walking, mainly following existing Waymarked Ways through the province’s numerous Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The remaining 342km/214 miles are unsigned and predominantly on-road ‘link sections’ where walkers are advised to catch buses and trains, though the really determined can walk them using online maps.
For more about the route, visit www.ulsterway.co.uk.

A guide to the recently launched 88km/55-mile Annandale Way in Dumfries & Galloway is available as a free download from www.sulwathconnections.org

Image by Wikipedia Common user ‘Ardfern’

Walks of art

Chris Hatherill — Thu, 27 May 2010 16:31:37 +0000

British art is moving outdoors. Countless exhibitions have been created around towns and across the countryside. Some taking in sculpture inspired by – and framing – the scenery. From Banksy’s notorious urban graffiti to the famous pastoral scenes of Constable’s oil paintings, Julia Buckley uncovers the best of Britain’s art walks…

Essex Constable Country
Where: Dedham Vale, Colchester, Essex
Distance: 11½km/7 miles
Start/End: Manningtree station (TM093322)

Overview: This circular walk along the Dedham Vale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty follows in the footsteps of the great landscape artist John Constable, born in nearby East Bergholt. Anyone familiar with his paintings will instantly recognize the lowland country villages, rolling farmland, rivers, meadows and ancient woodlands that feature so prominently in his work. Highlights include Bridge Cottage, which houses an exhibition of the artist’s life and works, and the ‘chocolate box’ village of Flatford, which inspired some of Constable’s most famous paintings including The Mill Stream and The White Horse. Next to Flatford Mill is a familiar scene from perhaps Constable’s best-loved work, The Hay Wain.

See walk‘s Routemaster section for your free guide to this walk.

Antony Gormley’s Another Place
Where: Crosby, Merseyside
Distance: 3km/2 miles
Start: Waterloo rail station (SJ320980)
End: Sefton coast car park (SD298006)

Overview: A straightforward route along the two-mile Crosby foreshore, peppered with 100 sculptures by Angel of the North artist Antony Gormley. Whether you arrive amid the bustle of families frolicking on the sands on a summer’s day or during the desolate depths of winter, standing among the congregation of 189cm-tall cast-iron figures of men gazing eerily out to sea is bound to make you feel a little contemplative. Cut the walk short at the end of the beach, or continue on through the sand hills, past a 4,000-year-old submerged forest, to the Alt estuary.

FURTHER INFO: www.visitsouthport.com/sefton

Bristol Street Art
Where: Central Bristol, Clifton area
Distance: 10km/6 miles
Start/End: Clifton suspension bridge (ST565732)

Overview: A trail passing Bristol’s iconic street art and featuring work by renowned names, including the UK’s most famous graffiti artist – the mysterious Banksy. Works change on a weekly basis as murals are washed away or painted over and new creations appear. Many are thought-provoking, others highly amusing. More permanent highlights include the Banksy murals of a small boy behind an armed policeman and an astronaut. Sunday is the best day to see the artists in action. Or, if you fancy trying your hand at street art, bring along an aerosol and express yourself on the practice wall set aside for the purpose on Ashley Road.

FURTHER INFO: www.bristolgraffitimap.com or bristolgraffiti.wordpress.com

See walk‘s Routemaster section for your free guide to this walk.

Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Where: West Bretton, West Yorkshire
Distance: Various
Start/End: Park Entrance (SE282130)

Overview: You might feel a bit like Alice in Wonderland while happening upon the many enchanting sculptures placed throughout this 200ha/500-acre, 18th-century park, not least because of statues shaped like giant hares. Among the sculptures by established artists such as Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Antony Gormley, are more playful pieces: a huge head lies in the grass; benches play eerie tunes when you sit on them; and a bridge built over the remains of a ha-ha (ditch) declares “HA HA” along its side. There’s no defined trail through it all, but plenty of paths to explore, so you’re free to either plan your route using a map of the park or just amble as the mood takes you.

FURTHER INFO: ✆ 01924 832631, www.ysp.co.uk

Striding Arches
Where: Cairnhead Forest, Dumfries & Galloway
Distance: 16km/10 miles
Start/End: Byre (NX696974)

Overview: Three stone arches, each spanning about seven metres, stand atop three hills around Cairnhead. A fourth arch springs from an old farm building in the heart of the glen, providing shelter and a meeting point for visitors. Created from local red sandstone, the structures create both a focal point and a frame for the landscape. The artist, Andy Goldsworthy, has placed similar arches in Canada, the US and New Zealand to symbolise the emigration of Scots. Until a trail between the arches is constructed, you’ll need to plot your own route using a map (Explorer OS 328), but navigation shouldn’t be difficult, as each hilltop arch is visible from the other two. Be prepared for strenuous walking across moorland.

FURTHER INFO: www.stridingarches.com

The Six Dales Trail

Chris Hatherill — Thu, 27 May 2010 15:53:26 +0000

John Sparshatt, £5.99, Walkers are Welcome (Otley), ISBN 978 0 95644 410 3

This new 61km/38-mile trail (to be officially launched in June), from Otley in Wharfedale to Middleham in Wensleydale via Nidderdale, has been devised and developed by the Walkers are Welcome team from Otley, which includes members of the Ramblers. The Six Dales Trail contains route description, colour photos and excellent maps. See www.sixdalestrail.org.uk.