Northern England index

Northern England, defined here as north of the Trent, has a special place in the history of British walking. Our first long-distance trail, the Pennine Way now celebrating its 40th birthday, takes a tough but rewarding line from the south to the north of my country; and the moors between Manchester and Sheffield saw the first struggles for the walker's rights of access that eventually led to the Countryside and Rights of Way Act in 2003.

My first ever fell walks, when a student at the University of York, were on the North York Moors, one of five National Parks in northern England. My favourite countryside though is in the northern Pennines around Alston, which has only the lesser designation of AONB (area of outstanding natural beauty) but has England's closest thing to wilderness.

It's not all height and emptiness, for there is plenty of gentler walking in places like Delamere Forest and the Yorkshire Wolds, and scope to explore regenerating cities like Leeds; and I've reached the end of this introduction before mentioning the Lake District, which may be a contender for the most beautiful place on the planet.

To me, the only problem is the north's distance from London. It's not a place I can get to every day, and my efforts until recently have been in Wales. Over the years though I have completed all but the last stage of the Pennine Way, and that will feature on this site in due course. Meanwhile, to start things off, here is a pair of short multi-day trips:

• a two-day walk from Pateley Bridge to Grassington, in the Dales;
• two-and-a-bit days on Hadrian's Wall, in Northumberland and Cumbria.

Site created by Peter Aylmer of London

page created 4 May 2005, revised 10 November 2007