Fifty years ago I was on the Pennine Way, my first long-distance walk

Below Rakes Rocks. My first camp on the Pennine Way, April 7

On April 7^th, 1976, I set out on my first long-distance walk, a journey that was to set the pattern for the rest of my life. In the previous few years I had done plenty of day walks in the hills and a few one or two night backpacking trips. Now I wanted to find out what a longer trip felt like and whether I could complete one. I chose the Pennine Way, England’s first official long-distance path, which had opened eleven years earlier, probably because it was well-known, and also because it’s 270 miles/435 kilometres seemed the right length for a two-week trip. Stretching from the Peak District National Park up the chain of the Pennine hills and into the Cheviots before finishing just across the border in Scotland it promised a variety of landscapes and interesting walking, much of it in places I’d never been before.

My journal

I had no idea if I could do the walk or if I would enjoy it. On the train to Edale at the southern end of the trail I started my journal of the trip: “The doubts. Is the pack too heavy? Can I do it in 15 days? Am I healthy enough? Most important can I mentally cope?”. Only the answer to the first one was negative. Yes, the pack was too heavy. But otherwise the trip was a huge success. At the finish I wrote “this is definitely the way to live! I expect I’ll do it again and lots of different other walks – what a future. This is not really the end, this is just the beginning”. And what a future it has been!

I’d enjoyed the walk despite the generally wet and misty weather. My journal again: “Biggest disappointment I think was the fact that all the land traversed above 2,000 feet was in thick mist and I had no distant views at all. I think the atmosphere of being so close to nature for days on end matters as much as views”.

The guidebook I carried the whole way

Fifty years ago the world was very different of course. This was long before mobile phones or the internet. Away from roads and villages there was no means of communicating with the outside world. When you were alone in the hills you really were alone. Calling for help or advice was not an option. Navigation required careful use of map and compass. There were Pennine Way guidebooks though and I carried Wainwright’s Pennine Way Companion the whole way, poring over it eagerly in the tent every night and writing notes in the log section.

Log pages 

My one regret now is that I didn’t take photography seriously back then. I just carried a simple point-and-shoot Instamatic compact camera which produced small square photos. Due to the weather I didn’t take many pictures and most are blurred or out of focus, due, I think, to the poor quality of the camera, and my lack of ability. I have no pictures of myself on the walk.

High Force, April 15. The wet weather meant the waterfalls along the way were all splendid. The wet weather and poor light was also a bit much for my camera!

I don’t know what the pack weighed but looking at my equipment list I can see why it was too heavy. Apart from coated waterproofs (non-breathable back then) my clothing was all cotton – string vest, t-shirt, cord jeans, windproof jacket – and wool – thin sweater, thick sweater, shirt, trousers, socks, gloves, balaclava – but why did I take so much of it? I don’t know but I did note at the end that I only needed to wear one pair of socks at a time (two was standard) and that I should find something lighter than corduroy jeans for warmer weather. Of course a clothing revolution was coming in fast and the next few years would see the arrival of breathable waterproofs and synthetic replacements for cotton and wool that were lighter and more compact. But overall my clothing and equipment worked fine. I never got very cold or very wet and the camping went well.

Camp at Top Withens, April 9

I have one item of equipment left from that trip, the Trangia stove. It still works too and goes on the occasional outing. The tent – a Saunders Backpacker II – was excellent. Long after the walk and after a fair bit more usage the coating cracked and began to flake off and the nylon flysheet became brittle. But it was as good as there was then. The down sleeping bag was wonderful too. I’d borrowed it as the only one I had was a thin summer one that I knew wasn’t warm enough for April. Having to return it at the end was a blow!

My pack was my pride and joy, an American Camp Trails external frame model that cost what seemed like a fortune and which was very comfortable. However, I wasn’t so impressed with it when I had to sit on a damp hillside repairing the hipbelt which had torn off. But otherwise it carried the load well.

I resupplied with food along the way and seem from my notes to have eaten a great deal of malt loaf, cheese, and chocolate biscuits. I had muesli for breakfast and packet soups and dehydrated meals in the evening. A few of the latter were Springlow specialist camping meals, which you could get in outdoor shops. From memory they were horrible! Not having thought about them for decades I did an online search but all that turned up was an antiques site offering a “Vintage 1950's Unopened Tin of Springlow Cabbage with original contents”! The logo is the one I remember though. Mostly I dined on Batchelors Savoury Rice in different flavours, which was all that stores along the way had that was suitable.  

Fifty years on that Pennine Way walk is a distant happy memory. I can just about recognise the young man who set out on that adventure. I can see how he became the person I am now. I am so glad I did that walk.

Here’s my gear list as written in my notebook – in several different places for some reason!