Paul Ince and Dr Angela Hilton share their memories of walking the national trail. Plus a letter from Tony Hufton
I walked the Pennine Way in August 1970 at the age of 16 with a school friend (The Guardian view on the Pennine Way: a pioneer of long-distance soul therapy, 9 April). Wainwright’s guide and a stack of Ordnance Survey maps were in our metal-frame rucksacks. Kitted out from the Army & Navy store, clumpy leather boots and no Gore-Tex. We did it in 21 days, which would be scoffed at in these more macho times, but the experience was formative and transformative.
An abiding memory was our encounter with the M62, still under construction. The Pennine Way footbridge soared over a boggy cutting, but had barbed wire at each end and no handrails. We slithered down the bare earth cutting and dodged bulldozers to get to the other side. The majesty of the traverse of Blackstone Edge soon put that behind us. I hope many people are inspired to walk it on this 60-year celebration. So many high points and so few lows.
Paul Ince
Smalldale, Derbyshire
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