UK - Pennine Way (SoBo) - Venture

Summary

A 260 mile route (up to 268 miles if you follow the official trail) that follows the Pennine Way from north to south (SoBo) and completed over a 17 days trek. The journey includes 8 wildcamps, 6 camps at campsites, a night at a bothy (Greg’s Hut) and the luxury of 1 night’s hotel accommodation. The journey includes an optional road walk from Kelso to the official Pennine Way start at Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders. It finishes at Edale in the Peak District and mostly follows a southerly direction along the length of the Pennines.  

The trail starts in the lonely and remote Cheviots with a high-level 2 day ridge walk across the mountain range. The terrain is then easier, but still remote as it makes way through the forestry, moorland and fields of Northumberland. Hadrian’s Wall provides a historical and interesting interlude as well as a rollercoaster path. At this point I have an alternative version of the Pennine Way for a day that calls in at Haltwhistle and follows the beautiful South Tyne to Lambley. The trail continues southwards crossing the highest point on the Pennine Way at Cross Fell. It then heads to the stunning glacial valley of High Cup Nick before following the River Tees with its awesome High and Low forces. More moorland and field-hopping brings you to the halfway point around the A66. There are then arguably the best 3 or 4 days on the trail as it passes through the Dales with its epic limestone landscape. Eventually the trail reaches its southern end and entry to the final few days of bleaker, but no less beautiful moorlands, reservoirs and lanes of West Yorkshire and then the Dark Peak. The final couple of days traverses Black Hill, Bleaklow and Kinder Scout that are as dramatic and feel as remote as that of the Cheviots at the start of the trail. The final day is the shortest with a descent from the Kinder Scout plateau into the Vale of Edale and eventually into Edale village itself. 

Notes

SoBo Or NoBo?

The Pennine Way is normally tacked from south to north. This is my fifth time tackling the trail and I prefer the SoBo (South Bound) direction. There are advantages and disadvantages either way and I’ve listed the main reasons for my SoBo choice below. 

My Alternative Routes

There were a couple of days where I deviated from the official route:

• Haltwhistle Alternative

• Pen-y-ghent Alternative

Haltwhistle Alternative

On Day 6 I chose a different route between Winshields and Lambley Common. My route was xx miles shorter than the official one and in effect took a more direct southerly route than the official one. It followed the Haltwhistle Burn into Haltwhistle and then the South Tyne to Lambley before re-joining the official Pennine Way route.  I chose this alternative for the following reasons: 

• The official route continued westwards along Hadrian’s Wall before heading southwards over moors and fields to Lambley Common. I’d walked this section of Hadrian’s Wall many times before and felt it couldn’t offer me anything I’d not already seen.

• I don’t find the route from Greenford to Lambley Common (on the official route) that inspiring.

• Although I’d walked alongside the Haltwhistle Burn once before, I wanted to return to view its impressive gorge again.

• Haltwhistle had a cafe for a pit stope and a supermarket to restock my supplies.

• I wanted to investigate the path along the South Tyne that passes Featherstone Castle and Lambley Viaduct. This turned out to be a beautiful route.

Although there is merit in following the official route for this section, especially if you’ve not walked along Hadrian’s Wall before, I found my alternative route to be a more useful and pleasurable option. 

Pen-y-ghent Alternative

On Day 12, my original intention had been to camp at the campsite in Horton-in-Ribblesdale. Unfortunately, this coincided with a Bank Holiday weekend. Although the site owner was willing to find me a camping spot, he warned me that he was expecting 250 people to camp there. I decided to wildcamp instead, but where? I figured Pen-y-Ghent might also be a popular option for a Bank Holiday weekend too and so I wondered whether the summit of Fountains Fell might be a better option. Given the lateness of the day, it wouldn’t be possible to summit Pen-y-ghent and then summit Fountains Fell using the Pennine Way’s official route. Instead, I bypassed Pen-y-ghent and ascended Fountains Fell directly. I have to admit, that another reason for missing Pen-y-ghent’s summit would mean that I would have had to scramble down its southern ridge with a very heavy backpack. That was a risk I was not prepared to take when I was tired after a long day. This alternative would actually be an option I’d consider in future, especially since I’ve submitted Pen-y-ghent many times in the past anyway. 

Other Walkers

I was quite surprised at how few NoBo walkers I came across. I probably encountered between 50-80. Maybe it was too early in the walking season. About 10 of these were incorporating the Pennine Way into a longer walk such as Lands End To John O’Groats (or Cape Wrath). A few of these were camping, but most were using B&B and/or hotels. A lot were using baggage transfer services. 

Honesty Cafes

The Pennine Way hasn’t embraced the idea of Honesty Cafes. I came across 3 altogether: 

• Bow Hall (half a mile east of Dufton) - small box of drinks.

• Colin Hill Farm (half a mile before reaching Grassholme Reservoir) - small selection of items

• Clove Lodge (half a mile after Blackton Reservoir) - a tremendous selection of anything you might need. An excellent honesty cafe.

Supplies

The Pennine Way traverses some very remote terrain. It does pass the occasional pub and cafe if you want to grab a meal. Ensure that you pre-check opening times to avoid disappointment. As a wildcamper, I carried at most 4 days worth of food. My main re-supply routes en-route were the following: 

• Day 1 - Kelso - Sainsburys

• Day 4 - Bellingham - Co-Op

• Day 6 - Haltwhistle  - Co-Op

• Day 9 - Middleton-in-Teesdale - Co-Op

• Day 12 - Hawes - Spar

• Day 13 - Gargrave - Co-Op

• Day 15 - May’s Shop (Heptonstall)

Water

I was able to filter water along the majority of the trek. The only real ‘dry zone’ was the Cheviots. If you stick to the high level ridge across the Cheviots then water provision can be difficult. I only found one trickle of a source between Mozie Law and Beefstand Hill that I was comfortable to filter. The Routin Well south of Windy Gyle appears to be an option (NT8549 1444 and marked on my map), but please note that I’ve not checked the viability of it myself. 

Campsites

I stayed at the following campsites: 

• Day 4 - Bellingham - Brown Rigg - exceptional value.

• Day 5 - Hadrian’s Wall - Windshields - basic, but does the job.

• Day 10 - Keld - Ruskin’s - basic, but does the job.

• Day 11 - Hardraw - Old Hall - basic, but does the job.

• Day 13 - Ickornshaw - Whitehouse Barn - basic, but does the job.

• Day 14 - Heptonstall - May’s Shop - more of a field shared with sheep. It does have a portable loo though! Camping is free and so amazing value.

Wildcamps

I wildcamped on 8 days. I could probably have found wildcamps on all the days that I camped on a commercial campsite, but sometimes you want a shower after a day’s walking. 

Usual wildcamp rules apply: arrive late and leave early, leave no trace etc. 

Bothy

I stayed at the following bothy:

• Day 7 - Greg’s Hut - a great bothy with room sleeping space for at least half a dozen people…even more if they are prepared to kip on the floor. Space isn’t guaranteed though and so maybe you need a backup plan in case it is full. 

Hotels

I stayed at the following hotels: 

Day 9 - Middleton-in-Teesdale - Teesdale Hotel  - basic, but does the job. Single room cost £58 (2026). 

Transport

Kirk Yetholm

The easiest way to get to Kirk Yetholm for me (from Sheffield) was: 

• Train to Berwick-upon-Tweed - very regular along East Coast mainline.

• Bus to Kelso - Border Buses No. 67 - every 2 hour

Getting the 8 miles from Kelso to Kirk Yetholm proved more troublesome. I could have got a taxi if I was prepared to wait a couple of hours. In the end, I walked to Kirk Yetholm along the road instead. This turned out to be a reasonable option. 

Edale

Easy access to Sheffield and Manchester using the regular train service from Edale Railway Station. 

Route Finding

The Pennine Way is a National Trail and so is reasonably well signed. The signage should definitely not be relied upon though. In some areas it appears to be missing altogether. I’d done the trail 4 times before and so had a pretty good visual memory of where I should be going. Even so, I occasionally ended up going off track. The route goes through high and remote country and so good navigational skills are essential. 

Scrambly Bits

There are two scrambly bits where extra care is required if you are carrying a heavy backpack. These are: 

• Cauldron Spout (Day 8) - descent next to the waterfall. 

• Pen-y-ghent (Day 12)  - descent down its south ridge. I bypassed it by going directly to Fountains Fell.

Guide Books

Trailblazer was the best for general information and planning for the walk. It was too heavy to take with me though. 

I did take Cicerone’s 1:25,000 route map booklet with me. It was sometimes quicker to reference this rather than the maps on my phone.