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The birth of the Walk of the Roses and a rebuttal to gaiter-skeptics.
When my dad was younger he did a walk he called ‘A
Peak Too Far’ (the Yorkshire 3 Peaks plus Pendle Hill) which he wrote about in the May 1992 issue of Country Walking. He was always talking about it. Me and my godfather Richard used to joke saying we would go one better and make it a circuit. Dad then got it into his head he wanted Tosside to be ‘put on the map’ by this walk, insisting it had to start and end in the village where you can have one foot in Yorkshire and one foot in Lancashire at the same time.
The joke became a reality on 22 June at 11.59pm as we touched the memorial in the centre of Tosside and set off. From Tosside we walked through the back way to Rathmell, excited but nervous about the journey ahead. It was beautiful walking at night with the bright moon and stars above us. From there we walked to Settle, Stainforth and got to Penyghent (the first of the three peaks) at around 4am. Penyghent looked stunning and was a real boost to the system. The sun started to come up and there was a beautiful layer of fog which sat underneath it, making it look even more heavenly. We made it to the first trig point and there were two men who had been there all night taking photos of the wonderful view. I told them what we were going to try and do and they were shocked and looked skeptical.
From Penyghent we walked on to Whernside, the viaduct looking incredible, us feeling grateful for the perfect weather conditions. Then we walked to the third peak, Ingleborough, where most people would normally finish. But instead we walked through Clapham, over Bowland Knotts, by Stocks reservoir and over to Sawley. At this point my godfather had to call it a day because his feet were knackered beyond belief. So it was just me left. My brother Nathan walked with me through the fields to Downham and then my boyfriend Barry walked up Pendle Hill with me in the dark. I needed all the moral support I could get by this point, let me tell you. I got to the trig point on top of Pendle Hill at 11.55pm on Saturday 23 June 18 – just under 24 hours. I then followed my same route down Pendle Hill and then walked to Chatburn, back to Sawley and onward to the final destination where I started... Tosside. I had my mum and dad driving next to me and making sure I was safe and my boyfriend and brother taking it in turns to walk with me. I finally finished at about 5am Sunday 24th June, 175,000 steps, 10,000 calories and 76 MILES later. I hope that, as my dad hoped, this walk will inspire other people to try… Just remember you MUST start and finish in Tosside! (It’s been big news in such a small village, LOL!) Ellie Wharton, Tosside