RUMBLINGS…

Thinking of coming along on the 26th? Wonderful!

But please give me a bell beforehand if you haven’t already, to reserve tickets. They’re selling faster than expected and quite a few people are already travelling long distances to be here. I would hate for anyone to arrive on the night and find the place full.

The level of support is already terrific. If you’ve already booked tickets, many thanks indeed. If, however, you find that you’re unable to come on the night, please let us know so we can release the tickets being held for you on the door.

The number to ring is OI729 822547. Look forward to seeing you there!

If you’d like to help with promoting the event, the poster above is downloadable. Feel free to print it out and stick it on your fridge, village notice board, have it printed on a T-shirt or plaster it on a passing ice cream van. Or you could do like Phil Lambert and pop it on your own blog or website - many thanks Phil, it’s worked wonders (Mike Knipe’s coming…!).

The South Pennines Walk and Ride Festival now has its own website, where you can browse the rich variety of events taking place over the fortnight of September 12-27.

The festival, now less than a fortnight away, includes more than 100 outdoor events, from guided walks and mountainbike rides to horse rides, orienteering events and more, all linked by the themes of exercise, exploring the heritage of the South Pennines and, of course, fresh air.

The new festival website means that the links in my previous blog entry are no longer valid. Instead, head over to the new website or download the programme directly by clicking here.

John Manning

John Manning

A project I’ve been working on closely in recent months is drawing closer to fruition – you can download a programme for the 2009 South Pennines Walk and Ride Festival here (note: download starts immediately).

The festival will take place from September 12 to 27, and features an incredible 108 events, ranging from short nature walks to yomping great strides over the South Pennines moors, from introductory mountainbiking courses to road cycling adventures and orienteering events of all levels to, for the first time for this particular festival, two horse riding events.

Most of the events are free of charge, and only a handful require pre-booking. Most are reachable by using the area’s excellent public transport network, both west and east of the Pennine watershed.

It’s the ideal opportunity to discover and explore the South Pennines, an area of deep valleys and expansive moorlands, rich in industrial and natural heritage, wedged between the more crowded Yorkshire Dales and Peak District National Parks.

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It’s not every day a pike-bearing helmeted soldier walks straight out of the English Civil War into the Yorkshire Dales.

And it’s definitely not every Civil War soldier who travels the country armed with a pike, a sword and a GPS-enabled Blackberry phone!

Meet Malcolm Cray, aka The Pikeman, who’s walking from John O’Groats to Land’s End to raise funds for the charity Help or Heroes. He’s walking the entire route in the uniform of a Parliamentarian pikeman – which includes heavy chest and back armour, a weighty iron helmet, and rather authentic clothing, all of which weighs a ton… well, not a ton, but when he left Dunnett Head almost 40 days ago he was struggling under 80lb of gear.

His kit isn’t the usual mix of outdoor gear you might be familiar with. Take my word for it, walking in the sweltering heat we’ve had this week, bearing a burden like this, takes extraordinary commitment and resolve.
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