RUMBLINGS…

The South Pennines Walk and Ride Festival opens on Saturday, with events that will enable everyone to explore the countryside of that special area between the Peak and Yorkshire Dales National Parks.

I’ve organised the festival on behalf of Pennine Prospects, and that’s me at the launch (left) with Metro chairman Councillor Ryk Downes, who formally announced the event to the press at a modest ceremony at Hebden Bridge Railway Station last week.

The festival, which is sponsored by Metro, will take place over two weeks, from Saturday, September 13, to Sunday, September 28, and comprises a wonderful blend of guided walks and cycle rides, together with a handful of other outdoor events such as conservation days, nature walks, sponsored charity events and heritage days thrown in for good measure. Virtually all the 83 events are reachable by public transport, and all but a handful are free of charge.

I’ve been working the event for the past few months on behalf of Pennine Prospects, the body which works towards the redevelopment of the South Pennine area, on behalf of the key local authorities, utility companies, government advisory bodies such as Natural England and community movements.

The individual events are being led by a wonderful cross-section of voluntary groups, recreational organisations, full-time countryside officers, wardens, charities and more.

They’ve all generously volunteered their time and expertise to ensure that visitors and South Pennine folks alike get as much as possible out of the wonderful landscape that has inspired artists, poets and authors over the centuries. This is, after all, the area that provided the muse for the Brontë sisters, for the late poet laureate Ted Hughes, the novelist Glyn Hughes, artist Peter Brooke and many others whose work has enriched Britain’s cultural heritage.

The South Pennines contains some of the finest walking and cycling country in Britain. Ancient causey paths, bridleways and packhorse trails climb quickly and steeply from wooded valley bottoms to wide open heather moors, offering a diversity of terrain that few other areas can boast within such a comparatively small geographic area.

You can download a copy of the festival programme here or you should be able to find one at railway stations and tourist information centres in and around the South Pennine region. Otherwise, please call 01274 431019 to have one mailed to you direct.

There’s a press release giving general information about the event here.

A healthy peat bog - photo from Moors for the Future

Ever bog-hopped your way across the Peak District’s peaty moors and wished you could do a little bit to help negate all that erosion you’re causing?

Well, here’s a way you can help by simply lifting a finger. That’s nothing more than lifting a finger, note.

The Moors for the Future project, managed by my old pal Chris Dean, is through to the finals of the National Lottery’s Best Environment Project awards – and it needs your vote.

Many scientists and environmentalist believe that peat moors are the UK’s best store of carbon gases, a natural defence against global warming.

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Many congrats to Gayle and Mick who completed their Land’s End to John O’ Groats walk early yesterday afternoon.

The couple, who’ve kept a great blog account – read it here – throughout their progress, started on April 15 and have been raising funds for MacMillan Cancer Support (you can make donations here).

I’ve completely neglected the UK Triple Crown sections of my website pages in recent months (actually, I’ve neglected most of the pages there, since the site was set up!) but hopefully a quick glance will help Gayle and Mick realise that they’re now a third of the way to becoming Triple Crowners!

This afternoon the Government released its response to the petition, on the Prime Minister’s own website, for wild camping to be legalised in England and Wales.

Guess what? The government is going to do nothing.

Ho hum.

Let’s have a look at what the Government says, bit by bit. Along the way, purely for the sake of interest, I’ll compare it with the response I received from Environment Secretary Hilary Benn, via my local Tory MP, David Curry, way back in February.

“This Government appreciates the potential benefits of wild camping in England and its attractiveness to campers who already have the opportunity to camp in the wild in Scotland,” says the Government today.

Compare that to what Mr Benn said in February: “I do appreciate what Mr Manning says about the potential benefits of wild camping in England and its attractiveness to campers who already have the opportunity to camp in the wild in Scotland.”

Spot the similarity? There’s more…

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Steph and I arrived back home in Stainforth at the end of May after spending a fortnight on the TGO Challenge, that annual west-to-east crossing of Scotland that is, quite simply, the finest backpacking event in the world.

Chances are that if you read this blog you already know about the Challenge but for latecomers I’ll summarise: every May, over two weeks, around 300 good folk backpack coast-to-coast across Scotland. They start from more than a dozen check out points on the west coast and make their way, via a route of their own devising, through the mountains and glens of the Highlands, to the eastern seaboard, where they finish at a point of their own choosing between Fraserburgh and Arbroath.

Your route can be as sociable or as lonesome as you like: I make no excuses for having taken the sociable option one each of the nine Challenges I’ve completed to date – the folk who take part are some of the most friendly types you could wish to meet and stories, advice and beers shared along the 200-and-odd miles that most routes involve shouldn’t be missed.

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