Briefly they are to extend the Lake Distruct NP and extend it further east towards the Lune Valley, to include Bretherdale, Borrowdale, Whinfell and Grayrigg Commons and parts of the Lyth Valley. The Yorkshire Dales NP plans are to extend and include the northern Howgills, Wild Boar Fell, Mallerstang Edge, and Middleton, Barbon, Casterton and Lack Fells, most of which are featured in Wainwright’s book “Walks on the Howgill Fells”.

The campaign to have these extensions was led by the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England. They have been supported by the Friends of the Lake District, Campaign for National Parks, Open Spaces Society, Ramblers Association, John Muir Trust and the Yorkshire Dales Society, all of which have aims that broadly coincide with ours and have the support of the majority of the local population. This is a great opportunity to strengthen our National Parks and the PWA supports the proposed changes.

Add your own voice to support this important change by going to the CPRE website at www.cpre.org.uk and seeking out the petition or follow this direct link to the campaign page.

People in the North Pennines have opened their arms to me and have come together in places like village halls and pubs for a shared experience and l have realised how important gathering points like these are for often geographically scattered communities. North of my doorstep used to be a bit of a blank – the North Pennines, for me, was a huge unexplored area. It’s now on my mental map although l feel like l have only scratched the surface. It has an epic geography and a variety of landscapes that are on a breathtaking scale [he had just come over High Cup Nick]. It’s no longer a blank – instead it’s a place full of variety and surprising diversity – a place that l can see myself returning to.

Simon is writing a book about his walk which l imagine will be due out shortly and we will keep our members informed on this. As a matter of interest this year’s Annual Walk will be based at Langdon Beck which is a hotel l can definitely recommend. It captures the essence of the North Pennines as well as serving excellent ales (Jarrow Rivet Catcher is superb!) and top class local food.

After much consideration, the Wainwright Society Management Committee has agreed to pass over the role of ‘Responsible Organisation’ for the Pennine Journey long distance footpath to the Pennine Journey Supporters Club.

This new body, in course of being established, will have as its primary purpose “the support and promotion of the Pennine Journey” and its founder members are comprised mainly of Wainwright Society members who have been involved with the Pennine Journey project since its inception in 2005. The name of the new body reflects Alfred Wainwright’s membership of Blackburn Rovers Supporters Club at the time he walked his 1938 Pennine Journey.

The Club will seek to engage with local communities and organisations in achieving its aims which if successful will bring economic benefits to those communities through which the route passes.

The Management Committee of The Wainwright Society has recognised that for the Pennine Journey to make a real impact there is a need for the ‘Responsible Organisation’ to be more locally based when compared to the widespread membership of the Society.

The Wainwright Society wishes the Pennine Journey Supporters Club every success and hopes to see the route waymarked at the earliest opportunity.

More information can be found at the project’s website: www.penninejourney.org.uk

Discussions are now taking place to decide the constitution of the Pennine Journey Supporters Club and an inaugural meeting will take place on 31st March. It is expected that its purpose will be agreed as “to promote and support the Pennine Journey” and the Club will seek to engage with local organisations to, amonst other things, create economic benefit for the communities through which the walk passes. I hope that the new Club can develop a good relationship with the Pennine Way Association. Membership of the new body will be open to anyone with an interest in seeing a satisfactory conclusion to this tribute to Alfred Wainwright.

The initial monitoring of the route is to take place in early spring and it hoped that the waymarking will be completed by 25th September 2013 – the 75th anniversary of when Alfred Wainwright set out from Settle station.

As the press release says, information about the establishment of the Pennine Journey Supporters Club will become available on the website as the situation develops.

“The stone used had obviously had a previous life: besides obviously not being of the local geology, there were holes cut in it and remnants of what looked like metal railings. I simply wondered if it is known where the stone came from? Who had done the work to flag the path with it?”

Steve Westwood:
The flagging you saw between Cross Fell and Dun Fell is made from flooring flags from demolished textile mills in Lancashire and Yorkshire. The mills had stone floors to help prevent fires. I believe the flags are mainly gritstone – quarried in Lancashire and Yorkshire. The metal bits are where looms etc were fastened to the floor. Most of the flagging up there has been around for 10 to 15 years or more, however we have had problems on that section with lichen growing on the flags and making them slippery when wet. The flags you noticed as being quite recent may well be ones that have been recently turned over and relayed to give a less slippy walking surface.

If anyone is in doubt as to whether the red flag will be flying, which precludes access, the information can be found on the Otterburn Access page of Northumberland National Park website.

“No Five o’Clock on our Calendars: a History of Hay Time in the North Pennines” was put together by Neil Diment, hay time community officer for the North Pennines AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) Partnership.

He based the book on interviews with retired farmers plus photos donated from farms across the area.

“Over the past few years I have been lucky to have had the chance to meet and talk to a number of retired farmers from the North Pennines,” said Mr Diment. “I have delighted in their extraordinary stories of hard work and community spirit. This book is a celebration of the vital role that these people have played and continue to play in the management of our glorious meadows. In our book the farmers tell their own stories in their own words and these are brought to life by wonderful images depicting the hard work that was hay time half a century and more ago.”

The title “No Five o’Clock on our Calendars” comes from conversations with Bill Nixon, an agricultural contractor who worked across Teesdale in the 1950s. Although office, shop and factory staff worked until 5pm, farmers worked to the old adage of ‘make hay while the sun shines’ – with no set finishing time.

The book, launched yesterday, costs £6.99 and is available from local tourism offices, the AONB Partnership offices in Stanhope, by emailing info@northpenninesaonb.org.uk or calling 01388 528801.