Plowright Follows Wainwright: An Introduction to Long Distance Walking

Anxious to stem his middle-age spread, Alan Plowright began to walk over the moors near his home in West Yorkshire. He was soon inspired to tackle a major expedition, the Three Peaks Walk of the limestone country and, in doing so, came across the writings of Wainwright for the first time.Despite a baptism by fog on the three peaks, the new slimline Plowright then decided to walk the Pennine Way, using Wainwright's Companion as a guide. The account of his walk from Derbyshire to the Scottish border is light-hearted yet instructive; the other walkers he met form a wonderful cast of background characters, from the wily 'Brothers in Law' to Ian who could make one teabag do sixteen cups of tea.Although Plowright's first visit to the mountains of the Lake District was a more apt baptism by torrential rain, he was determined to next tackle the Coast to Coast walk. The story of this journey from one side of England to the other is again both evocative and entertaining.This book is intended as a humble tribute to A. Wainwright who has inspired not only A. Plowright but countless other walkers who would never have set foot on the fells but for him.