Tina & Al's LEJOG - Stage 4

Tina & Al's LEJOG - Stage 4

The fourth stage of our LEJOG followed the route of the Alternative Pennine Way (APW) from Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire to Byrness in Northumberland. Our journey took us to the Bronte's town of Haworth, across Ilkley Moor, through beautiful Wharfedale, some hidden Yorkshire Dales and Wensleydale, through the industrial wastelands of lead mining and finally saw us walking through the largest forest in England. 

To plan the route I used The Alternative Pennine Way by Denis Brook & Phil Hinchcliffe I didn't pay much for my copy of the APW, it was somewhere towards the lower end of the £0.01 and £49.99 I have seen asked for it on Amazon - although my copy is a first edition and is actually signed by Denis! I also used the brilliant Memory Map software, which has the advantage of being a GPS that utilises Ordinance Survey maps. Although it's quite expensive for the initial software, it gives you the added advantage of being able to print out Ordinance Survey maps onto conveniently sized bits of Toughprint waterproof paper - so no more trying to open up a big map in the middle of a downpour and/or a howling gale!

We started out on 25 June 2011 on the 9:06 train from Stirling to Edinburgh, where we caught the 10:30 train to York. From York we caught the 13:09 train to Hebden Bridge. We arrived in Hebden Bridge at 14:37. It was an uneventful journey and we seemed to have remembered everything!

We stayed once more at Moyles Hotel & Restaurant, 6-10 New Road, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, HX7 8AD in a deluxe room that cost a whopping £143.00. I must have had a mad turn when I booked it, based on how great the food was last year! We arrived at the hotel around 14:30, dropped off our luggage in a room with a view of the pretty 'marina' - a cobbled area, formerly a boat yard, between Hebden Bridge's main road and the canal, which has a slipway and a maintenance-type docking bay - then went back out to explore. We bought a Hebden Bridge guided walk book from the Tourist Information Office, which said it would take forty five minutes to complete, no disrespects, but you could have done it in ten minutes if you were in a hurry. It turned out there was an Arts Festival in town, so there was some street entertainment - including a really out of practice salsa band - as a former semi-professional musician, Alistair was not impressed!

There was a folky singing ensemble too, but it started raining more heavily so we found a little cafe. I had a locally made cider, whilst Alistair went for a local wheat beer. The cider was strong and I made Alistair finish the last third of it - quickly! He found the rain far less of a bother when we resumed our tour.

Below is a summary of the walks and mileage undertaken for this stage: -

All the photos from this fourth stage of the LEJOG can be found on Flickr

Cost of rail travel for two people from Stirling to Hebden Bridge - £51.60 (cheaper than last year)