The Pennine Way crosses Grassholme Bridge in Lunedale
e of several splendid waterfalls in Teesdale
best city centres suitable for walkers and cyclists , so I hired a bike and explored the entire network , planning to include them in my guidebook .
I walked the walks . I cycled the tracks . I wrote the words . I took old-fashioned transparency photos and I hand-drew my maps . Mike Ogden checked my route descriptions and Cicerone published the book , mostly in black and white , with a few colour inserts . Those were the days . Then the internet became popular , Cicerone changed hands , I was writing more and more books , life was moving very fast and County Durham suddenly came up for a complete overhaul for its second edition .
If nothing else , I like a good walk , so I checked all my walking routes again , cycled all the old railway tracks again , made changes to my text wherever things had changed , and improved on the photography , now digital , knowing that the book was going into full colour . As for the maps , Ordnance Survey extracts were going to be used , with route overlays . I checked everything all over again for a third edition , wondering why the book was proving so popular . Apparently it was well regarded locally , by people who seemed to be proud that it even existed , and I ’ m very grateful for their support .
The second and third editions included straplines . On the second edition it read ’ 40 walks and 10 railway cycleways ’. On the third edition it read ’ 40 walking routes and 10 traf�ic-free cycle routes ’. I always enjoyed cycling those old railway tracks , partly because of their heritage interest , but mostly because I can ’ t think of any other built-up areas of the country where you can cycle to so many places without having to use roads . For the fourth edition , I was asked if I would drop the cycle routes in order to save a few pages . I wasn ’ t too happy about that , nor was I very much against it , so the pages were dropped , and it didn ’ t affect the way the book was regarded in the slightest . The strapline was changed to read ’ 40 walking routes exploring Pennine moors , river valleys and coastal paths ’.
That just leaves the �ifth edition of the guidebook and yet another exploration of County Durham , completed in 2022 . I ’ m aware that some things never change in the slightest , and some things seem to change quite regularly . I focussed my attention on places where changes were expected and I found plenty . Interestingly , the Durham coastline , which I ’ d walked way back in 1988 , had changed the most . When the development of the England Coast Path was �irst announced , County Durham got its signposts into the ground straight away . Those signposts now look old and tired , while many long stretches of the England Coast Path still haven ’ t been signposted or even negotiated . County Durham was a leader in the industrial revolution , and it ’ s proved itself to be a leader in coastal restoration and access too .
One day I ’ ll follow my great-greatgrandfather into a hole in the ground , then maybe someone else will see the bene�it in writing about walks around County Durham .
Publication History
1996 First Edition , 2008 Second Edition , 2015 Third Edition , 2019 Fourth Edition , 2022 Fifth Edition
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Regarding trespassing on Mickle Fell . I did it so many times , and wrote it up in so many books and magazine articles , as well as speaking about it on radio , that a large notice appeared telling walkers how to obtain permission to climb the fell . Instructions from that notice now feature in my guidebooks .
outdoor focus / summer 2023 9