The Pennine Way is the first, and some would say the toughest, of Britain's National Trails. It runs for 256 miles up from Edale in the Peak District along the crest of the Pennines - sometimes known as the Backbone of England - and the Cheviot Hills of Northumberland across the Scottish Border to the village of Kirk Yetholm. The idea of access campaigner and outdoor journalist Tom Stephenson in 1935, the Pennine Way took 60 years to come into being, and is now probably the best-known test of long distance walking in the country. This book is a celebration, rather than a guide to the Pennine Way. While covering the important highlights, it does not stick to the designated route religiously but meanders from the official path where there are points of interest along the way. Illustrated by John Morrison's perceptive photography and award-winning writer Roly Smith's insightful prose, The Pennine Way is at once a beautiful and refreshingly different look at the grand daddy of our long distance footpaths.