I read Intelligent Life, which is a lifestyle magazine published by The Economist. Besides being a generally awesome magazine, it introduced me to the concept of long distance walks through articles like this.
I started looking up long distance walks in England, and I came across the Dales Way, which goes through the Yorkshire Dales National Park and ends in the Lake District at Windermere. It's described as "the perfect walk for the long distance walking novice, and highly rewarding with the views too."
Call me crazy, but I decided 6 days of walking across the moors of northern England was a great vacation idea.
Then I discovered that the trail starts only a few kilometers from the village where the Brontë family lived. And the museum offers VIP visits with the possibility of looking at additional documents or artifacts not displayed for the general public.
My husband is neither a big Brontë fan nor one to have an active vacation (he'll be at the beach while I'm in England), and after an friend interested in joining me had to bow out of the project I decided to go it alone.
So in August I will be in Yorkshire for 10 days, 6 of which will be walking the Dales Way. I start off my trip visiting Leeds, then Haworth and the Brontë Parsonage, and I'm hoping that my evening and half day in Windermere at the end of the trail will be enough to do a cruise on the lake or get a taste of the Lake District. I just learned that the Beatrix Potter house is near Windermere, but I don't know I'll have enough time to visit it.
I based the organization of my trip mostly on this blog. I will be staying in a mix of hostels, hotels, bed and breakfasts, and for two nights at the beginning of the trip with some friends of my uncle. In the interest of keeping down my costs I looked into Couchsurfing in Leeds, but I couldn't find anyone with an interest in long distance walking or the Brontë's, so I didn't waste any more time on it. I've managed to find relatively inexpensive accommodations in the villages along the trail, but I've had to spend about 400€ getting additional equipment I didn't have (water proof pants, additional hiking pants, fast drying shirts, compass, maps and guide book) with a few purchases to go (gaiters notably). I'll be able to re-use almost all of it hiking in the Pyrénées or elsewhere, but it did add to the up front costs of the trip.
Why Yorkshire? I've been thinking about it, and I think it's captured my imagination since I read A Secret Garden in 3rd grade. Something about the wild, windswept moors has always appealed to me, and reading Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights in middle school only bolstered my desire to go there.
Coming up: how I'm preparing for the trip, both physically and literature wise.
5 comments:
Wow! Sounds like a great idea, though I don't know if I personally would be up for doing it alone! I hope you'll let us see some pictures when you get back!
Sounds like a great trip! Have you ever hiked any of the GRs in France? They're an amazing way to discover places you might not otherwise go and there are often gites d'etape along the way where you can eat local specialities in the evening.
Sounds really fun! And now that you have the equipment, it's great you'll be able to do more exploring in France!
I just went to Yorkshire-- it is beautiful! Look forward to reading about your trip there.
@Canedolia I've done a fair amount of hiking in the Pyrénées ariègeoises, and a lot times the day hikes use part of a GR trail. The GR in the Pyrénées are hard core if you want to only follow them, so I don't think I would do a multi-day hike. There are a fair amount of people who come to Toulouse walking St Jacques de Compostelle, but it doesn't appeal much to me.
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