2025 sees the 60th Anniversary of the Pennine Way, Britain’s first National Trail. The Pennine Way covers 268 miles from Edale in Derbyshire to Kirk Yetholm in Scotland.
To celebrate this anniversary, 700 members of Girlguiding past and present set out with the objective of covering the entire route in one day. They completed this on Saturday, 28 June. Participants ranged from Rainbows (aged 4-7), walking one mile in Gargrave, North Yorkshire, to Rangers (aged 14-18), trekking over remote moorland as training for their Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award. There were also adult groups, including members of the Trefoil Guild, who took advantage of this opportunity to get together for social walking. The route travels up the Pennines, the backbone of the country and is considered the most iconic of all the long-distance trails in the UK. The Pennine Way walk typically takes three weeks, and we are proud to have members complete it together in one day. Some Guides, Rangers and Leaders from across Lancashire West County walked from Muker to Hawes, in the Yorkshire Dales. Our route was from Muker in Swaledale to Hawes in Wensleydale over Great Shunner Fell. The route was 17.5km long and took around 7 hours to complete.
The girls really enjoyed the day giving some wonderful feedback:
‘We had a really great time even through the weather I thoroughly enjoyed myself.’
‘An enjoyable walk, motivated by the thought of chips and curry sauce.’
‘It was an amazing experience to be part of the 700 or so Girlguiding members covering the whole route. We achieved our little bit.’
