A COUNTRYSIDE lover from Delph is leading a project to create a series of geographical walks all around the country – including one in her home village.
Dr Jenny Lunn, 36, is Discovering Britain Project Manager for the Royal Geographical Society in London and works with a team to put together walks to discover the stories of Britain’s landscapes.
From journeys around towns and cities to ones in the countryside and seaside, they have developed around 130 walks so far, which are generally between two and six miles long.
Each walk has an overarching geographical theme, such as glaciation, coastal erosion, industrial heritage and town planning, and they are all free to download from the Discovering Britain website.
And one of the walks Jenny has helped create – Crossing point: Discover routeways over and under the Pennines – starts in Delph and was influenced by her childhood adventures.
Jenny, former head girl at Hulme Grammar, explained: “Our walks are more than just a stroll in the countryside to enjoy nice views – they are about understanding the landscape, how it was formed and the influences that have shaped what we see today.
“I have been involved in creating about 100 walks so far and this has taken me all over England, Wales and Scotland but I wanted to ensure Saddleworth was included.
“I spent many happy childhood hours roaming the countryside, with my favourite being the Castleshaw Valley. I always loved exploring different footpaths and lanes, and especially walking all the way to the top of the ridges.
“I decided that my geographical theme would be routeways, specifically how people through the ages have crossed the Pennines between by going both over and under the hills.
“The most important sites in relation to this are the Roman Road, Standedge Cutting and the entrances to the Standedge tunnels.
“I decided to have a walk starting by the river in Delph at the lowest point in the valley then going steadily up the Castleshaw valley to Standedge, down the other side to Diggle and ending at Brownhill.”
Jenny planned the route and identified various stopping points before writing a commentary to tell the story of these different routeways across the Pennines.
She enlisted the help of Peter Fox at Saddleworth Museum to find archive images to illustrate the commentary, which is available as a printable booklet or audio commentary.
Jenny added: “I thought I knew the area quite well but I discovered so much more while doing research on foot and in books.
“What I particularly love is the sense of layers in the landscape – a footpath today may be a centuries-old pathway; the succession of turnpike roads with each one taking a more gentle gradient; and yesterday’s industrial routeways becoming leisure routeways today.”
Other walks in the region include central Manchester about the Victorian city and institutions that helped the poor, as well as walks in Liverpool and the Wirral, Preston, Lancaster and South Yorkshire.
To find out more about Discovering Britain and their walks or to download a free printable booklet or audio commentary, visit: www.discoveringbritain.org
Colour printed versions of the booklets are also on sale at Uppermill Tourist Information Centre and Delph Post Office.
