Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There is always a worry when reading a book by a poet, by someone who you conceive to have weighty matters on their head to the point that the world only really makes sense when viewed through their eyes and through whichever form of the medium takes their fancy. Arguably poetry is the single purest expression of writing and when you consider the greats, the toil they spent making each word convey the deepest meaning can put you off writing anything as you know you can never capture the spirit of someone such as Ginsberg, Hughes, Stevens, McGough or even Simon Armitage.

However Simon Armitage is accessible, his writing goes beyond the poetic, he writes a passion and enthusiasm that conveys not just an interest in the very subject he is writing about but hopes that some of that interest will rub off on the reader, the person who has picked up the book perhaps even with casual curiosity in the hope of finding something that might spark a revolution in their own head. With his latest book, a travel expose of the Pennine Way, all the great and wonderful experiences that can be found on damp moors, cold streets and the odd moment of exhaustion are vividly captured by the Yorkshire poet and it proves that even Walking Home can be motivating.

Travel can be subjective, just like poetry, what will appeal to one is something that another will steer clear of, in fact to some admitting even a vague declaration of reading poetry or heaven forbid having written a sonnet or two will lead to derision, scorn and certain banishment from the pub late on a Saturday when all around are watching the game or the bar staff water down their beer. The barmaid is likely to be treated better. Walking Home does that rare thing in travel books, it doesn’t show you what you will see, like the great Bill Bryson, Simon Armitage gives you the taste to see it for yourself, to make your own notes and as he strides page for page, mile for mile from the end of the Pennine Way to the very beginning (rather than the traditional route of Yorkshire and up), your own notebook will get longer and longer until hopefully his activity has become your own passion.

Travel, like poetry, is subjective, for some the idea of spending the best part of two weeks walking through mist, the haphazard nature of cow pats, midges that would make chemical warfare seem less of a dangerous outcome and the thought of being left alone will fill some with dread and have them reaching for the holiday brochure and cooing over the size of the swimming pool and checking out how hot it will be. Simon Armitage conveys the reality, the way to find out a little more about yourself and by showing the iconic Pennine Way in its simmering, gloomy, imaginative and sometimes glorious presence, that will inspire at least one person to leave for one year the pleasure of sitting in a sun lounger for one year and discover some hitherto unknown part of the U.K. and themselves.

A ripping read, filled with insights and sights that only a poets hand can write.

Ian D. Hall