Pendle to Parliament walk

Members of the Rochdale Ramblers will be joining author and rambler Nick Burton for part of his walk from his home in East Lancashire to the Houses of Parliament, following footpaths and bridleways rather than roads.

At the end of his journey Nick hopes to present a walkers' petition to the government urging them to invest in getting Britain walking. The petition is based on the ‘Ramblers Manifesto for a Walking Britain’.

On day two of the walk on Wednesday 17 June, Nick will be joined by Rochdale Ramblers Footpath and Countryside Secretary Roy Thorniley as he walks from Lydgate to Saddleworth.

The aim of the walk is to highlight the importance of England and Wales’s historic paths, at a time when public sector cuts have drastically reduced funding to maintain the public rights of way network.

Nick also wants to show that, by avoiding walking along classified roads, there is an alternative mode of transport to the car which is a greener, cheaper and healthier way to travel.

Nick said: "Despite public sector cuts, you can still walk from Lancashire to London across fields following the hundreds of miles of legal green highways. If further cuts are made to highway authority budgets you might not be able to do this in the future.

"Our public rights of way network is the key to encouraging sustainable travel, tackling obesity, boosting rural economies and improving the physical and mental wellbeing of the nation."

The 'Pendle to Parliament' walk will take approximately two weeks to complete and will cover a distance of 280 miles.

The walk will start in Clitheroe, cross Pendle Hill and follow the Pennines south to the Peak District. It will then go through the 'White Peak' and Dovedale to take in the site of the Battle of Bosworth Field in Leicestershire. It continues through rural Northamptonshire to reach the Chilterns in the Home Counties. Finally the walk joins the River Thames near Windsor and follows the Thames Path National Trail along the river eastwards into the heart of London.