‘But we are also part of another web. It’s the one that goes deeper.’ Photo: Andy Rothwell / flickr CC.
‘But there was another aspect to Pendle Hill, beyond its personal challenge.’
Thought for the week: Alison Leonard has a high old time
Let’s be honest, Pendle Hill is one of the most boring hills to climb. For me, reared on the topography of the Lake District, this stony diagonal slope was tough. There’s not a knoll (a small rocky outcrop to you non-Cumbrians) to relieve the uphill struggle, nor is there a rushing ghyll (waterfall) to please the eye. There is no bench in memory of someone’s grandmother. But, fifty years a Quaker, here was my chance to stand as a pilgrim on the fabled peak. I should have taken heed of George Fox: ‘I spied a great high hill… I went on the top of it with much ado, it was so steep…’ So steep, in fact, that I called for my Quaker group to release me. I needed to go back down and rest my legs in the local pub. Sorry, Friends. At any rate my lager was alcohol-free.
