Kilometers walked: 297
Nights in a tent: 9
Nights in hotel: 4
Days walked: 10
Zerodays: 2, Liverpool and Barnsley
Local attitude towards free camping: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4 out of 5)
When you ask locals, they think British people are tight with rules, but we’ve not met a single person that opposed to us free camping. Some would have fancied it themselves!We camped along the whole way and did not meet any issues.
Local hospitality: ⭐⭐⭐ (3 out of 5)
People are friendly, but more to themselves than the Irish. They’ll greet you back, but won’t often be the first to speak. We were lucky to meet quite a few outspoken English people, who dared to ask the questions many others had. These questions always resulted in good conversations that both parties will remember!
Local attitude of traffic towards hikers: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4 out of 5)
Overall we found them very considerate. Everyone slows down, almost all of them make a curve around you. Most importantly, we had more to do with cyclists than cars, because much of the trail is footpath or bikelane.
Trail conditions: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4 out of 5)
The trail is overall well maintained exept for a few grassy dykes that could do with some mowing. The gates that are made to slow down cyclists are to narrow for hikers with big packs. We got stuck quite a few times! The amount of paved roads can be hard on the feet.
Trail markings: ⭐⭐⭐ (3 out of 5)
The trail is well marked in some places , but quite poorly in others. Sometimes we got confused with the different trails for cyclists, horseback riders and pedestrians. The TPT markers are not always consistent in colour or signage. This makes it easy to miss a marker.
Trail views and impressions: ⭐⭐⭐ (3 out of 5)
We enjoyed walking from one end of the country to the other, clearly marked by 2 ports. The trail truly is a green corridor in a very urban part of the country. This often means a lot of roads and old railways. As a short walk they are nice, but as a thru hike it can become a bit monotonous. The days in the Pennines are beautiful, and a welcome change in scenery.
Favorite drink/snack/meal: Scones and eggs Benedict!
Best memories: Meeting the people on trail! Meeting Terry, who’s 92; Mary Lamb who was doing the TPT in het wheelchair to raise money for guide dogs, Derrick who cycled the TPT with one leg, the children with many questions, Andrew who bought us a drink, the people of the dry walk building group, the people with the daft dog 😁 and many others. In the TPT it’s the people who make the trail!
Would do it again: Not unless there was good reason to.
Would recommend this trail to: cyclists and people who live near it to go on a days hike!
Tips if you go: Plan your camping and water points, for there are no water points on trail and very little campsites available when you don’t want to free camp.
Will do this after we get home because of the trail: Look into hiking the lake district, because supposedly there is some great hiking there as is in Snowdonia NP. We’ll have to go back to Saltmarsh hall that was so welcoming to 2 dirty and hungry hikers!
