Friends Way 1: George Fox’s journey

The Friends Way is a grand walk that starts in Barley, Lancashire, passing over the summit of Pendle Hill to and through some of the finest parts of the Yorkshire Dales to end at Sedbergh. It combines glorious scenery with superb wildlife and striking geology, and it also visits many places that were crucial in George Fox’s journey of 1652. He preferred to deliver his sermons outdoors, dismissing churches as ‘steeple-houses’. His long walk and discussions with Seekers and other dissidents were the catalyst for the creation of the Society of Friends, first known as Quakers.

From Pendle Hill, where Fox had his vision, to Fox’s Pulpit, where he gave his ‘Sermon on the Fell’ to a crowd of over 1000, the route is steeped in Fox’s personal journey. This 62-mile Way ends at Sedbergh, a town rich in Quaker heritage, to be followed by two day-walks, one a circuit that takes in Fox’s Pulpit. The whole route can be completed comfortably inside one week. It will appeal not only to all Quakers who enjoy walking, but also to those walkers who don’t yet know the remarkable story of Fox’s 1652 journey and life.

The guidebook is richly visual, with mapping at 1:35,000 on 17 of its pages and nearly 140 colour photos. It is robustly bound and printed on rainproof paper.