The Pennine Bridleway

Mud, Pubs, and Misadventure

By: Paul Amess

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

About the Book

In his latest book, Paul Amess braves cold rain, hot tea, a leaky tent and a heroic old bike through a countryside crammed with stories. This laugh-out-loud, oddly uplifting ride across the Pennines proves that everything can go wrong in the most entertaining way and still end exactly right.

When a knackered cyclist points his wheels from Peak Forest to Street, he expects hills. He does not expect randy hedgehogs at 3 a.m., duels with homicidal goats, cliff-edge “paths” that feel like practical jokes, or a greatest-hits tour of Britain’s strangest history. Along the way he discovers Victorian tunnels that breathed fire, Roman roads built with a ruler and stubbornness, moorland monuments to triumph and folly, and villages where the cakes are excellent and the parking is not.

You do not need lycra or a love of gradients to enjoy this journey. If you like Bill Bryson’s curiosity, Tim Moore’s misadventures, Tony Hawks’ cheerful stubbornness, or simply appreciate a good brew after a soaking, you will feel right at home.

Inside you will find

• Storm-lashed nights, accidental “wild” camps, and breakfasts that could revive the dead.

• A guided ramble through curious history, from Kinder’s mass trespass to Summit Tunnel’s inferno, from Stoodley Pike to Wycoller’s ancient bridges, from Roman forts to record-breaking viaducts.

• Encounters with locals, legends and livestock, including a very famous fashion designer, an impossibly loyal dog at Garsdale, and a farmer who casually offers a barn like a guardian angel with a Land Rover.

• Honest, self-deprecating humour about fear, fatigue and getting lost in full view of a signpost.

• The surprising joy of small victories, from a perfect mug of tea to a last-bolt bike fix that saves the day.

Why readers love it

• Feel-good escapism: Short, vivid chapters you can dip into, each delivering a hit of laughter, landscape and lore.

• Armchair adventure with heart: You will travel miles without leaving your seat, then want to plan your own pocket-sized quest.

• Real places, real stories: Packed with nuggety history you will want to retell in the pub, told with warmth, wit and zero lecturing.

• A nudge to say yes: To weather, to wobble, to wonder. You will finish smiling, a little braver, and strangely fond of rain.

Perfect for

Travel memoir fans, British countryside lovers, walkers and cyclists of every stripe, anyone who enjoys true stories told with humour, curiosity and a big slice of pie.

If you are ready for an adventure that swaps macho heroics for human honesty, that finds magic in bad weather and meaning in muddy boots, start reading now. Click “Buy” and escape to a world of windswept hills, friendly pubs and the kind of history that sticks to your ribs like proper chips.