Countrystride

...in which we ramble up remote Liddesdale in the extreme north-east of Cumbria to uncover the remarkable history of a unique independent territory transformed into a bloody borderland. In the company of author and academic Graham Robb we set out from Kershopefoot along the trackbed of the historic Waverley Line, taking in the landscape of the once-unique enclave between England and Scotland; an uninhabited ‘batable’ grazing land bounded by the rivers Liddel, Esk and Sark that formed a buffer zone between often warring nations. Stepping into the Scottish Borders, we discuss the popular perception of the ‘reiving’ families who lived around this anomalous territory – the Elliots, Armstrongs and Grahams – and the raids that saw cattle rustled and fortified peel towers set ablaze. Surveying moorland and scattered woods to rising Tinnis Hill, Graham outlines a parallel history; one of stability, in which a raid was not thuggery, but a coming-of-age ritual/form of trade in an advanced pastoral society with strict Border laws that kept the peace for 1,500 years. Passing meadows with folds and dips that made ideal hiding places for rogues and raiders, we move into the mid-1500s, when the English and Scots crowns orchestrated a plan to carve up the Debatable Land by making lawlessness legal, preparing the ground for characters like ballad outlaw Kinmont Willie and the sadistic Duke of Buccleuch to conduct reigns of terror. Closing in on Liddel Water, we learn about the end of the Debatable Land, and the “astonishingly beautiful and accurate map” (below) that recorded the establishment of what Graham argues is “the oldest detectable territorial division in Great Britain”. Reflecting on the violent excesses that wiped the one-time grazing lands from the map, Graham discusses the long shadow cast by imperial colonialism, the persistent discomfort over cross-border marriage and the independent spirit that lingers in border folk. We close with our quickfire questions, where Graham recalls a relationship-testing ascent of Swirral Edge, waxes lyrical about the definitive descriptions of Cumbrian rain in Rogue Herries and notes the advice he was given before moving into the borderlands – to “leave the pub by 9.30 at the latest”. The Debatable Land: The Lost World Between Scotland and England is published by Picador.

…in which we take a midsummer stroll through Hawkshead to learn about the village's deep history and its tiny school that had a big impact – not just locally, but on the world stage. Accompanied by Joanne Heather, director of the Hawkshead Grammar School Foundation, we set out from the meadows above the village to explore Hawkshead’s long history – its Norse roots, the chapelry that served Furness Abbey, and the wool trade that put the market town on the map, long before neighbouring Ambleside, Coniston and Windermere. Visiting the church of St Michael & All Angels, Joanne introduces us to the Sandys family of Graythwaite, and Edwin Sandys, Archbishop of York during the reign of Elizabeth I, who founded the school to train new generations of clergy. Arriving at the Grammar School, museum assistant manager Hollie Barker talks us through life at the school: the hours of Latin and scripture; the cock fights and sword fights; the strict rules that allowed boys (no girls) to smoke and drink, but never gamble. In the confines of the school library, we learn about old boy and London vintner Daniel Rawlinson – great grandson of Daniel Hechstetter, the patriarch of Keswick mining – who founded the school's collection of priceless books, which includes a guide to dissecting elephants. Finally, we turn our attention to the school’s most famous alumnus, William Wordsworth, enrolled into the school after his mother’s death, who excelled at maths and who led a seemingly idyllic school life ’midst the family trauma, with days off spent ice skating, visiting the Duddon sands and eating strawberries and cream. Hawkshead Grammar School Museum is open 1 April–31 October, Thursday–Monday 11am–4pm during term time, and daily 11am–4pm during school holidays. 2026 exhibitions are ‘Friends Before Fame’, about Wordsworth’s school friends, and ‘America 250’, highlighting the school’s links with America. More information about the museum and library conservation project can be found on Bloomberg Connects and at www.hawksheadgrammar.org.uk. New volunteers are always welcome; contact Joanne at [email protected]. The museum is hosting a series of evening talks, usually on the last Monday of the month. The talk on Monday 29 June is Mark Hatton (see Countrystrides past) discussing the history of Coniston Copper Mines and its links to the school. For details and tickets go to EventBrite and search for ‘A Talk at the School’, or see www.hawksheadgrammar.org.uk.

...in which we return to 19th-century Maryport in the company of author Simon Francis Brown to explore the world of regional shipbuilding through the exquisite illustrated journals of master shipbuilder Kelsick Wood. Starting our walk at the Shipping Brow Gallery overlooking the River Ellen, we set the historic context for Kelsick’s arrival in Maryport in around 1818 – Britain as a maritime superpower, the age of empire, the political endgame of slavery – and paint a picture of the town’s bustling harbour, its numerous taverns, the lavish dinners held for Lord Senhouse, the squalor of many residents. Battling weather on the harbour wall, we introduce Kelsick Wood, the Workington-born shipbuilder who travelled the world before acquiring the family yard at Maryport and starting the illustrated journals (excerpts below) that Simon discovered in a Greenwich archive. Sheltering from the gale in a harbourside ginnel, we discuss the business of shipbuilding: the crafts required to bring together a finished brig; the unforgiving economics of timber imports; the impact of Cumbrian weather on operations; and the insurance stranglehold held for a time by London shipbuilders. Retiring to the Golden Lion – where Kelsick spent many of his working hours entertaining potential customers and networking with the Maryport elite – we learn about the politically progressive family man who grieved the loss of a wife and six children, before winding down the podcast considering the numerous pressures which built on domestic shipbuilders – from overseas competition to the introduction of iron hulls – signalling the end of the age of sail. The Vanishing Age of Sail can be bought from Bookends in Carlisle and Keswick, and other local bookshops. It is also available from Amazon and Waterstones.

...in which we climb Walla Crag in the company of academic and Back o’ Skidda’ resident Dr Liz Woodham for a deep dive into the history of guidebooks dedicated to fell-walking in Lakeland. Striding out from Surprise View, we set the historic context for the emergence of the walking guidebook – the earliest travellers seeking low-level views from Thomas West’s formative Guide to the Lakes (1778), and the use of paid mountain guides, often shepherds, taking well-heeled visitors on mountain adventures. ‘Roving Laker’ Harriet Martineau’s Complete Guide to the English Lakes(1855) was among the first to speak to fell-walkers, Liz tells us, with an ascent description of Fairfield that was – like the woman herself – quietly revolutionary. On the long climb of Cat Gill we discuss the forgotten Victorian colossus of Keswick, Henry Irwin Jenkinson, who compiled the most authoritative guide of its era, his Practical Guide to the English Lake District (1872), in just seven winter months (he would go on to consult on mountain rescues, and organise the Latrigg Fell Mass Trespass of 1887). Entering the age of M. J. B. Baddeley, we turn to his evergreen (tiny type) Thorough Guide to The English Lake District – first published in 1880 and still selling nearly a century later. We consider the democratisation of travel, and walking, in the age of rail, and the changing nature of the guidebook, as fells received dedicated chapters and publishers augmented directions with maps. Atop breezy Walla Crag we talk about the contribution of The Rev. H. H. Symonds – committed to “rescuing scraps of natural beauty” – who published a kind of ‘campaigning guidebook’ in his classic highbrow Walking in the Lake District (1933), and the very different books of his contemporary, outdoors advocate W. T. Palmer, who urged readers to get off the beaten track and take walking tours between youth hostels in his Penguin Guide, The Lake District (1939). Finally, on Falcon Crag, after a discussion of Walter Poucher’s photographic guides, we arrive at the master himself, Alfred Wainwright, whose uniquely artisanal take on the format turned the guidebook into companionable pocket art. Back at Ashness Bridge, we reflect on the factors that make for the perfect guidebook – portable, easy to use, with an intuitive blend of text and imagery – and ask Liz to name her favourite guidebook; to consider where guidebooks go in the post-AW digital age; and to tell us why Steeple remains aloof in her 214 completer’s list.