The Pennine Way & The Lump That Changed My Life. An Adventure with my daughter June 2023

The Pennine Way with Beth | June 2023 🥾❤️ A photo video memory I’d originally planned to walk the whole Pennine Way on my own. Then my daughter Beth, 22, asked if she could come. So our adventure became something completely different — two weeks of happily bumbling our way north from Edale to Bowes, taking our time, enjoying the scenery and figuring it all out as we went. For Beth, it was her first proper multi-day hike carrying everything she needed — tent, sleeping bag, food and all the other paraphernalia that somehow seems essential when you’re carrying it on your back! And we nearly lost each other before we’d even left the station. 😂 I walked through the gate at Edale station while Beth stopped to rearrange her kit. A few minutes later she hadn’t appeared. I went back… she’d disappeared! No phone signal, no way of calling each other. I eventually found her down the road looking for me. Lesson number one: if we lose each other, always go back to the last place we were together. Even if that’s one minute after getting off the train! From Jacobs Ladder and Kinder Scout to reservoirs, moors, trig points, cafés, pubs, aching knees, bugs and beautiful sunsets, we spent two glorious weeks simply walking, camping and enjoying being together. Then, descending towards Hebden Bridge, Beth injured her knee. She bravely carried on, but we spent two nights camping at Mays Shop while she rested and we worked out what to do next. She made it as far as Bowes, but by then it was clear that the sensible thing was to stop rather than risk turning an injury into something much more serious. And there’s one moment from that trip that I remember for a very different reason. At Tan Hill, I took a little video from inside the tent, lying on my side listening to the wind battering outside. It was while lying on my right side that I first noticed a hard lump in my right breast. It worried me, but I kept it to myself. Looking back now, that moment feels incredibly significant. Part of my decision to head home was because I knew I needed to get it checked. A beautiful, messy, memorable adventure with my daughter — and one that, although neither of us knew it at the time, would mark the beginning of a very different journey for me. The Pennine Way with Beth. June 2023. A journey we’ll never forget. ❤️🥾