Often called “the backbone
+
backbone:
colonna vertebrale
of England”, the Pennine Way is a 268-mile route
+
route:
percorso, itinerario
that passes through some dramatic
+
dramatic:
mozzafiato
and challenging
+
challenging:
impegnativo
landscapes. The terrain is mainly moorland
+
moorland:
landa
, wild
+
wild:
selvaggio
open ground with few trees to protect hikers
+
hikers:
escursionisti
from the weather. Although there aren’t any mountains to climb
+
to climb:
scalare
, there are some steep ascents
+
steep ascents:
salite ripide
. The trail
+
trail:
sentiero
is both tough
+
tough:
difficile
and rewarding
+
rewarding:
appagante
and leads hikers through some of the treasures of British landscape: the national parks of the Peak District, the Yorkshire Dales and the North Pennines.
the fight for the land
Although now the Pennine Way is seen as an important part of British heritage
+
heritage:
eredità
, getting it established wasn’t easy. In fact, the struggle
+
struggle:
lotta
lasted over thirty years. Back in the 1930s, most moorland was off limits
+
off limits:
vietato
to ordinary walkers because landowners preferred to keep their land for private grouse shooting
+
grouse shooting:
caccia agli urogalli
. This meant huge areas of wild, unfarmed
+
unfarmed:
non coltivata
land were in the hands of the wealthy few
+
the wealthy few:
i pochi ricchi
.
In 1932, a group led by members of the Young Communist League decided to use an act of civil disobedience to claim
+
to claim:
rivendicare
their right to walk across this private land. On April 24 1932, several hundred walkers converged on the site of Kinder Scout, a beautiful high plateau
+
plateau:
altopiano
close to the large industrial cities of Manchester and Sheffield and now part of the Pennine Way. In an act of mass trespass
+
trespass:
violazione di domicilio
, the walkers climbed up towards the Kinder Scout plateau. There were a few violent confrontations with gamekeepers
+
gamekeepers:
guardacaccia
who tried to stop them and several walkers received prison sentences. But they succeeded in making their views heard.
A long trail for everyone
In 1935, a journalist and activist called Tom Stephenson began campaigning for a long-distance trail to be established that would give ordinary people the chance to enjoy walking and the outdoors
+
outdoors:
spazi all’aria aperta
. Stephenson contacted politicians to help him with his cause and finally, after a thirty-year legal and political struggle, the Pennine Way opened in 1965.
Of course you don’t have to complete the whole 268-mile route; plenty
+
plenty:
numerosi
of people enjoy just walking short sections of it. The Kinder Scout ascent, for example, is now a popular Sunday afternoon excursion. But if you do decide to do the whole trail, go prepared. You’ll probably need two to three weeks, plus appropriate hiking gear
+
gear:
attrezzatura
, and a map and compass
+
compass:
bussola
. There are places where GPS won’t help you!
the backbone of england
The Pennine Way is Britain’s first and best-known National Trail, passing through the National Parks of the Peak District, the Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland. Martyn Sharp is a Pennine Way ranger who works on maintaining the section of the trail that runs through the Peak District National Park. He knows the landscape here like the back of his hand
+
the back of his hand:
il palmo della sua mano
. The open moorland is his office, he’s out in it every day, whatever
+
whatever:
qualunque sia
the weather. We put on our raincoats
+
raincoats:
impermeabili
and joined him in Edale, Derbyshire, at the start of the Pennine Way.
PAST AND PRESENT
Sharp began by explaining why the Pennine Way is so special… and so tough.
Martyn Sharp (English accent): The thing about the Pennine Way is, if you ask anybody who isn’t even a walker, generally they’ll have heard of the Pennine Way… It’s deep
+
deep:
profondo
in folklore. And it’s no longer the longest National Trail. That is now the South-West coast path. But it’s still the toughest. You need to have a map and compass with you. And it goes into some of the more remote and wild areas of England. You’re walking up the backbone of England. So it starts here in Edale, where we are now, and it does go over the border
+
border:
frontiera
slightly
+
slightly:
leggermente
into Scotland in places, but it ends at the border at Kirk Yetholm. And even in this day and age it’s still a challenge. And one of the challenges is the weather.
WET AND WILD
He went on to tell us about the conditions hikers should prepare for on the Pennine Way.
Martyn Sharp: It’s open moorland. It’s wet, it’s high up, so you usually get wind and rain and fog and this, that and the other. The highest point is Cross Fell, which is 893 metres, and that is quite a long climb up and it’s really exposed. You’re into the North Pennines, and generally, when you’re up on the hills there’s always a breeze-stroke-wind
+
SPEAK UP EXPLAINS
There’s always a breeze-stroke-wind
"C’è sempre una brezza-sbarra-vento". L’intervistato pronuncia stroke riferito alla sbarra, segno di punteggiatura che indica la scelta alternativa tra due termini. Da non confondere con le altre accezioni di stroke traducibili con ‘colpo’ o ‘ictus’.
and it’s usually wet underfoot
+
underfoot:
per terra, sotto i piedi
.
BODY AND MIND
Walking the Pennine Way is, Sharp argued
+
to argue:
sostener
, about the mind and spirit as well as the body.
Martyn Sharp: It’s that wilderness
+
wilderness:
natura selvaggia
feel. In a day and age of social media and 24-hour contact and [with] everybody you are in areas where nobody can contact you. And it’s a certain type of person – and I’m one of them – who likes that kind of thing, to leave this mad world behind and everything that’s happening. You’re walking at your pace
+
pace:
andatura, ritmo
and everything slows down
+
to slow down:
rallentare
and there’s a peace. And if you’re enjoying it, which not everybody does, but if you’re enjoying it, you start to see the surroundings
+
surroundings:
ambiente circostante
. And you see nature and wildlife and things like that…. Also there’s a camaraderie. You might set off
+
to set off:
partire da
from Edale and you’ve never met a person, man or woman, before. And after two or three days you become friends because you’re both walking that same trail. And you’re both feeling, encountering, encompassing
+
to encompass:
abbracciare
that same environment and that same weather and stuff like that. I’ve been up on Kinder and Bleaklow and Blackhill when it’s been so strong, the wind, that it has blown you off your feet
+
blown you off your feet:
essere spazzato via dal vento
. And the rain is sideways
+
sideways:
de lado
, you’re in a blizzard
+
blizzard:
tormenta
, it’s freezing cold
+
freezing cold:
freddo gelido
, all those kind of things. If you can see that through
+
to see through:
finire
, get dry, and carry on
+
to carry on:
andare avanti
the next day, there’s that sense of achievement
+
achievement:
traguardo
as well. If you can do that in, like I say, an average three weeks and battle
+
to battle:
lottare, combattere contro
the elements, maybe battle solitude and stuff like that, it’s that massive sense of achievement.