Book data

Friends Way 1
Martin Budgett   Jacquetta Megarry  
04 May 2022
UK price £14.99
80pp, 130 x 220mm, 180g
978-1-913817-06-0

Friends Way 1

George Fox's journey

£14.99

Martin Budgett Jacquetta Megarry

In stock

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"Many of the paths are historic routes, well-trodden by generations past." - Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell

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 led to 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, and in 2023 a sequel walk will continue the route to Swarthmoor Hall. 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.

To understand why we split Fox’s journey into two walks, neither of which precisely follows in his footsteps, please click on Bonus content below and download the PDF.  Our second volume takes you onward from Sedbergh to Ulverston – to Swarthmoor Hall where he met Margaret Fell. In 1669 he married her and Margaret Fell Fox is widely regarded as the mother of Quakerism. Friends Way 2 followed in May 2023.

This book was the subject of an Article in The Friend (13 May 2022) and the book was launched at a well-supported event on Saturday 21 May at St Andrew’s Church in Sedbergh.

Features

This guidebook contains all you need to plan and enjoy the Friends Way from Pendle Hill to Sedbergh:

  • Foreword by Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell
  • Quaker history and biography of George Fox
  • details of distance, terrain and food/drink
  • planning information for travel by car, train, bus or plane
  • richly illustrated sections on geology and wildlife
  • 17 pages with route mapping at 1:35,000
  • in full colour, with nearly 140 colour photos
Look inside

Click on the thumbnails below to view sample pages from the book "Friends Way 1" in standard PDF format.
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Contents
Preface & pages 4-9
2.2 George Fox and Quakerism
3.3 Malham to Buckden
Gallery

Click thumbnail to enlarge.

Reviews

Reviewed in Strider, August 2022

The guide itself is well presented … Half of the pages are dedicated to a very detailed route description together with large 1:35,000 maps by Lovell Johns. There is a GPX file on the website although it is not referred to in the book! A walker’s method of navigation is a personal decision, but the guide will certainly cater for most. The rest of the book provides excellent informative background history to the period and Fox himself, and there are also good sections on planning and wildlife/geology.

If you want a decent LDP through northern England which provides a historical thread and possibly some spiritual reflection this walk and guide may well be for you.

Neil Harwood in Strider, journal of the LDWA, page 56

Reviewed in Outdoor Focus, summer 2022

As usual with Rucksack guides, there are useful and informative sections on history (including a brief but fascination account of England in the 17th century and a biography of Fox and Quakerism), geology and the varied habitats that support the flora and fauna of Cumbria and the Yorkshire Dales.

Clear Lovell Johns 1:35,000 scale mapping should ensure an easy and safe passage to the experienced or even not-so-experienced walker.

Roly Smith in Outdoor Focus, page 9

Bonus content

For an explanation of how our route relates to George Fox’s actual journey, please download this one-page PDF: Fox’s Footsteps?


GPX route file
Video

This short video (two minutes) illustrates features of our guidebook to the Friends Way 1.

More info to help with your planning

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