Editing Lyke Wake Walk (section)

==History==

The idea of a walk originated from an article in the ''[[Dalesman]]'' magazine in August 1955. Its author, Bill Cowley, described a {{convert|40|mi|km}} walk across the North York Moors from east to west (or vice versa) on [[Calluna|heather]] all the way except for when crossing one or two roads. Given the remoteness of the area, a lone walker might not encounter another during the one-to-two-day journey. Cowley issued a challenge to see if anyone could walk from Scarth Wood Moor at the western extremity of the moors to [[Ravenscar, North Yorkshire|Ravenscar]] on the coast, keeping on or close to the main [[Drainage divide|watershed]] of the [[moorland]], in a twenty-four hours. The first crossing was completed shortly afterwards, on 1 and 2 October 1955. Cowley was in the party that made the crossing in 23 hours and he wrote a book, ''Lyke Wake Walk'',<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last=Cowley |first=Bill |date=1959 |title=Lyke Wake Walk: Forty Miles Across the North Yorkshire Moors |edition=1st |location=[[Skipton]], [[Yorkshire]] |publisher=Dalesman Books}}</ref> which he kept up to date by frequent revision. The book ran to twelve editions in the author's lifetime and sold many thousands of copies.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cowley |first=Bill |date=1993 |title=Lyke Wake Walk and the Lyke Wake Way |edition=12th |location=Skipton, Yorkshire |publisher=Dalesman Books |isbn=1-85568-063-7}}</ref> It was revised in 2001 by Paul Sherwood.<ref>{{cite book |last=Paul |first=Sherwood |date=2001 |title=Lyke Wake Walk |location=Skipton, Yorkshire |publisher=Dalesman Publishing |isbn=1-85568-191-9}}</ref>

Cowley's idea developed over the years before he issued the challenge in 1955. He wrote a poem, originally dated 1937, ''Storm Longing<ref>{{cite book |last=Cowley |first=Bill |title=Tara Devi and Other Verses |date=1945 |publisher=Punjab Boy Scouts Association |location=India}}</ref>'', describing walking on the moors and mentioning a number of the walk's landmarks (after the walk was established, he adapted the poem slightly to fit the actual Lyke Wake Walk better<ref name=":0" />). His early contributions to the ''Dalesman'' appear, in retrospect, to hint at the idea of the walk<ref>{{cite news |title=Obituary: Bill Cowley |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=17 August 1994 |newspaper=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> drawing on his appreciation of the works of the archaeologist [[Frank Elgee]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Elgee |first=F. W. |author-link=Frank Elgee |date=1912 |title=The Moorlands of North-East Yorkshire |location=London |publisher=Brown & Sons}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Elgee |first=F. W. |date=1930 |title=Early Man in North-East Yorkshire |location=Gloucester |publisher=John Bellows}}</ref> antiquarian and folklore expert Canon [[John Christopher Atkinson]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Atkinson |first=John C. |author-link=John Christopher Atkinson |date=1891 |title=Forty years in a Moorland Parish: reminiscences and researches in Danby in Cleveland |location=London |publisher=Macmillan}} Later editions: 1907, 1967 and 1983.</ref> and author and rambler [[Alfred John Brown (writer)|Alfred J. Brown]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Brown |first=Alfred J. |date=1952 |title=Fair North Riding |location=London |publisher=Country Life}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Brown |first=Alfred J. |date=1945 |title=Striding Through Yorkshire |location=London |publisher=Country Life}}</ref>