Editing Lyke Wake Walk (section)

==Lyke Wake Clubs==
The first Lyke Wake Club was formed immediately on completion of the first crossing. Those completing the first crossing were its foundation members.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cowley |first=Bill |date=1971 |title=Lyke Wake Walk: Forty Miles Across the North Yorkshire Moors |edition=5th |location=Skipton, Yorkshire |publisher=Dalesman Books |isbn=1-85568-063-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |date=1972 |title=Yorkshire Facts and Records |edition=2nd |location=Clapham, North Yorkshire |publisher=Dalesman Books |isbn=0-85206-173-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Joy |editor-first=David |date=1990 |title=The Dalesman: A Celebration of 50 Years |location=London |publisher=Pelham Books |isbn=0-7207-1969-0}}</ref>

The walk takes its name from the "[[Lyke-Wake Dirge]]", probably Yorkshire's oldest surviving [[dialect]] verse,<ref>{{cite book |last=Waddington-Feather |first=John |date=1970 |title=Yorkshire Dialect |location=Clapham, North Yorkshire |publisher=Dalesman Publishing |isbn=978-0-85206-046-9}}</ref> which is about watching over the [[wake (ceremony)|wake]] of the corpse ''(lyke)''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hillaby |first=John |date=1986 |title=John Hillaby's Yorkshire: The Moors and Dales |location=London |publisher=Constable & Co. |isbn=0-09-466910-4}}</ref> Cowley proposed linking the walk and the dirge before the first crossing had been completed.<ref>Cowley, Bill (November 1955) ''The Dalesman''.</ref> The song tells of the soul's passage through the afterlife.<ref>{{cite book |last=Colbeck |first=Maurice |date=1983 |title=Yorkshire Moorlands |location=London |publisher=Batsford Ltd. |isbn=0-7134-3803-7}}</ref> The walk does not follow a [[corpse road]], although it has been suggested it does,<ref>{{cite book |last=Harding |first=Mike |date=1986 |title=Walking the Dales |location=London |publisher=Michael Joseph Ltd |isbn=0-7181-2701-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Bathurst |first=David |date=2007 |title=The Big Walks of Great Britain |location=Chichester |publisher=Summersdale Publishers |isbn=978-1-84024-566-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Else |first=David |date=1997 |title=Walking in Britain |location=London |publisher=Lonely Planet Publications |isbn=0-86442-478-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Dent |first=R. |date=1994 |title=A Tribute to Bill Cowley |journal=Transactions of the Yorkshire Dialect Society |issue=XCIV |volume=XVIII}}</ref> though there is no historical or archaeological evidence for it.<ref>{{cite book |last=Parker |first=Mike |date=2011 |title=The Wild Rover |location=London |publisher=HarperCollins Publishers |isbn=978-0-00737-266-9}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://where2walk.co.uk/walking-challenges/lyke-wake-walk/ |title=Lyke Wake Walk |date=2012 |website=Where2walk.co.uk |access-date=3 February 2020}}</ref> The physical challenge, possibility of bad weather and difficult conditions make the dirge an appropriate club song.

The club established its own culture and developed traditions based around the dirge, aspects of Cleveland history, superstitions and folklore, and rituals associated with suffering, death, funerals and the after-life that are broadly Yorkshire, northern English and Christian in character, with an acknowledgement of local folklore and the pagan forebears who originally inhabited the moorlands. Club meetings were termed "wakes" and the club badge was coffin shaped and decorated with the Ordnance Survey symbol for a [[tumulus]] (burial mound), many of which are found along the route. Its culture is of solemnity regarding issues of ritual, folklore and mortality but with light-hearted aspects relating to the self-inflicted suffering of participants undertaking the {{convert|40|mi|adj=on}} walk. Club membership was/is granted on submission of a written report of a successful crossing and entitles successful walkers to a membership card in the form of a black-edged condolence card bearing the club crest, a black coffin. Many crossing reports are humorous and in various forms including prose, poetry,<ref>{{cite book |last=Chapman |first=Ian |date=2013 |title=Lyke Wake Walk Crossing 1982 |publisher=Ian Chapman |asin=B00D1685RU}}</ref> maps, post-mortem reports, last wills and testaments, plays, etc., some of which are quoted in the many editions of Cowley's ''Lyke Wake Walk'' book and in a separate volume devoted to literature and artwork contributed by members.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cowley |first1=Bill |last2=Morgan |first2=Phil |date=1979 |title=Lyke Wake Lamentations |location=Skipton, Yorkshire |publisher=Dalesman Books |isbn=0-85206-487-X}}</ref> Female members are termed "Witches", males are "Dirgers".
[[File:Fylingdales Moor.jpg|thumb|Typical Lyke Wake Walk terrain, Fylingdales Moor]]

The walk emerged when outdoor challenges and sponsored fund-raising events were becoming a feature of national life.<ref>{{cite book |last=Spencer |first=Brian |date=1984 |title=The Visitor's Guide to The North York Moors, York and the Yorkshire Coast |location=Ashbourne |publisher=Moorland Publishing |isbn=0-86190-115-0 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/visitorsguidetot00spen }}</ref> It became popular and was considered a "rite of passage" for outdoor enthusiasts in Yorkshire in particular and across the north of England. It became a challenge for fundraisers for good causes. Reliable estimates, based on club records, put the number of people having completed a crossing at more than 250,000. Possibly more than 30,000 made more than one crossing, a significant number have completed it more than ten times and a handful have made more than a hundred. One estimate put the total number of crossings up to 1994 at one million, but this is not supported by records.<ref>{{cite news |title=Obituary: Bill Cowley |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=18 August 1994 |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |issn=0307-1235}}</ref> The club celebrates walkers who have undertaken multiple crossings with awards called degrees<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.lykewake.org/degrees.php |title=Degrees |website=The New Lyke Wake Club |access-date=3 February 2020}}</ref> acknowledging their knowledge of the route, the moorland and its culture. The club designated Cowley as "Chief Dirger" and other officers included a Melancholy Mace Bearer, Harassed Archivists, Melodious Minstrels, a Cheerless Chaplain, a Horrible Horn-blower and an Anxious Almoner. Degrees conferred include Master/Mistress of Misery, Doctor of Dolefulness and Past Master/Mistress. Walkers who completed more than one hundred crossings are referred to as Senile Centenarians and as of March 2016, four people have achieved this landmark.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://solutions.3m.co.uk/wps/portal/3M/en_GB/4Uonline/Home/?PC_Z7_U00M8B1A00AOF0ITG71GV9M4U5000000_assetType=MMM_Article&PC_Z7_U00M8B1A00AOF0ITG71GV9M4U5000000_assetId=1319234511568&PC_Z7_U00M8B1A00AOF0ITG71GV9M4U5000000_univid=1319234511568 |title=Spotlight On ... the Lyke Wake Challenge |date=10 July 2012 |website=3M Newsroom |access-date=3 February 2020 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208165832/http://solutions.3m.co.uk/wps/portal/3M/en_GB/4Uonline/Home/?PC_Z7_U00M8B1A00AOF0ITG71GV9M4U5000000_assetType=MMM_Article&PC_Z7_U00M8B1A00AOF0ITG71GV9M4U5000000_assetId=1319234511568&PC_Z7_U00M8B1A00AOF0ITG71GV9M4U5000000_univid=1319234511568 |archive-date=December 8, 2015}}</ref>) The requirements for degrees are:

{| class="wikitable"
! bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | Degree
! bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | Crossings
! bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | Notes
|-
|Master/Mistress of Misery
|3 (minimum)
|Must have done the walk in both directions entitling the recipient to wear a black neckband at wakes and other functions.
|- 
|Doctor of Dolefulness
|7 (minimum)
|Must have done walk in both directions including an unsupported crossing and a winter crossing in December, January or February. Must present a thesis at a wake on a subject relating to the walk or club, entitling the recipient to wear a purple neckband at wakes and other functions.
|- 
|Past Master/Mistress
|15 (minimum)
|In addition to the requirements for Doctor status, the recipient must have performed "great services to the club" and be capable of "finding the way across any moor by day or night, whether drunk or sober without map or compass" entitling him/her to wear a purple & black boutonniere at wakes and other functions. It is awarded on an honorary basis by the club and cannot be applied for.
|-
|}

The New Lyke Wake Club has instituted the degree of "Purveyor of Purgatory"<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.lykewake.org/wake2006.php |title=2006 Wake Report |website=The New Lyke Wake Club |access-date=3 February 2020}}</ref> for leaders who have successfully, and without mishap, conducted three (or more) parties on the walk. It can be awarded ''in absentia'' but the other degrees are only awarded when the recipient is in attendance at a wake.

The walk's popularity owes much to Cowley's book which gives insights into the history, archaeology, geography, natural history, and folklore of the moors.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://scoutguidehistoricalsociety.com/lykewake.htm |title=The Lyke Wake Walk |website=Scouting Milestones |access-date=3 February 2020}}</ref> The book describes the club and its culture in a tongue-in-cheek humorous style. Its first edition contained a list of the successful crossings up to October 1958. The possibility of inclusion in future editions together with the use of quotes from some crossing reports became an incentive to those taking on the challenge and inspired correspondents to be inventive and "attain literary heights".

Cowley died on 14 August 1994.<ref>{{cite news |title=Obituary: Bill Cowley |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=27 August 1994 |newspaper=[[The Times]] |issn=0140-0460}}</ref> The Lyke Wake Club, he founded, closed in October 2005, the walk's 50th anniversary. A new club has been established – not without controversy<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/archive/2005/06/30/6947185.Lyke_for_Lyke/ |title=Lyke for Lyke |date=30 June 2005 |newspaper=[[The Northern Echo]] |access-date=7 November 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819084426/http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/archive/2005/06/30/6947185.Lyke_for_Lyke/ |archive-date=19 August 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://mapaddict.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/whatever-happened-to-lyke-wake-walk.html#comment-form | title=Whatever Happened To The Lyke Wake Walk? |date=1 August 2015 |website=Map Addict |access-date=3 February 2020}}</ref> – to preserve the traditions established by Cowley and take over the old club's functions of recording crossings, holding wakes and liaising with public authorities. The New Lyke Wake Club's activities have included donating funds to the North York Moors National Park young explorers conservation group,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/about-us/press-office/press-releases/articles2/new-lyke-wake-club-helps-inspire-future-conservationists |title=New Lyke Wake Club Helps Inspire Future Conservationists |website=North York Moors National Park Authority |access-date=3 February 2020 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923034721/http://www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/about-us/press-office/press-releases/articles2/new-lyke-wake-club-helps-inspire-future-conservationists |archive-date=23 September 2015}}</ref> Cleveland Search and Rescue Team,<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.lykewake.org/grants/index.php | title=Grants |website=The New Lyke Wake Club |access-date=3 February 2020}}</ref> and a short story competition for schools within the National Park.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/discover/archaeology/stories-from-the-moors/anniversary-story-writing-competition |title=Anniversary story-writing competition |website=North York Moors National Park Authority |access-date=3 February 2020}}</ref> The new club maintains up-to-date route information on its website,<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.lykewake.org/route.php | title=About The Lyke Wake Walk |website=The New Lyke Wake Club |access-date=3 February 2020}}</ref> funds footpath repairs and removes litter along the route, and gives grants to young club members for educational and outdoor pursuits purposes.
[[File:Lyke Wake Club Condolence Card.png|thumb|Lyke Wake Club Condolence Card]]

Both the original and new clubs' criterion for membership is the completion of a crossing within 24 hours, and there are no honorary, associate or corporate members. A concession is that anyone can claim an extra 12 hours for every five years over the age of 65<ref>{{cite book |last=Cowley |first=Bill |date=1979 |title=Lyke Wake Walk: Forty Miles Across the North Yorkshire Moors |edition=8th |location=Skipton, Yorkshire |publisher=Dalesman Books |isbn=0-85206-501-9}}</ref> but, although there have been crossings by older walkers, some over eighty years old, there is no record of any of them claiming the concession. In earlier years signing in/out books were kept at the Queen Catherine Hotel in Osmotherley and at Pollard Cafe in Ravenscar. The Lyke Wake Clubs have not monitored individual crossings for compliance with the rules, as Cowley stated "No one who is going to do this Walk is going to cheat, the satisfactions of crossing successfully are entirely for the individual".<ref>{{cite book |last=Cowley |first=Bill |date=1983 |title=Lyke Wake Walk and the Lyke Wake Way |location=Skipton, Yorkshire |publisher=Dalesman Books |isbn=0-85206-711-9}}</ref>