Journey 3
Celia Fiennes
Blackstone Edge
Did Celia overcome her final challenge?
If Fiennes could overcome Blackstone Edge – the border between Yorkshire and Lancashire –
it would prove that her health had been restored through her ceaseless horse riding.
A bleak and windswept part of the Pennines, the old road climbs high into the hills. At the time – during ‘the little ice age’ – it wasn’t unknown for snow to fall in the summer, and unwary travellers had to have their wits about them – highwaymen were also not uncommon.
Both Nick and Celia find the going hard, and share the triumph of reaching the top unscathed. At 1550 feet it was the highest altitude Fiennes ever reached. The view triggers a childhood memory of her father recalling his crossing of the Alps. Her journey may have been domestic in its range, but Celia Fiennes covered more ground in England than any of her contemporaries, male or female.
300 or so years on, Celia Fiennes’ greatest legacy is a question we should always be asking ourselves: with so much to discover in Britain, why be tempted overseas?