Walking across England: From Manchester to Wakefield
50 miles through post-industrial decline, Pakistani communities, hills, dales, and moors.
After hiding for two days in Manchester from a heatwave, I spent the next four walking through cities strung along a range of mountains and moors that once powered mills with coal, peat, and water. Those mills are gone now, and the mountain’s a national park.
The towns — Failsworth, Oldham, Grotton, Diggle, Marsden, Meltham, Huddersfield, Mirfield, Dewsbury, Wakefield — lay on either side of the park and along a spectrum of how hard the de-industrialization punch hit them. Some have gotten back up, rebranding themselves as commuter burbs and quaint getaways for city folks wanting to eat vegan scones and hike some trails, and moved beyond that messy past.
Others are still gutted, their central shopping district lined with One Below stores, charity shops, and pubs opening at 8 am sharp, the regulars out front, clutching racing forms, upset if it’s any later.
These towns, which comprise the majority of the area, would shock any time-traveling resident from the 60s. Many are now close to a third Muslim. There are more mosques than churches1, certainly in spirit if not numbers.