I went solo on the UK's new, 120-mile hike – and found Fell ponies and a book town

I went solo on the UK's new, 120-mile hike – and found Fell ponies and a book town

Puffing my way up the final sharp incline of a single-track road, I stop to savour the view from 400m above sea level, the highest point of the day’s walk. Crowding the skyline are the olive bumps and dips of Harter Fell and the steep rounded flanks of The Howgill Fells. Clouds drift across a duck-egg blue sky, and the sun highlights every detail of this wind-scoured landscape. I’m on my second day of walking the Westmorland and Furness Way (W&F…