The ‘Old Crones’ tackle Northumberland’s 100-mile Saint Oswald’s Way

Three older women take on a gruelling trek through the wilds of north-east England, getting lost in a forest, befriending farmers and helping fallen sheep along the way

“I walked six miles this morning” messaged BordersCrone a couple of weeks before our proposed hike, “and am absolutely knackered”. “My foot doctor said I should keep off it for five weeks,” replied BucksCrone, “but it’ll be OK in a boot.” DevonCrone’s hip hurts (that’s me) but she decided not to say anything. After all, the die was cast with the three Old Crones committed to walk the 97-mile St Oswald’s Way in Northumberland.

As a group of friends – two octogenarians plus one youngster of 78 – we keep each other motivated for our weekly Saturday parkruns, but this would be much more challenging. We hadn’t meant to get so old before tackling it: 2019 was the plan but then came lockdown. We enlisted the help of Mickledore Holidays to produce for us a not-too-strenuous itinerary and sort the accommodation. The longest day was supposed to be 11 miles, which we reckoned we’d manage. Just.