Companion

I went on my first long-distance walk in June 2021, when I was living in England. I walked from the start of the TransPennine Trail in Southport to Liverpool, then from Manchester to the beginning of the Pennine Way in the Peak District. The pandemic was a lonely business, and walking can be, too–so I decided to bring along a “dog”. My companion, a child’s plastic Spiderman roller-skate, accompanied me on a leash clipped to my backpack. It rattled, it got filthy, it got caught between rocks and tugged me backwards: it was not a good companion. To my delight, however, it did sometimes attract the attention of real dogs.

Thanks to Arts Council England for their support of my research into Britain’s rambling culture in 2021.