End of Pennine trek inspires 'begging' poet

During the walk, which began in Kirk Yetholm on the Scottish borders and ended at Edale in Derbyshire, Mr Armitage gave poetry readings wherever he stopped for the night and asked his audience to give whatever they thought his performance was worth in order to fund his trip.

He marked the final leg of his journey with a reading of his new poem, Cottongrass at Crowden, before continuing the final leg of his journey over Kinder Scout to the finish line at Edale.

Mr Armitage, from Marsden in West Yorkshire, said: "I've been really taken aback by people's generous offers of pillows to rest my head on, bacon butties the next morning and even the shirt on my back, given that I basically begged my way from A to B.

"I paid for everything with poetry, so maybe it bears out what I've always thought, that the word is the most valuable of all currencies."