In 2010 Simon Armitage walked the Pennine Way in the “wrong” direction, ending up at his home village in Yorkshire. He earned his passage by giving readings in pubs and clubs at the end of each day, and passing a sock round afterwards for donations. The result was Walking Home: travels with a troubadour on the Pennine Way. Three years later, the troubadour is back on the road, this time with the aim of “lacing the boot of Britain’s south-west peninsula”. The West Country is a long, slowly narrowing stretch of land where everywhere seems distant from its neighbour. There is a distance in time, too. The coast is poet’s country, on which Armitage projects a blend of earthy common sense and a willingness to be surprised if not astonished. The lure of ancien