Simon Armitage, King’s Hall, Saturday

In 2010, Simon Armitage decided to walk the Pennine Way north-south. Most do it the other way so as to have the often dire weather at their back, but Armitage wanted to finish at his native Marsden. Just to make things that bit more difficult, he kicked off at Berwick-upon-Tweed with no money, relying on B&B with local people (pre-arranged via his website) and evening poetry readings (ditto), where he would pass a sock round for contributions. He tells the story in Walking Home, presented ‘in conversation’ at King’s Hall on Saturday. How do you converse in King’s Hall? With great ease in this case. Armitage read a mix of extracts and poetry, gave an entertaining slide show and engaged warmly with his audience at question time. Ilkley questions, he commented later, were the best ever, and he was clearly happy to be on home territory. The result was an illuminating insight into what must have been a gruelling journey – his account was not written for the tourist board, as he pointed out. Armitage shared his emotional and metaphysical experience in a way that made everyone want to read more.

Judith Dunn