Penniless by design, the Yorkie bard set out in July 2010 to sing for his supper (and bed).
Hiking the wrong way down a cheerless Pennine Way, he earned his keep as a windswept troubadour by poetry-reading at pubs and homes, asking his listeners to bung cash into a whiffy sock.
Walking Home showcases his gifts as a comic craftsman in prose, with a flair for surprise and analogy that draws from the poet's side of his desk.
No Wordsworth, Armitage hates solitude and happily descends from the hills for repartee with eccentric fellow-ramblers.
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