I followed this prehistoric route from the outskirts of Nottingham up to Mam Tor, adjacent to Edale and the start of the Pennine Way.
The guidebook for this three day section was more of an academic thesis, and admitted in the introduction that most of the route was no longer travelable or visible.
However it put forward interesting and convincing arguments for why such a route would have been chosen between 4000 and 2000 years ago - obviously most modern settlements didn't exist so it had no need to follow the same routes as modern roads, instead sticking to high contours as much as possible and linking obvious natural landmarks such as rock formations, as
people would have had no maps to follow.
Thought provoking when following other paths in our time, imagining if navigation was by verbally based on instructions "turn right at the big oak tree etc", the use of cairns etc.

I'm talking about walking sticks, not polish people out for a stroll!

ok, so many reasons, particularly when carrying heavy pack:

support climbing hills
reducing knee strain descending hills
faster striding on the flats
testing bogs for squelchiness
vaulting over streams
holding down electric fences
smashing nettles
fending off angry cows

sword fights with bond villains
miming guitar
"singing in the rain" dance
conducting invisible orchestra

set off from Nottingham today having stopped for a few days of catching up with friends, sleep, and pizza.

Following the approximate route of an ancient track known as the derbyshire portway, which will lead me north to Edale and the start of the Pennine Way.

Heavily considering buying an expensive new goretex waterproof shell when I get to bakewell, in anticipation of changes in the weather!