I'm sorry Hazzer, but I'll stick with my doddle assessment. The Cheviots were largely slabbed last spring - The climb up to the Auchope Cairns being one of the few exceptions.
Blenkinsopp Common is one of the few major stretches without slabs - but that is a fairly gentle moor - certainly compared to the old routes over Bleaklow and Black hill. I have nightmares of the peak goughs with their six foot drop and corresponding climb to progress 20 yards. Mile upon mile of that gets exhausting!! The bogs around Black Hill are treacherous, my third companion went thigh deep following the same line as we first two - it must have been close to the spot where Wainwright went waist deep! The modern route is a comparative breeze - it's even dry!.
The 25k OS maps show the older line from Crowden, via White Low, to Black Hill and thence to the A635 and over the Featherbed Moss to Black Moss Reservoir. This latter stretch follows the county boundary which (in the sixties) was marked by a line of posts - one of the few bits of easy route finding!
I agree that the slabs can be treacherous - particularly the mile stretch north of Hadrian's Wall - but so can paving stones in towns! Just because you don't have to think about finding your way does not mean that you don't have to watch where you're putting your feet - at least the slabs don't suck the boots off your feet
Personally, my least favourite sections were those involving rock scrambles such as the Falcon Clints - far too easy to slip and twist an ankle or worse if you're carrying a heavy pack.
I don't agree that the weather generally makes walking difficult - unless visibility is very bad - it just tests your resolve! I had some foul weather - and a broken tent
Wainwright's route can be capricious. On the climb out of the Hebden valley, near the old chapel graveyard, there is a signpost with both the official route and Wainwright's preferred alternative.