#85 PARTING LIKE THE 9’N’99

Two Thousand Two Two, journey (nearly) over Oops, (almost) out of time LEJoG Day 85 A music obsessive almost to the very end, I’m obviously playing on the lyrics to Prince’s ‘1999’ with today’s post title. But why? Well… the main event on this, the shortest stage in 40 days over THREE YEARS (Gargrave to […]

#84 JUST ME & ‘CHART MUSIC’ VERSUS THE ROAD

“Ay up you pop-crazed youngsters, and welcome to…” the last episode before I finish LEJoG… Day 84 Prelude: yesterday’s teaser… My first awareness of anyone walking from Land’s End to John o’ Groats was Ian Botham’s walk for leukaemia research in November 1985. He walked the other way in fact, something I considered briefly before […]

#83 DUNROBIN (NOT YET DUNROAMIN)

Five years, my feet hurt a lot… LEJoG Day 83 Well actually, they don’t. Not right now, a week after this walk. And not during the walk either, though they did hurt a bit four days later. The heel seems a lot better this year – my weekly mileage remains down, which probably helps. No, […]

#82 PUTTING UP WITH… STUFF

Goodbye to 2021… One Year Left! LEJoG Day 82 This was an attractive walk, and the clouds largely behaved themselves. There were golf courses at the start and near the end, hence my now rare venture into a punning post title. I look back at the 2018 posts and see that I was contriving puns […]

#81 WHEN THE WEATHER BREAKS

The luck of the Scottish runs out, on LEJoG Day 81 LEJoG Day 81 pre-amble Ever since the heavy rain on the canals in August 2020, my Scottish journey had been blessed with remarkably good weather. Crucially, I felt not a drop of rain along the West Highland Way or Great Glen Way. Astonishingly, the […]

#80 MISNOMERLAND

HINO (Highlands In Name Only) – LEJoG Day 80 LEJoG Day 80 pre-amble Might as well warn you now – this is one of those entries where the walker (and therefore the reader, my apologies) wonders why he’s bothering! A very dull walk, comparable to Day 31 but longer. The worst foot pain so far. […]

#79 BLACK ISLE BENEATH BLUE SKIES

The sun continues to shine, on LEJoG Day 79 LEJoG Day 79 pre-amble Not just the sun, but Lady Luck too. This was the thirteenth consecutive day of walking in Scotland with no rain. And the only day it did rain (very heavily) was my pre-planned rest day at the Kingshouse Hotel. Most of a […]

#78 BLAZING THE LAST TRAIL

You’re on your own, after LEJoG Day 78 LEJoG Day 78 pre-amble As in, you no longer have a guidebook. This is the last day on which I was able to follow a Trailblazer guide. It’s also the last day on an officially-recognised National Trail. The full record is: South West Coast Path (Days 1 […]

#77 30C AT 57N

LEJoG Day 77 – it’s a matter of degrees LEJoG Day 77 pre-amble Today was a hot one. Not just “very warm”, and not even “warm for Scotland”. It was hot, almost all the way through the walk. The mercury wasn’t quite up there with the day after Alston in 2019 (still a record-breaker I […]

#76 “TAKE THE HIGH ROAD!”

Listen to that advice, on LEJoG Day 76 LEJoG Day 76 preamble ‘Take The High Road’ was a soap opera set in Scotland, which for reasons way beyond the ken of a Central region child, seemed to be on every flipping day during school holidays. The phrase comes from the chorus of the traditional Scottish […]

#75 MONSTER

Day 75: LEJoG – the Longest Day LEJoG Day 75 preamble The title “Monster” refers to both the length and conclusion of today’s walk. 25½ miles snatches the distance record from Barnstaple to Simonsbath, over 3 years earlier. And the destination was Fort Augustus, at the southern edge of Loch Ness, world-famous for its elusive […]

#74 FLAWED HEEL FLOORED

A foot injury is no obstacle to LEJoG Day 74 LEJoG Day 74 pre-amble The long-awaited return to Fort William and LEJoG followed an extremely difficult autumn and winter. It’s not really the place to discuss Covid-19, but the virus cast a very long shadow over all aspects of life in Britain between September 2020 […]