Month: August 2019

Now I’ve completed the End to End and we’re on the way South, it’s time I answered some of those FAQ’s you all have about LEJOG. Here they are!
1. Is it a long way?
Yes.

2. What’s best, Land’s End to John O’Groats or John O’Groats to Land’s End?
Personal preferences vary but with the dominant weather pattern in the UK being SW to NE starting at Land’s End makes sense. You mostly have the wind behind you (obviously there have been some exceptions to that this summer!).

3. Which place is nicer, Land’s End or John O’Groats?
Again personal preferences will play a part.
I love Cornwall and it holds many family memories but the Land’s End theme park is a tacky place. Try to start before it opens at 10am: not so busy then.
John O’Groats has really improved in the last decade. Better accommodation and a neat harbour with great views of Orkney in the right weather.

4. What is the distance from Land’s End to John O’Groats?
That depends on the route you take. There’s no set route so you have to decide how long you want your journey to be.
One correspondent noted a difference of 2 miles on one of the signposts. LEJOG is like that: places are always moving.
My overall total was 1110 miles.

5. Bike, cycle, run, or walk?
Again it’s a personal thing. In our family LEJOG is something you walk. The pace means you get to savour so much. Otherwise it all pass in a blur. Think of LEJOG as a slow project. You won’t regret it.

6. What’s the best food for those walking LEJOG
Fish and chips and ice cream. These quintessential British foods are available almost anywhere and can fortify you on any day.

7. What should a LEJOG walker carry?
As little as possible. Try to find someone else to do that. Just have a bottle of water in your pocket and a snack like chocolate or nuts (warning, may contain nuts: other snacks are available).

8. What time should you stop for 11s?
Any time between 10am and midday depending on conditions.

9. What time should you stop for lunch?
Any time between 11am and 4pm depending on conditions.

10. How often should you eat ice cream on LEJOG.
As often as possible up to 4 or 5 times a day. It is important to support local businesses especially in remote areas.

11. What should a walker do while walking LEJOG?
Firstly carry a paper map in a plastic map case and use it. This is better than an electronic map because you can use it as a hat in sunny weather, and it to disperse flies (and midges in Scotland).
Second, have a ticking sheet of natural phenomena seen en route, particularly flora and fauna. Add anything else unusual to this list as you go along, invaluable for aiding recall later.
Thirdly, sing! These can be real songs from your memory or ones you make up as you go like ‘Is there a toilet in the town, in the town; one where I can soon sit down, soon sit down…’ etc
Fourthly, prepare to go forth and prepare your stand up show which you are going to tour Britain with after LEJOG.

12. What were the low points of the journey?
The worst combination is rain and wind leading to walking in wet knickers. This means that the day from Clunes along Loch Lochy was not a great day although I wasn’t actually going Commando (see comment about knickers) but following in their footsteps, so to speak.
However, the day from Shebster to Thurso was grim requiring three attempts due to poor weather and I couldn’t actually stand up at one point near Achscrabster road.
Basically any day where your knickers get wet is a poor outcome.

13. What were the high points?
So many it’s difficult to order them. Unusual flora and fauna feature heavily: seals on the beach, deer in a barley field, many different kinds of orchids many I was seeing for the first time. But best of all clouds of painted ladies on the Black Isle: so many I could hardly count them.

15. What is it like to be a Lay Benedictine doing LEJOG?
I was greatful for the time in Christ’s company. It helped me to put down a lot of things I’d been carrying for too long.
I love remembering the psalms, although some of my remembered versions may not be the ones others remember.

16. What is your favourite prayer?
Another one where it’s difficult to choose but probably St Patrick’s Breastplate :

Christ beside me,
Christ behind me,
Christ before me,
Christ above me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger,
Christ in hearts of all who love me,
Christ to comfort and restore me

14. What 1 piece of advice would you give any prospective LEJOG walker?
Just go for it. Hannah said we three all did it differently and we did. You do it your way. Just do it, however long it takes.

And now, God grant a quiet night and a peaceful end.

JAL 13.08.2019
LEJOG plus 1 day.

The last day of the End to End was the 117th day of walking. Although the weather was clearing we could see some heavy showers coming over Stroma and we waited for those to rattle through before setting off.
I started walking at Canisbay War Memorial and down into the village of Canisbay. The old hostel is boarded up and the old post office a private residence. The North Coast 500 has not yet reached all of these pockets.
I turned up the next straight road to Stemster and surprised a doe at the edge of a barley field. It bounded away over the field leaping high above the height of the ripening cereal. It disappeared into a corner of the field with just its ears sticking up above the barley. I was completely amazed.
I turned the next corner and walked down to the disused Mill at Huna. At a field on the corner there was a flock of Zwartables with their distinctive black and white faces. Two buzzards looked on from fence posts. I could see the hotel at John O’Groats and it was less than a mile to go.

I tried to make the final mile last as long as I could. It was hard to believe this was the end of the road (but I knew it was because we’ve been here before). After crossing the line and a big hug from Bob, ice cream was of course a priority! We got big ones.
We then drove up to Duncansby Head for a picnic lunch. The weather was the best we’ve had for days and there were great views in all directions. Bob walked back while I scuffed about in the little shops. We opened a bottle of fizz to toast a successful conclusion of LEJOG. We’re a family of End to Enders now.

From Psalm 23

And will live in God’s place forever.

May the Deer bound to greet you,
May the Buzzard, watching, circle over you,
May the foxgloves trumpet your progress
And the waves applaud your arrival,
As you celebrate your daily progress
And travel on to the end of the road

God grant us a quiet night and a peaceful end.

JAL 12.08.2019
Last day of the End to End (day 117) from Canisbay War Memorial to John O’Groats.

Day 116 of the End to End is the penultimate day of the walk. It’s equivalent the other end was Day 2 when I walked into Newlyn in the rain to visit my friend Sue. I then walked round St Michael’s Bay. Today is a bit similar but wind instead of rain and the sea here is the Pentland Firth!
The walk started at Greenland and I’d soon walked to Holland: Caithness is like that. The grey clouds meant soft colours in the landscape. Most of the wildflowers were thistles except for some unexpected Monk’s Hood (which is poisonous). The few butterflies to brave the buffeting winds were green veined whites.

The roads, like many in Caithness, we’re long and straight. I’d see our little car moving up ahead of me and then Bob walking back from quite a distance.
The views of the Pentland Firth got clearer as the day progressed. Orkney emerged and so did Skoma. We had a bit if a picnic at Rigifa. The afternoon walk was quite short. I saw the Gills Bay ferry set off from the mainland for Orkney. Just before the end point I joined the route Bob and Hannah had used for their walks as it came in from Lyth. I chose to stop at the iconic Canisbay War Memorial from which the views are amazing. We were a bit early for our accommodation so we back tracked a bit in the car and had some afternoon tea at the Castle of Mey where the strawberry gateau was excellent.

Tonight is our first night at the John O’Groats Inn, in a lovely room overlooking the sea where gannets are diving. Tomorrow is the last day of the walk. Don’t miss it!

From Psalm 139

If I flew away beyond the east or lived in the farthest place in the west, you would be there to lead me, you would be there to help me.

I am on the North Coast of the British Mainland. The steel grey sea, grey islands on the horizon and grey skies the world around me looks very different again. The purple thistles, white daisies and blue Monk’s Hood colour the verge. I have been lead to a beautiful place.

God grant me a quiet night and a peaceful end. 

JAL 11.08.2019
Day 116 of the End to End, from Greenland to Canisbay War Memorial.

Day 115 of the End to End looked better than day 114 right from the start. It was sponsored by Christine and Richard of LCSB. We set out from Thurso East, optimistically, taking the A836 which is part of the North Coast 500.
The section between Thurso and Castletown is largely straight although it does go up and down a bit leading to some hidden dips. The clouds were clearing and views of Dunnet Head emerged.
Bob came back to meet me and we walked into Castletown for some 11s.
The second part of the walk went first to Castletown beach at Dunnet Bay. The sun was beginning to break through and the huge sweep of the bay looked beautiful.
I took the back road via the disused airfield to Greenland. At the Burnlea Croft what we first thought were Ostrich turned out to be Rhea. We don’t have a lot of experience classifying flightless birds. Turns out Rhea are originally from South America although there are some feral Rhea in Germany. Maybe Caithness will become their next pecking ground.
On the next corner a large group of poultry were very excited to see us. This was Greenland, end point of today’s walk.
We then took a short drive to the village of Dunnet to see Mary Ann’s Croft, a small museum of local rural life. We also made a brief stop at Dunnet’s bay on the way back.
Later the street outside the Hostel in Thurso became a practice ground for a local pipe band.

From Matthew 23
Jesus said ‘How often I have wanted to gather you together like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings’.

God grant a quiet night and a peaceful end.

JAL 10.08.2019
Day 115 of the End to End, Thurso East to Greenland.

At the beginning of day 114 I had 4 days for the 28 miles to John O’Groats and the weather forecast was looking unfriendly to say the least. The aim was to get to Thurso by lunchtime when heavy rain was due from the south. I set off from Shebster early, just after 8.30am and it wasn’t raining. However, it was very windy and the turbines at Baillie Wind Farm were whirring away.

Bob came back towards me and we made a brief detour at Westfield to St Trostan’s cemetery, a now disused burial ground of uncertain age. It was said to be the earlier site of St Trostan’s Chapel of which nothing remains although there is an intriguing water stoop in one wall of the graveyard. St Trostan may originally have been St Drostan and may have been from Ireland: such are the stories hidden by history in this vast landscape.

It was raining hard by now and by the time we got back to the car I was wet and cold. In an attempt to dry out and warm up, Bob drove down to the garage on the Thurso road and I had a hot chocolate. We returned to the sheep farm at Bardnaclavan to start again. However, it was even windier and wetter and I could hardly stand up. The road is very exposed and there’s no shelter for some distance. I therefore managed less than a mile before Bob picked me up again, completely drenched.
This time we went to the Co op for a bit of shopping. In Thurso there was no rain and the weather seemed a bit clearer. After getting the shopping we therefore headed back up to the Achscrabster junction to carry on. It was only a couple of miles round to the footway into Thurso if I could make it through the wind.

At Janetstown I sheltered in the bus shelter for a bit. Bob came back towards me from the garage on the edge of town and we battled back with our heads down. Once we got into Thurso there was some shelter from the buildings and I carried on as planned, cutting through the streets in the town to come out by the A9 junction at the bridge over the River Thurso.
I eventually reached the end of today’s walk by the junction in Thurso East at about 1pm and we returned to the hostel to dry out and have lunch. There are now 3 days to go and less than 20 miles to John O’Groats.

From a Scottish Pilgrim’s Prayer

The keeping of God be upon you in every pass,
The shielding of Christ be upon you in every path,
The bathing of the Spirit be upon you in every stream,
In every land and sea by which you go.

God grant a quiet night and a peaceful end

JAL 09.08.2019
Day 114 of the End to End from Shebster to Thurso East.

Day 113 of the End to End was the greyest yet. I began at Golval in what seemed like a break in the weather. It set the pattern for the walking day as the rain and mist came in waves. The route joined the main road along the North Coast. The low cloud and mist was rolling in from the sea and by the time I met up with Bob near the border of Caithness visibility was very low indeed.
Caithness is the last county of this LEJOG, just as Cornwall was the first, and at the moment both seem to be experiencing wet and windy weather.

After a brief rest at a lay-by on the A836, I walked down into Reay. This mile was sponsored by Patrick and Lucy of LCSB. In the small shop I asked about the Market Cross I’d heard about but without success. A bit further on Reay Golf Course welcomes all sorts of non golf related travellers for drinks and snack. No one was playing golf due to the sea mist but we received a warm welcome and enjoyed the hot drinks and cakes.

Unfortunately the parish church next door to the golf course wasn’t open. I did finally manage to find the old burial ground where a burial vault houses the Reay Cross Slab. This is an 8th century Pictish stone but there’s no access to the vault so I had to make do with the description given outside.

I walked onto a rest stop at Achvarasdal Lodge where we ate our picnic and I had a snooze as the drizzle continued.
After about half an hour I set off again on the final two and a half miles of the day down to Shebster via the NCN route 1. Such a grey day meant there had been no butterflies although there were plenty of flowers on the verges.
We drove onto Thurso and looked at some potential routes for tomorrow. The weather forecast continues to be wet for the next couple of days and it will be a question of making decisions based on how this turns out at the time. We are now 4 days from John O’Groats.

From Psalm 50

God, the Holy One, speaks and summons the earth, from the rising of the sun to where it sets.

The day belongs to God, whatever the weather!

God grant a quiet night and a peaceful end. 

JAL 08.08.2019
Day 113 of the End to End from Golval to Shebster.

Day 112 of the End to End took up where I finished yesterday, a mile north of Forsinard. It was cloudy but dry and a helpful breeze was blowing the midges away. The Flow Country goes on covering as it does most of the inland part of the far North of Scotland. Today the river Halladale was flowing very fast and there were signs along the banks and along the small burns flowing into it that it had been higher yesterday and overnight with the heavy rain we’d had.

I regularly see Herons and Buzzards on my walks, and did so again today. I met Bob coming back towards me and we carried on along the A897 rather than taking the back round down Strath Halladale. This was to increase our mileage today as we are expecting more adverse weather before the weekend. As that might limit miles we can walk on those days we tried to do a few more today.

Near the War Memorial I met Sandra Train, now 80 years old, who is a local author. She wrote about her experiences growing up in Halladale as a child, and of the evacuees who stayed with her family during WW2. Her family lived in a basic Croft without electricity or running water she told me as we walked along together to the next lay-by.
She introduced me to the owner of the bunkhouse. I later passed the bunkhouse further along the road. The building was formerly the mill and still has its mill wheel.
I was now on the last few miles of a longer than usual walk. We finished at Golval and then drove back to Melvich again to stay, this time at the Melvich Hotel.

From Psalm 139

You see me, whether I am working or resting; you know everything I do.
Even before I speak, you already know what I will say.

The End to End is full of surprise meetings and encounters of all kinds. People generously share their stories. Places come alive and lodge in my memory.

God grant a quiet night and a peaceful end.

JAL 07.08.2019
Day 112 of the End to End, North of Forsinard to Golval.

Day 111 of the End to End would take the route across the Flow Country. One of my main reasons for walking this way, apart from avoiding the A9, was to cross the Flow Country, a large area of blanket bog. It is the largest in Europe and ecologically an important resource.
My walk started at the junction near Kinbrace Station on a bright morning. I was walking along the same road as yesterday, but there were fewer signs of human habitation, both ancient and recent. The train did go past on the Far North Line. The views of Loch an Ruathair were lovely. Bob met me before the summit of the pass to Forsinard. Not long after that it started raining.

We saw the clouds sweeping across the Flow. As a result of the wind direction my right leg was getting wetter than my left.
Bob had mentioned the Forsinard station cafe and as we were already quite wet it seemed a good place to dry off. There was a sheep guarding the door but we managed to get inside. Its simple menu required extensive sampling and I’m glad to report that soup, scones and chocolate cake were all excellent. The sheep kept guard while we ate, even dosing off on the porch. We dried out as the thunder rumbled on around us.

During a brief break in the weather we walked down to the station where the RSPB have an exhibition about the Flow Country. Two trains came through.
The rain and thunder started again. We sat in the car until it cleared up and then I legged it down the road for a further mile until the rain started again. It looks like the next few days may follow this pattern.

We drove through to the North Coast to a B&B near Melvich. Unfortunately the low cloud obscured the views of the coast but it was out there somewhere.

From Psalm 29

God’s voice is heard over the sea.

Thunder is glorious: it is God rumbling over the ocean.
The Laws of Physics make for an amazing universe. We are in awe of phenomena like thunder. Rain makes the Flow Country what it is. Blanket bog is important. The connections between all of these physical aspects of the world echo the complexity of the Holy Creator.

God grant a quiet night and a peaceful end. 

JAL 06.08.2019
Day 111 of the End to End from Kinbrace to North of Forsinard.

Day 110 of the End to End was another train day. This meant Bob was able to walk with me for the whole day. We began at Helmsdale station and took the morning train to Kildonan Station where we started walking. The weather was a lot brighter than we expected.
The walk was straightforward enough along a single track road and apart from a few timber lorries, not that busy. The valley is quiet and has a few farms and some sheep who cross back and forth at will.
The foliage has changed: the foxgloves are almost finished. There’s an occasional small heath orchid still flowering and we even saw a dozen or so Painted Ladies this far in land.
There’s plenty of evidence of earlier human occupation in the valley from the Stone Age onwards. Heaps of stones of various sorts from hut circles to burial mounds to Brochs. Some of the streams featured in the gold rush of the 1860s. There were other signs of the highland clearances as well.

We made good time to Kinbrace Station and even had time for a look around and a picnic before our return train arrived. It is a very small village. Not far from the station the tin chapel of the former United Free Church, erected in 1925, is now used as the village hall. One of the local residents lent me the key and I was able to look inside the simple woodlined building.

The train journey back to Helmsdale was soon completed and we took a few moments to look around the local museum and have some local ice-cream.
Back at the excellent Helmsdale Hostel the evening was spent exchanging End to Enders tales with one hiker going North and two Australian cyclists going South. It’s now one week to John O’Groats.

From Psalm 91

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Holy One.

Here at Helmsdale Hostel we are well sheltered. Each of us has our own stories to tell of the adventured involved. Rest is important in order to undertake the next stage of the route, whatever that might be.

God grant us a quiet night and a peaceful end.

JAL 05.08.2019
Day 110 of the End to End from Kildonan Station to Kinbrace Station.

Day 109 of the End to End was via Glen Loth to Kildonan. The walk started at the ‘Last Wolf in Sutherland’ memorial lay-by. The road to Glen Loth rose steeply from the A9. There was a small group of vehicles involved in road maintenance in the first mile or so, but other than that I had the whole road to myself. Its patchwork surface wound its way through a green and rocky landscape. There were a couple of Brochs and a standing stone: evidence of human influence on this landscape for several millenia. There was more recent evidence of occupation, but the lone farmhouse was a ruin. Sheep are farmed in the area and maybe the old sheep folds are still used.
The road climbed up the Glen to the pass over several miles. As I climbed a cloud was pushing its way over a mountain to my right. The effect was to create the ‘tablecloth’ I’d once seen on Table Mountain in Cape Town.

There is that moment almost every day of the walk when I think I might not get to the end. Often it’s on strenuous uphill sections when my legs ache and I wonder why I’ve taken this route. Predictably this happened again today on the way up to the pass out of Glen Loth.
At the top of the pass there was an information panel concerning the highland clearances in this area. It would not be the last evidence of those, I was sure.
Bob was coming up from Kildonan and we met near a pine wood which, the uprooted and broken trees indicated, had obviously been decimated by high winds at some point in the past. We ate our picnic on the edge of the wood.
We continued downhill to Kildonan Station. I has just remarked how we’d not seen any deer when Bob noticed two stags watching us. Kildonan Station marked the end of the days walking but we made a brief side visit to Kildonan Church. I was glad to find it open. Near the old Manse there was a large cross slab with a simple cross carved into it, much over grown with lichen. The nearby Kildonan Burn was the focus of a gold rush in 1869.

We had our fish super at La Mirage restaurant in Helmsdale which I last visited with my Dad in 2012.

From Psalm 100

Know that God is the Holy One:
God made us, and we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

I sang, somewhat untunefully, a version of Psalm 100 in the empty church at Kildonan. It was a simple place, well kept, although I wasn’t sure how often it was still used. Communion Table, font and pulpit its simple furnishings, speak of generations of a local community gathered here.

God grant a quiet night and a peaceful end. 

JAL 04.08.2019
Day 109 of the End to End, Lothbeg road Lay-by to Kildonan Station.