Running LEJOG

2008-07-23T13:17:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 23 July

I won a trophy today from the running club at work for being the top fundraiser, esentially from the London marathon but as I had combined this with my end to end efforts, I don't really think anyone else had a chance! I was in London anyway today so popped into one of the offices to collect my cup (it's huge and will clearly now take pride of place on my desk at work!) and have the obligatory photoshoot. I'm hoping that I'll get copies so I can post one on the blog.

And then the lies continue! Unsure if I mentioned earlier but remember my first pair of shoes that I had retired at Earby? Tricia had taken them home but John told me that although he had hung them outside for a while, they smelt so bad that they overpowered the garage and he'd eventually thrown them away. I only found this out when I got back home and to be honest, I was a little sad as although I admit they did pong, they'd been part of my journey for so many miles. Anyway, a package had arrived this morning and Maureen and Barry, our lovely neighbours, had signed for and taken it in. Although addressed to John, he let me open it (I should have twigged then that something was afoot as he would never normally allow me to open his parcels!) and what a fantastic surprise - it was my trainers : Maureen had sugggested a 'bronzer' and he'd arranged to have them immortalised for ever in bronze and mounted on a wooden plinth with an engraved plaque 'Carole Loader ran Lands End to John O'Groats 25 April to 5 July 2008'. They look absolutely fantastic - it's rather like getting the taxidermist in! I can't believe it's actually my trainers underneath all the bronzing....and they don't smell anymore!

2008-07-21T23:41:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 22 July (John's birthday!)

My certificate arrived last night confirming my membership to the 'End to End' Club and acknowledging my 'outstanding achievement' - that's going to take pride of place in a frame on the wall together with the 'before and after' signpost signs. Sarah and Kevin kindly put all the photos taken at the surprise Welcome Home party onto one disc - some of them are really really good - funnily enough, I've got a huge smile on my face in every single photo and a glass of wine in many of them!

Collecting of the sponsors is always a mammoth effort but it's not going too badly : quite a few people are giving me more than they originally sponsored and I'm also getting others supporting me who I didn't originally put their name down which is great. I was also in the on-line magazine at work last Wednesday and that prompted a further 8 hits to my JustGiving website.

So far I've collected cash and cheques (including the on-line JustGiving total) of just over £7,020 and with over £700 still to come I've easily passed my target of £7,500 and soooooo near to the £8,000 mark - how brilliant is that!?!

2008-07-15T13:45:00.000-07:00

Monday 14 July

The 'official' photos of me under the signpost at John O'Groats arrived this morning and I love them! I look like a real athlete and full of confidence with my arms in the air and I can't stop myself from keep looking at them - it's a marked difference from the picture at Lands End where I'm holding onto the post as if I'm apprehensive and afraid to let go. What a difference a journey of 10 weeks' makes.

Back with the BJs full-blown tonight. No repercussions from my couple of runs yesterday so eagerly ran with Caroline, Laura and Max on a 5 miler. Doesn't take long to get the competitive blood flowing....

2008-07-15T13:35:00.000-07:00

Sunday 13 July

For the first time since I finished my adventure, I've got itchy feet to go out for a run...haven't tried going faster than a walk for the whole week so unsure how I'd actually feel. Although the puffiness round my ankle has gone and I've got no pain there anymore I decided to run round the Throop Mill footpath so at least most of the route would be on grassy tracks to give some cushioning underfoot. The first mile or so was really weird as I felt I was leaning all over the place and quite unbalanced and it took a while to realise it was probably because this was the first time in nearly 3 months that I run without the addition of 6.5kg on my back (by the way, that's how heavy my backpack was as Tricia and I had weighed it on the scales at Inverness airport!). At first I couldn't get a running style and was plodding quite heavily down the road towards the Mill but after a while I seemed to remember how to do this running stuff properly and by the time I'd got half way, was really enjoying striding along the lanes and tracks. We'd had a load of rain last week and despite this being July and today being quite muggy, there was standing water on some of the path and one of the lanes was totally flooded. I definitely was not going for a repeat of the bog wading that I'd done on my trip so shimmied under a barbed wire fence and trespassed over the farmers field (wouldn't have been so had I been in Scotland!).

By the time I got home I was really enjoying myself and decided to go out straight away for another run! It's addictive this running lark and I love it!

2008-07-15T13:29:00.000-07:00

Friday 11 July

I'd had an email last night from Shelley at South West News so spoke to her this morning about the potential selling of my LEJOG story to magazines and such like. She was just about to go on holiday so whilst she sounded a bit rushed on the phone, she was handing my 'case' over to another editor whilst she was away. Fingers crossed then!

Ankle swelling is much better now and I went through the whole day at work without having to take my shoes off! Whilst I'm still slightly seizing up if I sit still for too long, it's much better than it was a few days ago.

2008-07-15T13:18:00.000-07:00

Monday 7 July....back to work day

I think everyone knew that I wouldn't be doing much work for the next few days - there's too many people that want to know how I got on and to be honest I really don't want to come down off this cloud too quickly. Walking in the door for the first time I got a huge round of applause so in reality, it wasn't too bad being back in the office and I certainly didn't get much done!

My right ankle is quite swollen at the moment and I don't have much movement in it at all. Whilst I got to work in shoes, they soon came off and I wandered around the office all day in bare feet. Occasionally getting sharp pains across the top of my right foot and I have to get up every hour or so from my desk as my knees are in danger of totally seizing up at right angles!

After work I was keen to see all the Bournemouth Joggers so didn't waste much time in getting back to club. They presented me with a whole load of footcare lotions so my tootsies are going to be in for a nice treat afterwards. Decided it would be interesting to go along with my fully loaded backpack but most had difficulty trying it on and politely declined my offer for them to try running a circuit of the athletics track with it on! It was great to see everyone again but feel that I may have interupted their intense track session as there was a distinct lack of enthusiasm for some speed work!

2008-07-11T12:10:00.000-07:00

Day 72 - the day after.....

Woke up this morning and didn't need to put the trainers on....no running required. Wave 105 called to congratulate me on my achievement and interview me on how it all went - I was then on the news bulletins every half hour. They nick-named me 'Bournemouths Forrest Gump'!

The stewardess on the flight gave an announcement to all the passengers that I was on board and that people may have seen me on TV or heard me on the radio....I've got quite a celebrity status now! John met us at the airport and it was so fantastic to see him after such a long absence. It's the Wimbledon men's final today but luckily for us the match has been interupted by rain as John loves tennis and it would have been a shame if he'd missed vital games whilst picking us up.

Strangly I've forgotten where things are at home - not that John has moved stuff around it's just that my mind is so decluttered of 'reality' life that I can't remember. I'm going to try to get back into the swing of things slowly as I certainly don't want to lose sight of what I've achieved over the last 10 weeks. John must have been reading my mind as he's cooked a roast beef dinner for tonight...yum! For once, although I scoffed everything put in front of me he left half of his and I assumed that it was because he'd been snack-attacking during the day - this was part one of a cunning arrangement. I'd already mentioned to Sarah and Kevin that I wanted to pop over and see them and apparantely John had arranged for us to go over around 6.30pm as 'it was a school night and Will, Eddie and Max all wanted to see me before they went to bed' - this was cunning plan part two. Whilst driving over there John also 'complained' that recently the staff at the park had taken to leaving their cars behind their house which meant he sometimes had trouble finding room to park which was exactly the situation tonight but there was a space right outside her gate - cunning plan part three. As I gleefully yelled 'I made it', a dog ran out of the gate 'that looks like Buttons, what's she doing here?' - cunning plan almost blown to smithereens but I still didn't twig! One or two people that shouldn't have been over there meandering round the garden...still naive! It was only when I got into the kitchen and found the room full of friends that I realised I'd been well and truely surprised - the house was full and they were all there for me! The great thing was that they had managed to get Paul into the kitchen too. Eddie's trumpet teacher, Malcolm gave a fantastic rendition of 'congratulations' on the trumpet just to seal my arrival. Sarah and Kevin had also secured the services of a photographer to capture the moment so we all stood (freezing in the balmy July weather!) on the mansion steps for the official snaps. There was also a running buffet (hence the reason John was 'suddenly' full when it came to eating a roast dinner) and a karaoke (complete with welcome home message for me) and although this didn't get too much use on the night, I heard that it had been well tested the previous evening! I was still wearing my running top and my hair looked like the picture of the Llama that John had sent me a couple of days ago so I wasn't looking at my best but that didn't seem to matter to anyone!

It was a fantastic night and one that I certainly had no idea about. Everyone's been telling me lies albeit little white ones for my own good and I'm amazed that no-one let the cat out of the bag...they're all too clever and I'll never trust any of them again!

2008-07-05T03:14:00.000-07:00

Day 71 Watten - John O'Groats

2 a.m. I can't sleep! For the first time on my trip, my mind won't shut down. Please, just one more dry day - is sun asking too much? I haven't got any problem with it being the only day where I have a time limit (nneed to catch the 6 p.m. ferry-bus back to Inverness) but in what order do I do everything? Signpost then photo, then passport stamp, then go to Duncansby Head or Duncansby Head first? When do I phone everyone to say that I have finished? Oh the stress of it all!! Maybe I'll just go with the flow and see what happens...

When I drew back the curtains this morning it was dry but very misty. Today's the day and I'm totally unsure how I'm going to feel when I get to the finish and how I'm going to react to the reality of what I've done. But, I have to do some running first.

I guess it's because it's the last day but I feel strangely a lot stronger than I have done for the past few weeks and I'm able to run for quite a long way (I'm talking a few miles here!) before stopping for a recovery. There were quite a few fly fishers set up on the Loch who gave me a cheery wave as I ran past. It was quite a zig-zaggy route along minor roads and past isolated houses and farms before I reached Lyth and from then on the road was dead straight. The mist was still down and with the addition of low cloud I felt I was in a bit of a bubble as I could only see around 50m in any direction and this distance didn't seem to change at all. Occasionally the mist would totally clear and it made everything so much brighter. A row of telegraph poles led the way ever onwards, still in a straight line, with the occasional hill bringing the hope of a view from the top of my destination. But, once I got to the top it was just a view of the road and telegraph poles ahead! I started to think of what I should do for my 'signpost' photo - arms in air? punching the air? casual? and ran along the road whooping and practising!

The internet connection at home was broken so Sarah kindly typed up my '2am' update for today as I thought people would be interested to know how I was feeling this morning. Quite a few friends called or sent a text wishing me luck which was really nice. I spoke to Tricia who asked 'are you there yet?'....not yet but around 6 miles to go. She appeared rather abrupt as she had 'other things to do and needed to get on'....this was one of the most important days in my life and she didn't appear to have the time to speak to me!

Anyway, eventually I was able to see the North sea at the very top of Britain and I turned eastwards to Canisbay. Quite a few car drivers smiled and waved at me as I ran past - clearly they see 'end to enders' all the time but are able to recognise that this is a momentus day for each of them so it was lovely to get the friendly acknowledgement. I still couldn't see John O'Groats because of the bad weather and disappointingly, although the Orkney Isles are only just offshore, these were shrouded in mist as well : it was a complete whiteout.

Running through Huna and seeing the almost fairy-tale, castle-like John O'Groats hotel was when the realisation of what I was about to achieve hit home and the tears started flooding down my face....try running whilst snuffling back tears!! it's hard to breath. I must have looked a right sight to others but to be honest I was too far removed from the reality at this point to even care. I was wandering all over the road and when I reached the signpost advertising JOG as the 'welcome at the end of the road' I had trouble focusing the camera because of the tears. The road had been going away from the hotel until this point but now it pointed directly to the finish line and when I got to the car-park I couldn't hold any of my emotions back and screamed with sheer joy and jubilation at what I had just achieved. Loads of people congratulated me as I made my way to the signpost. I did go with the flow as I had the photo (decided on arms outstretched with index finger showing #1!!) then got the final stamp in my passport. I couldn't actually see Duncasby Head and, with the pursuasion of John, decided that the finish line is the sign-post and I don't need to go any further!

A cyclist finished just after me and after chatting for a while he and his wife kindly offered me a brew up in their van...it was great to share the finish experience with someone else.

I was booked to return to Inverness that evening on the bus that meets the Orkney ferry. The weather had not got any better and it was actually really chilly, certainly not a temperature that befits the 5 July! I was quite keen to get into the warm bus but before I got on, Tricia got off! It was one of those moments where you're just staring at someone before the brain engages and passes the recognition signal....I'd been set up good and proper but in the most fantastic way! She'd planned her trip to meet me way back at the end of March, even before I'd set out and whilst almost everyone back home knew of the cunning plan, I had absolutely no idea. Tears flowed again! After she'd answered all the 'how / when / what' questions we got down to the serious business of celebrating my success with a glass of bubbly before getting back on board. It was really interesting to then drive back down the same route I'd run albeit it in 3 hours as opposed to the week and a bit that it had taken me to run it!

Back at the YH it was time for a quick shower and new clothes that Tricia had brought up with her....jeans were back and they still don't fit but I don't care! Unfortunately it would appear that almost all the restaurants in Inverness close at the unearthly hour of 10pm or even 9pm so we were beginning to think our celebrations were going to be shortlived. However Bella Italia came to the rescue and stayed open well past their official closing time. We had a fab meal with complimentary drinks and even a donation thrown in.

Mileage 18.26

Final total mileage was a massive 1,205.54. Against my original guess of 1,200 that's pretty close in my books!

I've done it, I've really done it.

As Forrest Gump said 'I think I'll stop running now'

And in answer to the immortal words of Heather Small 'What have you done today to make you feel proud?'....well, I've just run from Lands End to John O'Groats

2008-07-05T03:11:00.001-07:00

Day 70 - Dunbeath to Watten
Oh groundhog weather - low mist and cloud this morning which cheered me up no end. The thought of more plodding along the A9 was so inviting....not! The B&B I was staying in is in the process of being built so in reality was more like a building site. The original Inver Guest House stands on their land, a relic from 1911 made almost entirely from wood. They've had demolition consent for the last 6 years but it still stands as the view from the dining room!
Once again legs were protesting in earnest this morning as I thumped slowly up the main road ever northwards. Only gentle undulations but it's a real struggle to get up them. At Latheron I said a fond farewell to the A9 as it branched off towards Thurso and the port of Scrabster whilst I continued on its' cloned brother, the A99 towards Wick. I met a cyclist chatting to a car driver...LEJOGger perhaps with his back-up? Yep, wasn't long before Conor caught up with me. He was on his last day and it was interesting to know he had a friend contemplating running it - he should get some good tips from my blog!
At Lybster they started drilling just yesterday at Scotlands' first land-based oil rig and I could clearly see the huge metal frame as I ran past. It wasn't far after Lybster that I was finally able to turn off the main road and instead head across the last north east peninsular of Scotland on a minor road, more akin to a Roman one as it was dead-staright for at least the first 5 miles or so. Passing the odd stone house and farm (many derelict) plus Broch remains : these are iron age stone mounds of two walls used either as fortifications or dwellings. The sun did try to come out which made the scenery look much nicer, albeit it was just rough moor only able to support sheep grazing. After about 3 miles the road entered forestry plantations and those pesky flies returned - they don't bite just simply buzz in their hundreds around my head and appear to enjoy a game of dare to see who can land on my nose or for bonus points, under my sunglasses!
The one 'attraction' for today were The Grey Cairns of Camster : two of the best preserved chambered stone tombs in Britain which date back more than 5,000 years to the Neolithic times. Both had open entrances so you could go inside but I must admit I found it really difficult to bend down and crawl through the tiny gaps - my legs simply would not co-operate that well! From then on it was simply acase of plodding on down the road. I could see huge peaked mountains to my left and there were a few wind farms dotted over the open expanse of moor. The birds were back in earnest from the massive buzzards 'mewing' overhead to the alarm calls of lapwing and curlew plus stonechats whose song simply sounds exactly like a couple of stones being knocked together : they're really pretty birds with red chests and black caps and hang around on the fence wires or gorse bushes.
The road led gradually downhill towards Watten and the Loch bearing the same name. At this point I was trying to guess what my last B&B would be like : top of the list would be a TV in my room and a bath! Second would be the bath, third the TV and fourth would be just a shower.....reality was the 2nd choice and having obtained the added luxury of bath foam I was really looking forward to a good long soak. Unfortunately the water heater hadn't been turned on so I was brought back down with a huge thump!

Mileage 20.82 and time 3.58

Total Mileage 1,187.28

Day 69 Helmsdale to Dunbeath

2008-07-04T06:24:00.001-07:00

I was complimenting the navy guys for creeping in last night as they didn't wake me up only to find that they didn't get back in until 8 am this morning! Got them all to cough up their change - £19.64 but lamented the fact that they had spent most of it in the pub last night.

Fantastic morning once again. The doorman at Dunrobin Castle had said that the route after Helmsdale was very hilly and he definitely wasn't wrong. It was straight up the hill as soon as I left the hostel and it just kept on going up. There were workmen working on the finishing stages of a new road and they kindly let me use it as a short cut but the foreman stopped me, saying it was a works access road only. I stood my ground, saying I had been told to us it as it was safer, to which he replied "those who gave their authority would get their butts kicked" jobsworth! Anyway, having taken the shortcut the road continued to follow the valleys so I seemed to be going a long way without getting very far. I entered Caithsness which many say is really pretty but to be honest, it was just a great expanse of moor with a busy main road going right through it. I stopped at the Badbea ancient village which was a collection of ruined stone houses dating from the 1700's but deserted in the early 1800's following the highland clearances. To be honest I couldn't really make out what it was as there were 6 foot high ferns everywhere but I guess in the Winter when the vegetation had died back it would have been easier to make out the remains. It is reputed that the cliff tops were so windy that animals, chickens and children were tied down to stop them blowing away. The curlews and lapwings were back in abundance but the mist came in to drown out any sort of view and then it rained - not heavy, just constant dreary drizzle.

I'm really glad I didn't go North to South as this is no joy at all and is now a means to an end, literally. A truck driver pulled over to offer me a lift which, of course, I declined - despite the lowness of today I would not cheat on my mission!

Dunbeath is yet another drab, pebbledash ridden village. The only place to eat is a pub which looks like a truckers greasy cafe - the lasagne and chips were horrid. Oh how I look forward to a proper home cooked meal.

mileage 16.47 time 3.39

Total mileage 1166.46

Day 68 Brora to Helmsdale

2008-07-04T06:01:00.000-07:00

Perfect blue sky this morning although still a bit breezy. Hadn't even gotten to the end of the road before I picked up another £5 donation. Crossed the river and headed over Brora golf course, which, like Dornoch, was in the sand dunes right next to the sea. The two couple that had stayed at Kyle View two nights ago were on the first tee! Can't get away from people recognizing me.

As the weather was so nice and I only had a "short" day today, I decided not to waste the opportunity to relax and enjoy the surroundings so sat on the dunes in the sun for a couple of hours. Eventually the clouds built up which was my signal to move on, running through the undulating dunes between the golf course and the sea. There were a few "free range" cows and sheep wandering the dunes and some were in the sea which was as bit weird. A couple of arctic terns were nesting on the beach and at one point were in gander of being squished by the roaming cows. Unfortunately the beach footpath came to an end at which point I had to cross the railway line and pick up my favorite route, the A9 although it is beginning to get a bit quieter I must admit.

The road now gently rose and fell past remote houses and the odd farm. Fields of cows and sheep were separated by stone walls and I could have been forgiven for thinking I was looking at Hadrian's wall at one point, the way had followed the edge of the cliffs with occasional stony buildings looking like the turrets on the true version. A couple of cars tooted their support of my efforts but these made me jump each time!

After dropping down a hill into the village of Portgower the road became increasingly narrow and one the blind corners it was impossible to move until the approaching cars had passed as they came too fast and too close to the curb for comfort. Lots of arctic terns were nesting on the beaches near Helmsdale; the fact they are here just shows how far north I am!

Helmsdale itself was originally a Viking settlement and in the early 18 hundreds was an important fishing station. Once again my fame has proceeded me as the LEJOG cyclists I met in Drumnadrochit stayed here and I was apparently the subject of conversation! There is a group from HMS Sutherland staying here - their ship[ is currently undergoing repair and servicing so the crew do community projects within the Sutherland county and have been here since Monday putting in a footpath down to the shore for the community to use.

I'd passed on the fish and chips from one of the top take aways all those weeks ago in Indian Queens and got so much abuse via the blog comments that I haven't made the same mistake twice. The one in Helmsdale ; La Mirage has appeared on TV and been commended by "The Two Fat Ladies" as being one of the best in Britain - certainly I couldn't complain about the size of the portion unless to say it was too big; two pieces of fish and a huge pile of tasty chips for a fiver - bargain!

Mileage 12.28 Time 2.35

Total mileage 1149.99

Day 67 Dornoch to Brora

2008-07-01T12:54:00.000-07:00

It rained overnight but no sign of the sun this morning although dry.

I created a traffic jam as soon as I stepped out the front door as my "advertising" caused a driver to stop to give me a donation and backed up the cars behind including a police car! Another £20 from a couple staying at the B&B. Ran back through Dornoch and over the golf course to Enbo where I had to pass through a holiday caravan site before picking up an unsigned footpath through grass covered dunes next to a sandy beach. Ahead I could just make out Dunrobin Castle over the other side of the Loch. Lots of rabbits and birds including raucous oystercatchers.

I then climbed over a couple of gates onto a minor lane that ran around the shoreline of Loch Fleet and below the ruins of Skelbo Castle. I was on the lookout for common seals and sure enough there were loads playing close to the shore but it was a shame the tide was in and had the mud flats been showing they probably would have been lying on them.

A very strange thing happened and I had no idea if it's the result of being on my own for 9.5 weeks but just after putting on my waterproofs because of the huge downpour I could clearly hear "hello hello" - there wasn't anyone around that I could see and I started thinking I was possibly on a "You've Been Framed" type show, then realised it was my phone! Reality restored, I had to rejoin the A9 to go over the end of the Loch where just ahead of me was a cyclist on one of those bikes where you sit in a chair with the pedals actually being on the front wheel - clearly a LEJOG entry! After following the main road for around 5K, I arrived in Golspie where thankfully a footpath ran on grass alongside the pebbly beach - another seal sighting, this time out on a rock.

Next on the agenda was a visit to Dunrobin Castle ; it was huge and situated right next to the beach with fabulous boxed hedged gardens. Nearest thing to a fairytale castle with loads of turrets and home of the Duke of Southerland.

Brora which is four miles away, the first two miles along the beach footpath on grass and pebbles (much like the terrain in The Grizzly run) below cliffs where kittiwake nest where in abundance and then back onto my favorite A9 into Brora.

This time I have eaten a proper meal and raised another £15 to boot!

One thing that is really weird up here is that whilst the temperature back at home is in the high 20's, people still have their fires burning and radiators on - it's 1st July today so this is crazy.

Mileage 20.66 Time 4.29

Total mileage 1137.71

Day 66 Alness to Dornoch

2008-07-01T12:35:00.000-07:00

I know it is getting to be a bit of a habit but another dry day beckoned. Running through Alness I believe I may have become affected by a new medical affliction, that of fusion of my ankle to me leg as they simply would not flex or bend at all. But I was back on the country lanes amid fields of crop and sheep. The plan was to follow the quiet lane as it passed through small hamlets and woods and then run through a much bigger wood thereby avoiding the A9. The first part of the plan ran perfectly smoothly. I saw a couple of partridge and unfortunately disturbed a female pheasant who was quietly laid in the hedge at the side of the road with her young. It was actually the youngsters that flew away first in all directions leaving the mum to panic trying to round them all up again. I then stopped for a while watching a couple of young deer playing in a field oblivious to me spying on them. My only annoyance was a whole swarm of buzzing flies that seemed to be following me - either I had died (which obviously I hadn't) or I was beginning to really smell!

My maps showed what looked like a track existing in Lamington Park Woods which would then emerge onto the A9 at Dornoch Bridge but the trail simply didn't exist where it should have so I had to take the lane into Tain and then join the A9 there unfortunately. Whilst the traffic wasn't too heavy, it was fast and being a single carriageway there wasn't much room in the kerb for a runner!! The good news was that there was a convenient grass verge which made it a lot easier.

One of the famous Scottish whiskies is Glenmorangie and the distillery was now on my route; whilst I'm not that interested in how they make and mature the drink, if the tour had been free as advertised, then I would have joined but they were now charging so as they also had no soft drinks to offer as refreshments, I passed on the opportunity.

This time I didn't have any real choice but to cross Dornoch Firth via the A9 bridge which luckily had the addition of a pavement. A couple of terns flew overhead plus a heron. Just afterwards I was able to divert through Cuthill onto a much quieter lane. I passed on the opportunity to sample the fitness trail in the woods! Met a couple of elderly gents who'd got slightly lost and was able to point them in the right direction. When I told them where I had started from one of them replied "Was that today?" duh!

Dornoch sprang to fame for where Madonna and Guy Ritchie were married in 2000. The cathedral itself is actually the smallest in Scotland.

Tonights B&B, Kyleview House is excellent and I spent an enjoyable evening watching Andy Murray's comeback at Wimbledon. I was also really naughty as I couldn't really be bothered to get anything to eat so made do with cake and biscuits washed down with a pot of tea!

Mileage 21.66 Time 4.05

Total mileage 1117.05

Day 65 Inverness to Alness

2008-06-29T12:32:00.000-07:00

Got a rude awakening this morning when one of the others in the dorm crashed onto the floor in the early morning - I think she had forgotten she was on the top bunk!

Followed the national cycle route number 1 back to the river (I would actually end up following it all day) and round an incredibly dusty, dirty and smelly industrial estate before climbing the steps onto Kessock Bridge. This was a huge suspension bridge over the Moray Firth and it was a tad on the windy side running over - thank goodness they had a guard rail between me and the traffic. Unfortunately non of the dolphins made an appearance although there were plenty of white horses leaping in the water. The route then followed the shoreline through North Kessock against the wind to then cross under and run initially parallel to the A9 before taking quieter lanes alongside woods.

I'm already missing the peace and quiet of the forest tracks and footpaths as I now have the drone of traffic in my left ear. I think my whole body is going into protest as I am so tired and it's a real struggle to keep putting my left foot then right foot forward and plod along. After arriving in the village of Tore I then changed direction and took the cycle path up the side of the A835. Now not only did I have the traffic noise (although I did get a couple of horn toots acknowledging my efforts being promoted by my shirt hanging off my backpack) but an uphill directly into a headwind. Then just to add to my increasing torture, the sun totally disappeared behind a huge blanket of dark grey cloud! But, once I reached the top and instead had a sidewind I bravely picked up the pace, albeit it feet still thumping the pavement and headed downhill into Conon Bridge.

There were a couple of really cute Shetland pony foals in one of the fields. All I need now was a tea shop for a sugar intake and hey presto found one...albeit it strangely located in the middle of a tropical fish shop! Sill beggars cant be choosers so tucked into soup, roll and a pot of tea for which there would be no charge. Duly refreshed I headed further downhill where into Dingwall where I saw a sign for "The North" - I'm sure they normally only say North so I'm assuming it's because I can't actually go any further!! It was then a long drag up above Cromarty Firth and I could easily see notorious mud and sand flats as the tide was out . I was back in farming country and there were huge fields of barley and oats ; the wind made them move like huge swathes of running animals. I could see the A9 crossing the Firth via a huge bridge below me and I was very glad I'd not taken the option to go that route although it would have been shorter. I was offered water by a passing motorist in a minibus which, although I declined, was a nice gesture. The lane undulated all the way to Evanton where I sheltered from a brief rain shower before running along a sandy track alongside the B817 into Alness.

I am sure I saw a huge bird of prey but my description back to John didn't reveal what it was and I've either discovered a brand new species of found a hybrid! After passing an estate or drab grey pebble dash houses arrived early at my B&B and as I was completely exhausted (can't understand why!) I crashed out on the bed in front of the TV for a few hours before venturing out for something to eat. I'd had a recommendation for Teaninich Castle which I had assumed was a pub but when I walked down the gravel path to the front door I certainly hadn't been expecting an actual castle. I'm now feeling much better after a fabulous three course roast beef and apple crumble dinner!

Remeber the cyclists I just met yeasterday? Well true to their word I'm now on their blog site and I've even made it as their "Inspiration of the Day".....

Inspiration of the day: meeting Carol, who was running from Land's End to John O'Groats. She set off on 26 April, has so far run over 1000 miles and will get to John O'Groats in 10 days time - a really amazing person.

Mileage 26.47 Time 5.09

Total mileage 1095.39

2008-06-28T12:49:00.000-07:00

Day 64 - Drumnadrochit to Inverness
Once again the sun was shining when I set out this morning. First stop was the local supermarket to pick up a sarnie and Mars bar for my lunch and I was amazed when I saw that a whole load of cyclists were stopped outside : they were also doing the LEJOG challenge (their website is http://www.lejogcycle2008.co.uk/) this time for Macmillan Cancer but they had only left home on 22 June and were going to reach John O'Groats tomorrow whilst I've still got 9 days of running left! However, they were very impressed with my solo effort, stocked me up with fruit and nuts (they were being sponsored by Haribo sweets too!) and after a 'team' photo gave me a hero's send off!
I first followed the main road back through Drumnadrochit before hitting the fields again and climbing back up through the trees (there was an excellent view point looking back to Urquart Castle en-route). It was only once I was back in amongst the pine trees that the route really hit the incline button and once again I was zigging and zagging up and up with the weather also getting muggier and muggier until I was a little bit on the wet side!
After emerging from the trees it was then a km or so across open heathland and the sky turned incredibly dark whilst in the loch, what I initially thought was smoke turned out to be a deep mist that covered all the views back towards Fort Augustus - it was amazing how quickly it came in but it didn't progress any further than the loch. Back on forestry trails I suddenly became totally lethargic so walked for quite a while until the track eventually maintained a steady descent and then running became no problem at all and I covered several miles fairly quickly.
I once again met the family who had provided me with food donations last night and this morning : Jim and Mandy and their sons John and Craig (happy 18th birthday Craig!) and we had the most amazing experience at a 'coffee shop' - there were loads of home-made signs along the route and Jim had heard that the guy who ran it, Rory, was quite a character so we couldn't pass by without dropping in. It wasn't exactly a shop as such, more just a table and chairs in his 'garden' which stretched for 8 acres : he lived in a shack and had chickens and a rooster roaming free, a dragonfly pond and the odd red deer dropping in. He has a list of things he'd like to buy...including a house, but it never gets to the top of the list! Anyway, he had fabulous tales to tell like the 'townies' who plan to walk the GGW but only get as far as his shop with expensive and new boots and backpack only to find they are totally exhausted, end up staying two nights and then return home! We had 'real' tea with tea-leaves and scottish shortbread and he even gave me a receipt!
The next few miles were on a very quiet lane and fully refreshed I ran along extremely happily and easily - I saw 3 more deer but this time Roe rather than Red. The track then followed a Drovers Road used originally to 'drive' cattle from the top of Scotland all the way down to England. I left a thank-you message and a smiley face in the sandy trail for Jim and Mandy so hope they saw it. I then went back into trees and once more thoroughly enjoyed the journey along the flat sandy path : the trees are much less crowded than in other woods I've been through but again, the floor was covered in moss and ferns - the company that maintains the footpath is trying to revert the forest back to it's original state which includes careful management of the deer population to ensure the trees grow. They should also be congratulated on the fantastic markings along the trail : the pale blue posts with the Scottish thistle logo are regularly placed and there are numerous information boards all the way along the route - I certainly can't fault them and really didn't need any of my maps to be honest. Some of the woods appeared to be really old as even the stone wall was almost covered with a thick layer of moss and in some places the trees appeared dead with all their lower branches covered with spagnum moss. I did meet someone that I'd met a few days ago and they said that today had been 'boring' with all the trees and not much of a view of anything else - it just goes to show you how drastically different, peoples expectations and experiences can be.
Eventually the trail emerged back out of the trees and presented me with a fantastic view over Inverness below. The way then dropped back down to real civilisation, initially through a housing estate and then back along the Caledonian Canal for a short distance. After crossing the river via two lovely white suspension bridges it was then a shortish run upto the castle and the finish point of the GGW where I used my monkey-pod to take a 'congratulatory' picture next to the huge stone plaque. Less than a mile later I found my YH - I'm back here a week today once I complete my adventure.
I've really really enjoyed the GGW and it's definitely lived up to any hopes and expectations that I had before I'd even left home.
Mileage 21.3 and 4.24

Total mileage 1068.92

2008-06-28T12:21:00.000-07:00

Day 63 - Loch Ness to Drumnadrochit
The waif and stray was looked after again this morning with yet more food donations! Another dry but overcast day was in prospect. Back in the forest, the trail had a bit of a sting in the tail first thing in the morning as it was a relentless uphill for the first couple of miles : zigs and zags and steepness thrown in, however the treat was the fantastic views back down the loch towards Fort Augustus which were fabulous and the higher I climbed the more spectacular they were. I could even see the hills beyond the sides of the loch. This is just the moment I was waiting for to impress you all with my gaelic knowledge : Tha seo alainn (Ha sho aa-layne) which means 'this is beautiful' and never a truer word said. But what goes up, must come down (BJs will know this is my 'glass half full' attitude phrase!) and the trail descended gradually through lush green pine trees : a much softer, smaller and lighter green variety (sitka spruce) than the huge trees of the last couple of days (Scots pine).
The track got narrower and the trees changed to birch before I followed the route around the remains of a fort and out onto a lane dotted with the occasional house. The one farm that I passed was a bit run down and the poor cows had to share their field with abandoned tractors, rusty feeders and discarded plastic buckets. I can't understand why farmers allow their land to become such an eyesore and an accident waiting to happen for their own animals : to me it's just downright lazy. Anyway, enough of my ranting! The lane continued across a gorseclad moor dotted with my favourite cottongrass which only means one thing - bog! A mini disaster happened in that my map case decided to self-destruct (one of the strap fasteners had started to pull away from the case itself about a week ago but I'd hoped that it would last until the John O'Groats). I spent several minutes trying different ways of tying it but none worked without bashing my legs so I'll have to get a safety pin to try to fix it in Drumnadrochit.
I'd decided to take a slight detour to see the spectacular ruins of Urquhart Castle which stands right on the edge of craggy rocks jutting into the loch, so instead of following the lane in Drumnadrochit, side-tracked into the woods to follow a well-worn trail through the heath and down through the woods. It emerged overlooking the castle with superb views over the loch. In case you're interested, Loch Ness is the biggest stretch of inland water in Britain holding more H2O that all the other lakes put together. The Post Office Tower in London would be submerged at its' deepest point and apparantely the world's population could be fitted 3x into the area it covers! Pretty impressive stats huh!?
After stopping my GPS at my backpacker lodgings I walked into 'town' for a soup and coffee after which I learnt all my fascinating stat stuff in the Loch Ness Experience. By the way, there is still no proof that anything large exists in the loch but it's nice to have an unsolved mystery. Two nights ago they created a lazer image of 'Nessie' below Urquhart Castle to promote the new 'River Horse' film - the pictures were in the paper today and it looked really good.
Mike Best from Poole Runners sent me a text today : he's in the middle of walking The Cotswold Way and had just seen my entry in the Dyrham Wood comment book. It seem's so long ago and unbelievable that it was on this trip.
To round off a fab day I had dinner in the Loch Ness Inn which had only opened 3 weeks earlier and it was a fab place. I've certainly gained a lot of confidence during this trip as I once again asked the landlord if I could do a collection (I even had my response line ready if he said no ie would his answer have been the same if it had been Ian Botham asking the same question? I think not!!). Anyway, didn't have to use the back-up question as he was all in favour and also 'pre-warned' all the restaurant eaters.....fantastic donations totalling £119.20 - WOW!! In response to Clare's question, I've now received £1,615 in donations since leaving Lands End plus my justgiving site is now up to £2,800 as there's been several people that I've met on my journey who've directly donated. Plus I've got further sponsor promises that I've got to collect when I get back home that bring the total up to around £7,200 I think, which is phenominal. I really want to get at least £7,500 and more if I can so keep it coming!
Mileage today was only 11.19 and time 2.21

2008-06-26T11:53:00.000-07:00

Day 62 - South Laggan to Loch Nessie!
Boy oh boy, am I living a dream!! I know that I'd been looking forward to the GGW and it definitely is not disappointing me : after the Scotch Mist weather of yesterday (and yet I was still smiling and enjoying myself), today heralded blue sky and sunshine so back to t-shirt wearing. Received £30 donations before I'd even left my overnight B&B and stocked up on porridge and yet another full Scottish brekkie I set off initially back along the A82 to pick up the GGW where I'd left it yesterday. The first mile was in a small wood alongside the Caledonian Canal before crossing the road and entering Laggan Forest along the dis-used Invergarry and Fort Augustus Railway which was built between 1897 and 1903 and designed to be the first stretch of a Fort William to Inverness line. Unfortunately there was stiff competition between the different Highland railway companies and the 2nd stretch to Inverness was never completed and ultimately meant a death sentance for the line. The route ran along the shoreline of Loch Oich and along the way gave a good view over to the ruins of Invergarry Castle.
At the end of the loch I crossed over at the Bridge of Oich to the opposite bank and ran along another stretch of the Caledonian Canal past Cullochy and Kytra Locks. A whole load of cyclists past me going in the same direction and it wasn't until the last rider passed that I saw the 'end to end' message printed on his back - none of them had any sort of panniers carrying their luggage so I can only assume that they have the luxury of a back-up support team doing all the donkey work for them : clearly not doing it properly as I am! For the first time I was 'advertising' what I was doing whilst running as I had tied my long sleeved top to my backpack (another reason was to dry it out from yesterday!) and think I'll do this from now on.
Loads of hikers were out and also lots of boats on the canal - most of them returned my cheery smile and wave but there were a couple of miserable people who couldn't be bothered to give me the time of day...their loss!
Fort Augustus was amazing - after Neptune's Staircase, this is the biggest set of locks lowering boats from the canal into Loch Ness and I spent well over an hour mesmerised by the whole process. One of the last powerboats (#747 Miss Daisy) was making her way down to Inverness : unfortunately she had suffered the loss of one of her engines so the crew were hoping to get to their destination in time to fit a new engine before the next stage of racing tomorrow. I hadn't realised how long it actually takes to get from one end of the canal to another but the locks are only open during certain hours and with a max speed of 5 knots, it takes a minimum of 14 hours over 2 working days.
After my fundraising missed opportunity yesterday, I didn't want a repeat today so publicised my efforts first to the crew of the powerboat and successfully obtained £25! Message repeated at the other 5 boats 'stuck' in the lock and a further £32 banked...easy money. With another couple of donations en-route I've managed to raise £90 today so well pleased with myself!
After Fort Augustus the route took me round the back of the village and back into the forest where once again I was running on fantastic undulating tracks amongst thick pine trees : again the floor of the wood was covered with moss and ferns with the odd stream cutting through them. Apart from the dull noise of cars travelling along the side of the loch beneath me on the A82, the only sound I could hear was bird song and the creaking of trees. At Invermoriston the trail did several loops to descend down into the valley floor and cross the river where there was what looked like a really ancient stone bridge. The road on the other side of the valley went to Skye and there was a sign outside the newsagents advertising 'last shop for 35 miles'. It was then a very, very steep (did I mention it was steep?) lane that zig zagged up the hill back into the forest. My legs started to feel very sleepy at this point which I guess is hardly surprising! However, despite their dull ache I couldn't resist climbing even further up the hillside to a viewpoint overlooking Loch Ness. Fighter planes had been zooming over the Loch all afternoon (plus a Hercules at one point) and whilst I was up there, 2 more came over but this time they were actually below me which was quite a sight to see.
Another couple of miles and I reached the Loch Ness YH which can't be any closer to the Loch : if it was, I'd be swimming! Didn't have any food with me but several people took pity on me and I've ended up with a great banquet....everyone is taking to their heart this poor little waif and stray and admiring me for my efforts!
By the way, Cancer Research have told me that they are nominating me for a 'fundraiser of the year' award!

Mileage 22.8 Time 4.56

2008-06-25T14:22:00.000-07:00

Day 61 - Fort William to South Laggan
Woke to rain this morning and the forecast for the whole day wasn't looking too great either. Had to finish the last 2 miles of the WHW with a run down the valley road into Fort William where I had the obligatory photo next to the finish sign. The plan was to get to Neptunes Staircase before 10.20 in order to catch the Jacobite train going past - thought that would make a good photo, but once I started out on the Great Glen Way, it was clear that I wasn't going to make it so instead waited for it to pass underneath Ben Nevis. Initially I was going to take a short-cut along the A830 but decided that as I hadn't officially finished the PW nor started from the beginning of the WHW, I was going to follow the GGW all the way from the start to the finish. My day's mileage was planned at around 22 but the GGW took me all around a housing estate (where garden gnomes and ornaments seemed to out number people by around 50:1) and it was a full hour before I actually got to the start of the Caledonian Canal.
The Round Britain speedboat race was in progress and I only found out this morning that they were all due to travel along the canal to Inverness : unfortunately they'd already gone through the Staircase first thing in the morning which was disappointing as I would have liked to have seen that, but I've since found out that only a handful go via the water - most are hauled overland on trailers.
Neptune's Staircase is yet another piece of engineering by that Telford guy : it's a series of 8 locks that raise or lower boats 19.5 metres over a distance of just 1/4 mile and takes around 1 3/4 hours to get from the lower to top lock.
My route was following the Caledonian Canal for the first 9-10 miles and this time, the canal running wasn't so boring. I met quite a few hikers along the way and there were 4 fishing boats leaving the top lock just as I ran past. Unfortunately they were going at the same pace as me so rather than hear the 'chug chug' of their engines I stopped for a while to let them pass and get out of sight before setting off again. The craggy top of Ben Nevis was under low cloud unfortunately but you could still get a sense of the height.
At Gairlochy I crossed the lock bridge and after initially climbing via a lane, the route then continued through pine woodland and then fell down to the shores of Loch Lochy (really imaginative name! In English this would be Lake Lakey!). After initially running through dense pine forest with great views over to the other side of the loch, the heavens opened and the mist came down which totally obscured all views. Waterproofs went back on and stayed on for the rest of the day. Midges were everywhere so I plastered up with Avon Skin So Soft (everyone swears by it as the #1 repellent). I was merrily running along the track when a fairy directed me into a woodland glen on my right. The whole place was full of fairies,gnomes, teddies and all sorts of weird and wonderful creatures. Apparently a woman had left a present for the fairies on behalf of her daughter a year ago and now people add to the collection and it continues to grow. There were trees covered in baubles, fairies, candles, tinsel, pipe cleaner spiders, bears and even a CD tree with a guitar underneath. How fanstatic that something like this exists without having been trashed and it really was wonderful to walk through. The next couple of miles were on a very quiet lane, still following the edge of the loch and down to Clunes where it diverted back into thick pine forests : first Clunes Forest and then South Laggan Forest. Two more red deer sightings and it was difficult to know who was more interested in watching who. The mozzie stuff really works as my legs were plastered with the little blighters albeit they were stuck to my defense repellent and quickly killed off.
The forest tracks were lovely to run along : undulating but wide and sandy. Occasionally the trees on the right disappeared to give misty views down and over the loch. The pine forests themselves were immense with huge tall trees, I guess at over 75' tall and the steep hillside floor was completely covered with moss and fern - doesn't appear much natural daylight gets through the canopy. There were also loads of waterfalls and streams running down the hillsides.
Eventually I emerged out of the woods at Kilfinnan, site of an old graveyard where the clans used to bury their dead and then crossed the end of the loch at Laggan Lochs. There were 4 motorcruisers in the loch and they 'dared' that I couldn't beat the first boat to where the GGW met the road...a challenge I couldn't turn down! It was only a mile and the first two boats had quite a start on me. The route was slightly uphill but through some lovely woods and on reaching the road I was the victor! They all waved congratulations but I kicked myself afterwards as I'd missed a golden opportunity whilst they were in the loch for some fundraising - I could have charged them an exit fee!
Laggan is famous for being the location where much of 'Monarch of the Glen' was filmed although it was difficult to see any of the places in the driving rain!
Another really long day but I loved it...even in the rain! And to top it all another milestone passed.....I have now run through the 1000 mile point, amazing!
Mileage 27.13 and time 5.23

2008-06-24T12:31:00.000-07:00

Day 60 - my last holiday.....
Had a great evening yesterday as I did meet up with George who I'd run with for a while whilst he was competing in the WHW race (and he did successfully complete in a fab time of just over 27 hours) and his support team of Simon and Lizzy. All of them are completely into the ultra-marathons / long distance races and Simon and Lizzy have also finished some of the events I've either taken part in (eg The Terminator) or contemplated (eg Tough Guy). It was great to be able to talk to others on my amazing journey who totally understood the running game. We were still in the pub at chucking out time so this was probably the latest I've got to bed during my whole trip! Raised a total of £60 today.
Decided to have a jog up to the summit of Ben Nevis this morning.....only kidding! Gonna take it easy today and planned to take the scenic journey on The Jocobite Steam Train through the Highlands from Fort William to Mallaig. Unfortunately there was only one bus from the YH down to the town and that had already left so had no choice but to walk the 2 miles. But fortunately, I got the very last train ticket....in first class! The journey was spectacular : past lochs and dramatic mountains. As the train only runs once a day, there were quite a few spectators dotted along the route obviously waiting the arrival. I don't think there is anything quite like the sound, smell and sight of a steam train puffing around the corner. This time I'd remembered to bring my sunnies so that I could hang out the window and get the best views - no worries about getting soot in the eyes, just a bit of a blackened face! The 'highlight' of the trip is the Glenfinnan viaduct - those who have seen the Harry Potter films will recognise it instantly! It's a massive 416 yards long with 21 huge arches 100' off the ground. On the return journey the engine driver kindly slowed down to give everyone the opportunity to hang their cameras out of the window for a snap of the train on the bridge. Beneath was Loch Sheil and the Glenfinnan Monument (this marks the spot where Bonnie Prince Charlie raised his standard) : the views here are brilliant.
Did you know that 'Nessie' has a cousin? She's called Morag and lives in Loch Morar (the village of Morar incidentally was where Highlander was filmed!).
Approaching Mallaig, the islands of Rhum, Eigg and Skye could easily be seen. Unfortunately it started to rain when we pulled into Mallaig and to be honest, there's not much there. Whilst it is the terminal for the ferry to Skye, all the tourism is centered around the fishing industry so virtually all the shops are fish restaurants....you're fine if you like fish! So I had take-away scampi and chips and loads of it!
On the wildlife front, I saw quite a bit....clearly a noisy clanking train journey is the best way to see it rather than running quietly in the open air! There were baby herring gulls at the railway station, a seal sunning itself on the banks of one of the lochs and in total I spotted 8 red deer including 2 fantastic stags with full sets of antlers just watching the train go by!
After walking back the 2 miles to the YH it was a DIY chilli for tea followed by a full tin of rice pudding....carbo loading in earnest!
The school party has just turned up having all but completed the WHW (they're doing the remaining 2 miles tomorrow like me so I'll have to beat them to the finish sign down in the town centre!) - they're a nice bunch and all credit to them for completing it.
Just 11 days to go until I reach my goal - can't believe it's almost over.

2008-06-23T08:13:00.001-07:00

Day 59 - Kinlochleven to Fort William
That was the most uncomfortable night's sleep I've had : the mattress felt really hard so as I ended up being the only one in my dorm, I nicked one of the other duvets and slept on that. Then, in the middle of the night I had a huge cramp attack in my right leg....what else is going to happen!? No porridge or full Scottish breakfast this morning unfortunately, just 3/4 of a malt loaf and a banana, washed down with 2 cups of tea without any sugar. After yesterday, a fine day was in prospect (to be honest I've been really lucky with the weather and only had about 6 days of rain so far). There was a waterfall nearby called Gray Mare that had been named by one of the Kings although I forget which one. Only a small detour but it was really pretty albeit you could only see from the side on and there was a tree in the way of the view if I was being really critical!
Once again my right knee gave out just after setting out so unsure if this is going to be the norm from now on. At least it doesn't appear to give me any problems afterwards which is a good thing but parts of me are starting to really show the stresses and strains of this amazing journey.
After following the road out of Kinlochleven, the trail headed up through the woods and once out on the open hillside gave some terrific views back to the village and down the valley and the loch. I then dropped down to run (for once the surface wasn't too bad underfoot) in the valley on an undulating track flanked with massive craggy mountains (most of these are munros which is the name for hills over a certain height). There were quite a few hikers on the trail today and as I pass them I tend to walk and chat with them for a bit as it's a good way of 'publicising' what I'm doing and sometimes ends up with a donation. This exercise again worked today as I accumulated another £20 towards the fundraising.
The trail was eventually supposed to go into a few pine forests but yet again, drastic clearance had and indeed was in the process of happening and there was little of the trees left other than the occasional lonesome pine making a heroic stand! The pass I'd just run though had been famous for being where the Campbells had defeated the MacDonalds (at least I think it was that way round) and then pursued them in their retreat. A cairn marked the spot where the Campbells had given up the chase and in honour of that, every time a MacDonald passes the cairn they add a stone, and a Campbell would remove one.
Ben Nevis suddenly came into view but unfortunately the top was covered in low cloud. The trail then rose and dropped quite steeply through very thick pine forests before a diversion had me literally sliding down a muddy path and suddenly out into glorious sunshine. There was a side path leading to the reamis of a fort but rather than visit that, I wanted to get a really good view of the mountain! It didn't disappoint and just as I reached it, the cloud cover on the top lifted....fantastic!
It was then a lovely drop down to a forest track before reaching the minor road running through Glen Nevis. The YH is actually right at the foot of Ben Nevis and following the view I had of Loch Lomond several days ago, I've now got the view of the mountain straight out of my bedroom window - how cool is that? I had a lovely postcard from Debs waiting for me : it shows views of Bournemouth beach including joggers running along the beach, just to remind me of the BJs back home!
My shoes now pong after the soaking they got yesterday from the rain and the bog water so they've been consigned to the drying room and I've also been wandering round the YH in my pj's as I've taken the opportunity to wash and dry all my other clothes! When I arrived, one of the runners from the WHW race recognised me and hopefully I'll meet up with him and his support crew this evening down the local eating house...ie the pub! Have some good stories to share.

Mileage 14.5 Time 3.41

2008-06-23T07:56:00.000-07:00

Day 58 - Bridge of Orchy to Kinlochleven
Well, I definitely would not have wanted to be camping last night as the wind howled and the rain lashed down for most of it. I really felt for the runners in the WHW race as not only did they have to run in the dark across difficult terrain but now against the horrible elements too. I was going to suggest this as a future BJ challenge but not so sure now! However, by the morning the wind had dropped and it wasn't raining as heavily. After filling up with porridge and full Scottish breakfast I ventured out onto the trail. To be honest a boat would've come in handy as all the paths had now turned to streams and all the proper streams to frothing masses of brown bog rivers, some of which came right over the footpath so it wasn't long before my trainers and socks were drenched.
The route initially went uphill through trees before emerging onto the open hill. Low cloud covered the tops of the higher peaks but I could make out the lochs in the valleys. A cobbled track led down to Inveroran at which point my left knee decided to give me a real scare and completely collapsed : I have no idea how I managed to stay upright. Bit of a weird sensation and I walked for a bit in order to give it a chance to improve. The trail then led gradually uphill on an old drovers road built by Telford (bet you thought he only built bridges?) but it was really difficult to run on the slippery cobble-stones : he'd specifically built the route using small stones so that the sheep and cows didn't hurt their little tootsies! I actually saw 2 or 3 red deer (yahoo!) but they were about 1/4 mile away so not really good viewing. Just as I bridged the top of the ridge the heavens opened so waterproofs were then the order of the day. Carefully watching my steps on the very rough track, I could just about make out the chair lifts of the Glencoe ski resort to my left, before I crossed the A82 and ran down to the Kings House Hotel. This was built in 1750 as a rest stop for the King's troops and is now a popular mountaineering hotel. The 4 people I'd met on the WHW first suddenly turned up, having decided it was too wet and nasty to walk, so they'd caught the bus!
The trail then briefly followed the road before heading up the side of Stob Mhic Mhartuin (have no idea what that is in English but clearly some sort of mountain's name) where I had to negotiate the Devils Staircase : a run of zigzags up to the top. Once over, it was then a case of again watching my feet as I ran back down on the rocky path which was still posing as a stream. A couple of times I turned my ankle on rocks but no damage done luckily - it's just really hard to avoid the stones. The last mile or so was down a sandy road which dropped steeply with sharp switch backs and gave the knees a bit of a beating.
Kinlochleven initially looked like a lovely brightly coloured village. A lot of the houses are wooden and painted in cream and burgandy, but suddenly they're dominated by the huge aluminium smelting factory building (no longer in use), the massive pipes delivering water to the plant and a huge stone building that houses an ice and rock climbing centre.
I was really really tired tonight so after making a DIY pasta meal and watching the first half of the footie match I was tucked up by 8.30!
Mileage 21.21 and time 4.58

2008-06-21T12:35:00.001-07:00

Day 57 - Inverarnan to Bridge of Orchy
This is definitely the weirdest place I've stayed in - the rooms look as if they've been put together with pieces of mis-matched timber and although I haven't got anything sinister lurking in my room (apparantely there are stuffed animals in some of the rooms including one with a polar bear!) it does feel like I'm staying in somewhere that needs an awful lot of restoration but that's supposed to be the idea! But as a positive, I raised a total of £70 yesterday either whilst on the trail or in the bar in the evening. There was a full-on midge battalion waiting for innocent passer-bys this morning : unfortunately breakfast was over the road from the hotel and the door was locked so I did get a few 'hits' before retreating back to the inn. Must get some midge repellent stuff at Tyndrum today as these little nasties are causing me my first bit of stress! Once again the weather was dry but it would remain overcast today and also get quite muggy.

The West Highland Way race had already been in progress for 10 hours by the time I hit the trail but immediately I was greeted with spontaneous rounds of applause as there was a check-point just around the corner - whilst I did politely tell them that I wasn't actually part of the race, by the end of the day I was lapping up the applause anyway! The race itself is just short of 100 miles and the cut-off for completion is 35 hours which is midday tomorrow. It was really surprising how my attitude to the task ahead suddenly changed (BJs will totally understand!) as there were now other runners on 'my street' and that just meant one thing - I had to catch them up and pass them as this was a race that I'd joined! Many of them were already suffering (they'd already covered around 40 miles and had another 60 to go) and were quite surprised when this fresh 'whippet' suddenly loomed up and wanted to chat to them to see how they were feeling and stuff like that. For once, I was the one in awe of the other runners and congratulating and urging them on.

The route today wasn't that inspiring (which was probably a good thing) as it followed an old military trail alongside a railway line, the river and the main road through the Highlands for the whole day. There were a couple of times where I had to cross under the railway line and this involved being almost bent double through a tiny tunnel - it would definitely have been a struggle for someone with a huge backpack. Everyone that I've met since the start of the WHW was either heading for Crainlarigh or Tyndrum so whilst I passed them all again today, it was to be the last time that we'd meet. Whilst most of the route was out in the open on the hillsides, there was one large section of pine forest which had quite a few steep ascents and descents. The only notable wildlife I saw today was a tiny mouse-like creature whose eyes and legs seemed far too big for his little body. There was more evidence of the elusive red deer : this time huge clumps of hair left on scratching posts but though I was looking very carefully on the hills, didn't see any.

As I'd been 'racing' for the first 10 miles or so, I decided I needed to stop this silly game so when I got to Tyndrum I made sure I stayed there for a couple of hours. Tyndrum is basically on the T junction of the two main roads and has a famous cafe as it's hub : The Green Welly Stop. It did actually serve really nice food and I also picked up some de-bug stuff and got another stamp in my passport (can't actually decipher what the stamp depicts but it does also have the 'Green Welly Stop' on it). Out on the hills I literally bumped into a herd of real Highland Cows and they really did look at home, unlike the ones that I had seen down south in Devon! There's a railway station at Bridge of Orchy and quite ingeniously, they've turned the station into a bunkhouse complete with drying room - I'm not staying there by the way, but thought it was a great idea.

One of the check-points for the race is right outside my bunkhouse so, as I do at home when I'm either not racing or have already finished, I was out there cheering everyone in (some were really really looking very worse for wear!). Word had got out through the competitors what I was doing and they in turn were congratulating me! Now feeling stuffed as I've just eaten a fab posh meal and found out the internet is free so another evening's holiday for John! The weather for tomorrow is not looking good at all and by 8.30 the rain is lashing down and the wind howling. I've got open moorland to cross tomorrow so by the look of it, will be getting a little bit windswept and damp!
Mileage 20.19 and time 4.27

Day 56 Rowardennan to Inverarnan

2008-06-20T10:31:00.000-07:00

What better view from your bedroom window than Loch Lomond and pine studded hillsides?

Yet another sunny day greeted me this morning. The school party stayed at the YH but they weren't too rowdy they even had good manners! The trail went right past the YH through pine forests on undulating tracks. A couple of times i could see the rain coming over the hills and then the heavens just opened but they were only showers and quickly passed. Other than these minor blips the weather was fantastic and really warm. Unfortunately the notorious Scottish midges were out in force down by the loch but if you kept moving they weren't too much of a nuisance. Had a £10 donation from a guy walking the WHW with his dog who also had a backpack (the dog had the backpack). He later mentioned that he couldn't see much running in evidence (I was sat on a rock soaking in the sun at the time) but to be honest the terrain later in the day required step by step navigation through a tangle of tree roots and a university degree in rock scrambling with the added problem of raised stone drainage ditched requiring leaping over every 20m or so. But the scenery was absolutely stunning - I know I keep saying this but I don't know how else to describe it.

Several times the way dropped down to a cove or a beach and you could look back down the loch. I stopped for lunch at a hotel very conveniently placed on the WHW, in fact it was the only house I passed all day. A la-di-da couple were very disappointed at the menu choices (clearly the hotel was catering for the needs of walkers and the occasional runner) and promptly asked if the chef would cook two steaks.....chef said no to which their response was "we've driven all this way and that's all you can offer?" she made do with a G&T.

Eventually the trail left the ups and downs and cragginess of the woodlands and instead dropped down gently through more open hillside covered with lush green ferns and purple foxgloves. It left the loch behind as it shrunk to just a river. A small woodland them emerged into Beinglas at the campsite where I chatted to my roomy from last night ; Penny and her son who were walking the WHW too. Another interested party for my blog!

I'm staying at the Drover's Inn tonight, a strange quirky place were you are met with all sorts of stuffed creatures; everything from birds and mammals, including a bear with it's foot in a trap with a ball and chain on it's other leg to what looks like a small basking shark! The barman is in a kilt - it's really weird seeing blokes in skirts!

Another fantastic day and to be honest, whilst I'm finding my legs simply don't belong to me in the morning and wont work, by the afternoon I am fine and actually could have gone further today.

Mileage 15.08 Time 4.10

Total mileage 930.60

Day 55 Drymen to Rowardennan

2008-06-19T12:40:00.000-07:00

After yesterdays great day, today would be a stunning scenery experience.

Once again the weather was mixed; showery and breezy with blue sky and sunshine underneath the white and grey clouds! Rubbly lanes through Buchanan Smithy took me into a forestry plantation to rejoin the WHW along undulating tracks to eventually emerge onto open heather clad moor and then climb up and around Conic Hill. The weather turned a little bit sour with fresh breeze and a shower. A school party gave me a round of applause as I successfully completed the run over the top - they are walking the trail so I'll probably see them on a couple of occasions before Fort William!

The good news is that my leg injury seems to have healed itself as I have no more pain either running on the road or running downhill (hoorah) so I was able to fully enjoy the journey back down and through the woods into Balmaha where I stopped for lunch - another £5.00 donation. The trail then hugged the banks of Loch Lomond which, at 27 square miles is Britain's largest stretch of inland water. The views were absolutely stunning and changed round every corner with the loch being flanked by huge pine covered hills. The trail ran through woodland and along the shores itself so a mix of sand, stones and undulating soil tracks. There were loads of places where "off piste" camping was allowed, evidence by the many fire rings dotted along the way. If this is a signal of things to come then I am in for a very enjoyable journey indeed over the next few days.

Mileage 14.64 time 3.26

Day 54 Kilsyth to Drymen

2008-06-19T12:11:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to me!

Here was me thinking I would be celebrating when I get home, not a chance as I was greeted at breakfast with not only a couple of cards plus a rendition of "Happy Birthday" and topped with a cake complete with candle - brilliant surprise. So, with cake duly packed in a cotton bud container I set off first along footpath and then for a while along the A803 out of Kilsyth. Weather Gods clearly knew it was a special day as although cloudy, it was breezy so they didn't hang around for long and at times it was quite muggy. At Milton of Campsie (with names like that you really know you are near the Highlands!) I diverted from road to disused railway line which followed the course of the Glazert Water through lovely shady woodlands and villages. Now this is much more like it and although still alongside water and nothing like canal running. Just passed Lennoxtown the trail left the woods and, parallel to the A891 passed through fields and below hillsides festooned with meadow flowers. Handily, I arrived in Straphblane at lunchtime so devoured a delicious sandwich and picked up another £10 whilst I was at it. The railway line continues through yet more woodland awash with rhododendrons, wild roses, fox gloves and huge leafed plants that once again made me look like one of the Borrowers in a strange land. It really was a joy to run along the woodland paths. Back out in the open I passed a whiskey distillery and shortly afterwards picked up my penultimate long distance path : The West Highland Way which starts at Milgabenie near Glasgow and runs all the way to Fort William. I hadn't seen anyone all morning yet within minutes of setting foot on the WHW I had passed six people! I was also faced with my first flagstones since the Pennine Way although I am unsure why they were needed here as there didn't appear to be any sign of boggy water. The logo (Scottish Thistle) was also exactly the same as I had followed on the Southern Uplands Way. More fantastic tracks through woodland and along banks where the vivid smells and colours were enough to brighten anyones day.

After travelling along a very quiet lane for a short while I then headed South again, but only for a mile or so along yet another disused railway line, now an official route in the National Cycle Network, and into Croftamie where again I headed in the preferred North direction. It wasn't long before I entered the Buchanan Castle estate : very classy with my B&B overlooking the 13th hole of the private golf course.

Another surprise awaited as I was greeted with a massive bunch of flowers (plus a helium balloon floating out of the box!) and a load more cards. Needless to say I was left in tears - I'm beginning to become an emotional wreck! But there were also tears of happiness as I was touched that so many had taken the time to remember me and send a card to await my arrival. Of course I couldn't take the flowers with me plus, whilst tempted, thought the balloon would struggle a bit in the wind so the bouquet was donated to Gail at the B&B and everything else sent back home.

To round off the evening I visited the oldest pub in Scotland : The Clachan Inn which opened in Drymen in 1734, for dinner and a glass of wine plus raised another £42.04 during half time in the Euro 2008 football game!

I've certainly had a birthday that I will never ever forget.

Mileage 21.84 Time 4.26

Day 53 Linlithgow to Kilsyth

2008-06-17T13:40:00.000-07:00

Today was set to be a groundhog day as once again my route was totally along canals albeit a mix of the Union and the Forth and Clyde. Also as Debs happily pointed out, today was going to be my last day ever "sprightly 41 year old" but as I constantly remind her, she is still older than me!

Unfortunately the weather God decreed that today would also be a damp and at times a bit of a miserable day so it was on with the waterproofs first thing. Once again I didn't have to pay for my B&B as Nan at Belsyde House asked me to donate it to my fundraising. Dropped back down to the canal and it wasn't long before I met the first of the three amazing man made feats of engineering : the 273 metre long aqueduct straddling the river Avon. This is the 2nd longest with only Telfords aqueduct in Wales being greater in length. Still can't get my head around I'm running alongside water in mid air! After this there wasn't really much to write about over the next 6 - 7 miles except that it had stopped raining for a while. I then came to the 2nd of the days "interests" but this was causing me a bit of mental turmoil. The canal disappeared into a huge dark tunnel that I obviously had to go through and thought of it really scared me. Although dead straight so I could at least literally see the light at the end of the tunnel, it was 690 metres long and dimly lit every 25 meters of so. The path was wet and slippery in places and water was dripping constantly either into the canal or onto the footpath echoing in the tunnel. At least there was a guard rail to stop you accidentally walking into the canal! The sides of the tunnel were raw rock and these made eerie silhouettes. However I knuckled down to the task, took loads of deep breathes and ventured into the darkness. Inside was so wet that the sides had the appearance of a damp cave with stalactites and stalagmites. To saw I was relieved to be back out in daylight would be a mega understatement and I was very proud of myself to have conquered that particular demon! Didn't really care that it was now pouring, at least it was rain rather than tunnel water.

Then it was the turn of the third of today's features and this time it was a wow. 100 years ago the Union was linked to the lower Forth and Clyde by a series of eleven locks but when the canals fell into disuse they were demolished. Nowadays a huge "ferris wheel" type steel contraption called the Falkirk Wheel lifts boats to and from the two canals - the only one of its kind in the world and really has to be seen to be believed. I then transferred to the Forth and Clyde canal and passed through industrial sites (yuck), towns (OK) and countryside (much preferred) but just as I got to the later and was running along a dead straight piece of the canal stretching for nearly 3 miles the heavens absolutely opened and before long I was drenched.

Kilsyth is at first glance a town full of pebble dashed houses and flats, not really appealing but luckily I'm staying on a farm at the top end of town. Reading the visitors book quite a few end to enders have stayed here in recent days and there is a card from a guy walking North to South who had massive blister problems just getting here. He lasted one more day before buying a bike and cycling the rest of the way!

Mileage 21.74 Time 4.38

Day 52 Edinburgh to Linlithgow

2008-06-16T12:56:00.000-07:00

To be honest getting through my days off is getting incredibly harder as I'm really missing John, family and friends - being able to talk on the mobile is great but in no way compensates for not actually being able to see them and talk face to face. It's not so bad on the other days as I have plenty to keep my mind occupied with all that is around me but being on my own in one town or city for a day is a different story. Anyway enough of my emotional state of mind!

Once again a dry day as I retraced my steps from Saturday back through the city to the mini shopping/restaurant centre where the Union Canal abruptly stopped or started, depending on which way you are coming from. The whole day was going to be spent running alongside this body of water so whilst incredibly flat (there are no locks at all on the canal which in itself is a bit unique) cast your mind back to Saturday when I mentioned I got a little "bored" running the 8 - 10 miles along the Water of Leith footpath, well this was to be a day of around two and a half times that distance. Mind you, I didn't need any maps as all I had to ensure was that the canal stayed on my left! Until as recently as the late 20th century the canal was in disrepair and following extensive restoration including a tunnel under the M8 (1st motorway I've crossed since the Penine Way) it was finally reopened in 2000 and no runs a total of 37 miles from Edinburgh to Falkirk where a marvellous piece of engineering (which I will tell you about tomorrow!) links it to the Forth and Clyde canal. There were loads of bridges to either cross or run under including several more aqueducts. Each is uniquely numbered but on the outskirts of Edinburgh they had had to add a number of new ones so I had to contend with bridges 6, 6A, 6AA, 6AB, 6B and so on! There's not really much else I can say except the weather god is still pleased with me and the sun duly shone.

Stopped for a cup of tea (well, two or three cups of tea) at The Park , a fab place that appeared as an oasis where a guy called Colin duly paid my bill plus donated £10.00 to my effort. Suitably refreshed I strided on with purpose (think possibly the total of 6 spoonfulls of sugar in the tea might have had something to do with my renewed energy!).

Can't believe I've basically run a marathon today in a time that John had great delight in telling me was quicker than my London Marathon debut time in 1993! It's also amazing that after 7 weeks this is my fastest average speed.

Mileage 26.05 time 5.01

2008-06-15T06:15:00.001-07:00

Day 51 - I know I've just had a holiday but I deserve another one!
Perfect blue sky this morning and not even a sign of any clouds. Did a bit of washing (whilst there was the availability of a proper washing machine) and had brekkie....the two who'd rudely awoken me early this morning were still in bed and asleep but I didn't have the heart to return the favour (when I got back later in the day I found out that they were still asleep when the 10 o'clock bed-making team knocked on the door - they're staying tonight as well so hope there's not a repeat). Took the bus to Ocean Terminal as I had a freebie ticket to visit the Royal Yacht Britannia (courtesy of Liz and Paul Jenkins which I very much appreciated) - it was really interesting to tour the decks and rooms that the Royal Family graced for so many years. I even got to pass 'beyond' the ropes and have my photo taken in the Royal lounge and also had some fun with monkey-pod in the anti-room. Although they didn't have a rubber stamp for my passport I have obtained an 'Ahoy there! I've been to The Royal Yacht Britannia' sticker instead. Whilst I was then wandering around the shopping centre (all I can do is window shop as I clearly have no capacity to carry anything with me) couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Ally from BJ's...chatted to her for a bit (she was in Edinburgh to do the moonwalk last night) but how weird is it to be so far from home and suddenly bump into someone that you know....fate must seriously play a hand here? Walked around the old town including a visit to GreyFriars church and the resting place of the famous devoted little canine : Bobby. Then treked up the steps to the castle which I was toying with the idea of going round but as the price was a little steep and I have been there before, decided to decline. However Mary Kings Close tour was really good. As I'm sure you know, the old town is made up of hundreds of tiny alleyways (closes) running off the main Royal Mile. Poor people lived and traded their wares down these alleys with the richer folk living in the upper floors. In the mid 19c the council decided to knock down the top few floors of several of these closes in order to then use the remaining houses as the foundations of their Custom House so basically they built ontop of existing dwellings. What remains underneath the Custom House is incredible - all the houses, shops and alleys giving a fantastic insight into the way of life. It was a great experience. Walked quite a way today which isn't really the idea of my rest days but I had a great time. By the way, the two in my dorm clearly didn't learn the error of their ways last night as after telling me they were going home to Germany tomorrow and that they had spent all but £3 of their money, at 8.30 pm they went out for a cigarette and didn't reappear until 11.45 and.....promptly turned the lights on again!!! My retinas are now completely burnt! Oh and Paul, took notice of your comments about my emails and tried to get into the Edinburgh office but I was refused entry based on my fantastic tan and my 'Forrest Gump' hairstyle making me look nothing like my photo ID...what a shame...I'm gutted!

2008-06-15T05:51:00.000-07:00

Day 50 - Carlops to the 'Big Apple' city of Edinburgh
Once again I've been overwelmed with the generosity of those owning the accommodations that I've been staying in. After providing me with a full Scottish breakfast including another tasty round of haggis (and after eating all that I needed to have a bit of a lie down in order to digest!), Annette donated the B&B money to my fundraising which means I'm now at nearly £1,150 since I departed Lands End. This morning once again the sun gods were shining down on me as the sky was blue albeit a little chilly in the breeze. There was just the small subject of the Pentland Hills to negotiate before hitting the big city but I'm proud to say that apart from a couple of rest stops, I ran the whole way up to the top of the hill (bit of huffing and puffing going on to get me up there though!) and once I got there, the view was phenominal with the Forth Bridge standing out. This was also the first time since leaving the coastal path on day 2 that I've seen the sea, this time the North Sea. As the weather was so nice and also being a Saturday, there were a lot of people either out walking or mountain biking as I ran back down into the valley on nice wide grassy paths. The route to Threipmuir Reservoir was quite spectacular down a steep hill lined with shady beech trees before a gradually descending lane into the village of Balerno where I picked up the Water of Leith walk/cycle way which followed the stream all the way into the port of Leith north of Edinburgh. There were more bikes on this route than I've seen in the whole 7 weeks so far! It was a really pretty run through shady woodland crossing the stream in several places and at one point I even went through the hillside via a 100m or so long tunnel which was a bit weird as I was suddenly plunged into virtual darkness from the sunny world outside. The trail actually went on for around 12 miles so after a while, although I hate to say it, I was starting to switch off and ignore my surroundings (bit like the last couple of miles of the Castlemain Trailway back to Ringwood which will be well recognised by my fellow BJ's!). A few miles from Edinburgh city centre I picked up the Union Canal (which would be my route on Monday over to Linlithgow) but first I had to experience another first : following the canal over an aquaduct about 50" above the road and running on a cobbled footpath with no edge into the water itself - again felt a bit weird and I was glad there was no-one coming in the opposite direction! After reaching the end of the canal (it literally came to an abrupt stop next to a rejuvenated shopping centre!) it was then just a case of negotiating the many lanes and streets through Edinburgh old and new town down to the 5* YH just off Princes Street. A couple of guys commented on my excellent tan and I don't think they really believed me when I said that I got in in England and Scotland - they were convinced it was a spray-on! Looks as if I've arrived here at the right time as there is a free film festival in the castle gardens (ET being shown at 5pm!!) and the moonwalk is taking place tonight. I'd heard in Jedburgh that Evita was being shown on stage and couldn't believe my luck when I discovered the theatre was literally opposite the YH....ticket booked for tonights show! Took a quick tour on foot but a couple of heavy showers put paid to any serious touristy things so grabbed something to eat and enjoyed the musical. Unfortunately got a bit of a rude awakening in the middle of the night as two others in my dorm decided to turn on the light when they arrived back from wherever they'd been - why do people do that 'cos it's not exactly the nicest thing to do to fellow campers!?
Mileage 16.7 and time 3.35

2008-06-13T09:30:00.000-07:00

Day 49 - Peebles to Carlops
It wasn't the blackbirds that woke me up this morning but screeching of Oystercatchers! Bit on the chilly side this morning so back to long sleeved top although still sporting the shorts. Another freebie night courtesy of Jackie at the Cross Keys Inn. Really feeling the cold and as today is a relatively short day (and I didn't want to arrive to early at my next destination), only went 1/2 mile before I was stopping for a coffee! Warmed up a tad, next stop was to the local council offices who managed to find an embossed stamper in their archives and duly added this to my passport. On along quiet lane until I reached what was shown as a footpath on my maps - the thing with Scotland is that very few of their footpaths are actually waymarked, it's more a case of being able to 'wander' anywhere as long as you don't cause any damage and basically leave the place as you find it. There was a bit of a route through the undergrowth as I set off alongside the burn (Scottish word for a stream) and then along a grassy path once a thriving railway line. Through a couple of fields full of sheep and as I was trying to work out where the path continued, a shout from a parked car made me look up...'keep going, good luck' - it was the family who had been sat on the table next to me in the pizza restaurant last night! I then entered the estate of Barony Castle, now the headquarters of the Scottish Ambulance and also DeVere owned. The footpath itself headed around the property in pretty woodland with rabbits running everywhere in front of me. After a nice route through tall pine trees I emerged onto a track which then led to yet another quiet lane and towards the large Fountains forestry plantation. Unfortunately there was a huge area of deforestation and the machinery were hard at work pulling down magnificent pine trees, seeming to work along the whole row, stripping all the branches to leave just the useable trunk and then starting on the next row. All around me were areas of woodland razed to the ground which really didn't make for a pretty sight. It was still pretty chilly but the sky was definitely breaking up. I was just about to enter an untouched thick pine forest when the sun decided to show itself and the temperature raised dramatically....typical. So I just waited in the sun until it disappeared again and then entered the wood - shame to waste all that solar energy! Once I emerged from the woods, the sun was still out so I changed into my t-shirt and lay on the grass for a while chewing on the ends of pieces of grass mulling over my journey so far...not a bad way to spend 1/2 hour or so. After this it was all road work, albeit on more quiet lanes and to be honest they were quite nice to run along (apart from the busier A701 that I needed to run along for a km or so). The Pentland Hills ahead of me got ever closer - I would be climbing those tomorrow en-route to Balerno and then into Edinburgh but they looked really pretty with the sun shining on them. After about 3 miles I reached the pretty village of Carlops, which used to be a weavers village and as I was still a bit early, stopped off at the Allan Ramsay Hotel for a cup of tea....definitely not a 'slaughtered lamb' pub as the few people who were having a drink were all extremely friendly and one of them even paid for my cuppa! Duly refreshed I then ran the mile or so up the hill to my next overnight stop at Peggyslea Farm, a fab place where Annette is making me feel really at home - she's kindly lent me her laptop so I can update the blog myself and give John yet another holiday (he's off to Queens to watch the tennis over the weekend, so the responsibility reverts back to me again). Went back down to the Allan Ramsay this evening and almost got a hero's welcome! Couple of guys were enlisted as my PAs for the night and we managed to raise another £30.50.
Mileage 17.3 and time 3.45

Total mileage 814.54

Day 48 Melrose to Peebles

2008-06-12T12:29:00.000-07:00

Woken by the "tutt tutt" of panicking blackbirds who went on and on and on which were then joined by barking dogs. Rained quite a bit overnight but although it was overcast this morning it was dry.

After another DIY breakfast set off along the banks of the River Tweed following yet another new long distance path, this time the Southern Upland Way - the only problem I am finding being in "people" places is dog poop! The trail continued along a paved track following a disused railway line to the outskirts of Galashiels and then continued along the North bank of the river through shady woodlands and passed Abbotsford, albeit on the opposite bank. The sun intermittently came out which made a lovely dappled run through the trees. I followed the national cycle trail across the A7 to then descent gradually to the river along a very quiet lane with glorious views across the valley and beyond to the mass of dense pine forest that covered the hillsides opposite. After crossing the Tweed once again I continued to run along the valley floor before going uphill to run through the forest along shady paths and then out onto wide open areas where the trees had been forested and replanted. After a long uphill drag, I turned northwards to head over heather clad moors to a hill called Three Brethren, marked with huge stone cairns. A guy sitting beneath one of them donated all his spare change which totalled £6.12 including loads of coppers which I stupidly put in my front pocket and this then continued to bash my hips every stride from then on. It was then a fab downhill run around the side of the next hill on wide grassy paths...lovely.

The Southern Uplands Way then continued on an old drove road named Minch Moor Road, reputed to have been used by Edward I and his army when then attempted to conquer Scotland. It dates back to the 13 century. After bridging another hill, the Way then dropped down to enter a huge forest of pine, so dense that I could barely see more than a few yards into it, innit. After passing the top of Minch Moor itself and the Cheese Well, which apparently gives good luck if offerings are made to the hill fairies (and there were quite a number of coins in the spring so clearly people do believe in the story!) it was again a lovely downhill run through the rest of the forest. I happened upon the Minch Moor bothy (David and Marilyn weren't in this one!) so of course I had to make an unscheduled stop to sign the resident visitors book. Moor downhill to the village of Traquair where unfortunately it was then around six or seven miles of quiet undulating lanes into Peebles. On the positive side it was a bit of a wildlife safari as I saw two hares, three crested grebes and a deer running across the road (just the deer, not the hare or the grebes!). My leg got a bit roughed up with all that hard surface running but it's not too sore.

I was famished tonight so tucked into a 5 course meal at the local pizza parlour and now I feel and probably look like I've got the stomach of a pot bellied pig!

Mileage 25.1 time 5.13

2008-06-11T09:17:00.000-07:00

Day 47 - well deserved rest day!
After 10 days of travelling, think I've thoroughly deserved a break! No porridge or full breakfast this morning unfortunately as it was DIY so muesli and bacon sarni had to suffice. Weather forecast predicted rain but it was bright sunshine when I set foot outside. Decided to visit Abbotsford, Sir Walter Scott's home (for those of you who are uneducated, he was a 19c poet / novelist who wrote such classics as Rob Roy, Ivanhoe and Lady of the Lake to name just a few). Travelled by bus to Tweedbank and then walked the 1/2 mile or so. Very impressive mansion and the inside was fabulous. Many historic relics and weapons of the bygone era, together with a tiny little library containing over 9,000 books. It was set right next to the River Tweed. After returning to Melrose I decided to walk the 2 miles or so to Leaderfoot Viaduct via the Borders Abbey Way which ran next to the ruined Abbey and onto Newstead. Whilst wandering on the footpath I was amazed to see a tiny bundle of fluff rumaging in the grass at the side : a stoat kit (at least I think they're called kits...?) - he was soooo cute and clearly had no idea I was watching him. Again he was a little too quick on his feet and wouldn't stay in one place long enough for me to get a decent photo of him but I was transfixed just watching him playing around before he disappeared into the longer grass and I lost sight of him. Another tick in the box! Newstead is supposed to be the oldest continually inhabited village in Scotland (didn't actually see anyone in the village so I have to take their word for it!). A short way from Newstead was the 'famous' Trimontium Roman settlement. An amazing fort, ditches and village was built and later excavated here...trouble was, I couldn't see any sign of any of it - just looked like a few fields to me but again, I'll take their word for it. Now the viaduct, that was impressive. I lost count how many arches it had and I have no idea how high the tallest columns were from the ground but what I do know is that it was built in the 19c to carry the railway at the time. There's now 3 bridges that span the Tweed at that point : ornate stone footbridge and a boring road bridge being the other two. Retraced my steps hoping to find my friend Pop the weasel but no sign unfortunately although a little further on there was definitely another one that shot across the path and into the grass : were they having a party or something? Stopped and sat for a while, camera poised just incase they'd forgotten anything and decided to head back home but no more sightings so headed back into Melrose to the tea shop and the best caramel apple pie I've ever tasted! This is actually the first time I've found an internet since Edale so this is actually me updating the blog this time rather than my faithful PA, John to whom I must pass on my utmost love and thanks for all those long evening calls dictating my diary so that he can update the blog on my behalf :o)
Only 3 days of running left before I reach the mighty city of Edinburgh and yes, another day off. Then I head over to the west coast where the delights of the various lochs await me. Hopefully the sun will continue to shine on me as my tan is coming along nicely (although the lines look pretty stupid!). Please keep the comments coming as I do pick them all up and they make me smile...record for one day is 8 so let's try to beat that! It's great to know what's happening at home and what I'm missing (or not missing as the case may be). And Paul W, I'll run away from any helicopter you send in to pick me up and take me back to work early....7 July is the soonest you'll have me back as I'm having way too much of a good time!

Day 46 Jedburgh to Melrose

2008-06-10T13:15:00.000-07:00

Val and Brian at Allerton House definitely get the thumbs up - porridge with honey and cream followed by......haggis ; well when in Scotland...! Actually it was really nice, just don't think too much about what it is you are eating. They also didn't charge me at all which I really appreciated.

Another nice day weather wise seemed in prospect as I set off along yet another new long distance path, this time the St Cuthbert's Way which starts in Melrose and goes 100 km to Lindisfarne. Feeling a bit more confident to run on the tarmac, albeit gently and followed a country lane until crossing the A698 and descending to a shady wood with the lingering smell of wild garlic and along the bank of a river. Crossing a small suspension bridge I then ran through rhododendron lined woods around Monteviot House where there were loads of grey squirrels but I also spotted a red one. Unfortunately the greys carry a virus that is lethal to their cure red cousins. on through a lot of shady woodland, initially thick pine and then much lighter and brighter beech until once again joining Dere Street, still making its straight north west route. The path was now wide and grassy although the soil is really hard from lack of rain. Massive trees were blowing in the breeze and their branches were occasionally so low that I had to watch my head as there was a real danger of getting bashed - o the perils of a long distance runner! Eventually the passage grew narrower and was soon a twisty, turny route through woodland and on past the site of the Ancrum Moor battle between the Scots and Henry VIII army. Eventually the path ran out and I had to run about a mile on the busy A68 before diverting off again onto the St Cuthbert's Way and down to the river to Dryburgh. Took a (tourist) stop to visit the ruins of the 12th century abbey where the Scottish poet Sir Walter Scott is buried. There are four ruined abbeys around here - Melrose if the third with the fourth being Kelso which I wont be anywhere near. I also climbed the hill to see the original statue of Sir William Wallace AKA Braveheart! built nearly 200 years ago, before picking up the St Cuthbert's Way again and following this a little bit South to Bowden and then into the pinewoods at the floor of Eildon Hills. These are three extinct volcano's and can be seen for miles around. At last I spotted a hare hunched up in a field but he was way too quick for me to get the camera out!

Emerging from the trees above the canopy, the sight of the hills were ablaze with yellow from the numerous gorse bushes and the smell was really intense. Looking back I could just about make out the route I had taken today and the view over to Melrose once I had hit the top was spectacular - the ruined abbey was much more impressive even than Jeburgh. It was then just a "softly softly catch me monkey" run down the side of the hill down into Melrose.

My decision to stick to the St Cuthbert's Way rather than the more direct route via roads added almost seven miles to todays trip but I'm definitely doing the right thing - no heroics required at this stage of the game.

Mileage 19.25 Time 4.23

Day 45 Byrness to Jedburgh

2008-06-09T12:33:00.000-07:00

Today was set to be a huge milestone as I was to complete my journey through England and venture into Scotland. Once again the weather God was looking down on me favourably as I set off through the thick pine forest of Redesdale. Extremely steep slopes made a slow progress but the sun filtering through to the five foot high ferns certainly made a pretty scenery whilst I was toiling away. Once above the treeline the views were terrific, over Kielder Water in the West and the Cheviots Hills to the East. Nice undulating journey across the plateau, if a tag breezy on the higher hills (ominously one was called Windy Crag) - at one point I actually thought that although I was totally alone up here I certainly wasn't lonely. Skylarks and LBJ's (Little Brown Jobbies ie a description to cover the multitude of smaller birds that are everywhere and are too quick to identify what they actually are!) were singing - the two words could hardly be further apart in meaning. Before reaching the all - important border fence, England still had a couple of last ditch attempts to get my running shoes muddy and wet. And then, there it was...the border, but to be honest it was a real disappointment - a rickety old wooden gate propped up on a pole with no sign at all that I had just entered another country; no "Welcome to Scotland" or "Goodbye England" . More undulating moorland to be negotiated before I said farewell to the Pennine Way. I has really enjoyed the highs and lows (physical as well as emotional) over the past ten or so days and if I'm honest it didn't feel quite right to be ducking out so close to the finish of the whole footpath - after all, I had done over 270 miles on it from Edale and the finish was Kirk Yelthom less than 15 miles away but this would take me too far East. So I picked up another ancient Roman road ; Dere Street and followed this around the side of the hills, another adrenaline rush bit as the track I was on was no more than two foot wide with a drop to the left right down to the bottom of the valley, basically a mini running track around the hillside. Dere Street continued, as it should do, in an almost straight line (and mostly downhill) on grass for several miles before dropping steeply to a quiet lane. After walking up this, it then continued over undulating hills and past relics of bygone eras before hitting a flinty lane and veering North West along a road. I couldn't really go wrong on this route.

Suddenly I was away from the heather and moorland that have dominated my surroundings over the last couple of weeks and back in town where fields of cereals and rape seed, making lovely sounds and visuals blowing in the wind. Leaving Dere Street, at least for today, I headed along an undulating country lane, daring to run on it for the first time in around a week and whilst I am still limping on my right leg the good news was that there was no pain. It was a tremendous surprise to see my overnight accommodation - after staying in Youth Hostel for the most of the last 2 - 3 weeks I was now in 4 star luxury... lovely!

Walked down to Jedburgh Abbey and Mary Queen of Scots house. By the way, there is a set of bathroom scales here and it's amazing how much weight I have lost (didn't actually think I had anywhere to lose it from) - originally set out at 9 st 2 lbs buy tonight I weigh 8 st 6 lbs - no wonder my jeans didn't fit me when Tricia brought them up to Earby!

Mileage 20.16 Time 5.02

Day 44 Bellingham to Byrness

2008-06-08T10:30:00.000-07:00

Hmmm don't really have too much to say about today (for a change) although the weather was good again. The first mile or so was on road so I had to walk it before crossing a huge field and out onto heather clad moorland with one boggy area to be negotiated. Encountered a couple of nasty collies both with bad boy attitude before running downhill on a disused narrow gage colliery railway track to a road. It was then a steady uphill, again through heather so at least the underfoot was springy and dry, to the top of Deer Play. A couple of areas have recently been scorched by fire and this just added to the, dare I say it, dullness of the surroundings. There was absolutely no bird song and not even sheep dared to stray up here! On one of the Pennine Way signposts there were three slightly deflated helium balloons - who on earth would have a party up here? After dropping down along a nice grassy path it was then another long drag uphill, sometimes on flagstones Padon Hill. Skylarks were suddenly singing and I did spook a grouse so at least the birds are back.

Lunch was on a ladder style where a guy going the other way expressed concern that I would soon be getting very wet and muddy. He was pretty filthy himself but he didn't know me at all! Yes it was very boggy but using simple logic and working out the route several foot in front of me, not even my little toes went paddling....the girl done good! It was then a simple flat run over open moorland but to be perfectly honest, this is exhausting as I have to lengthen or shorten every single stride based on the terrain and is also mentally tiring. I then entered a huge Resdale Forest although there was an awful lot of deforestation and replanting so actually the route was very open and on chalky cobbled tracks rather than on shady grass tracks amongst the trees as I had hoped. Three miles later I dropped down to cross the river Rede and then a nice run through the trees then alongside the river into Byrness.

Nearing the village I passed three people and a cat! Apparently the feline had followed them for over a mile and as soon as I passed it the inevitable happened and it latched onto me loping along like a dog. Luckily it gave up after a half a mile or so.

Arrived too early for the Youth Hostel but got chatting to a lovely six year old girl called Caitlin who told me all about herself and the fact that she had to move to the school in the next village cus a nasty 13 year old called Jade had trashed the one in Byrness so badly it was closed down.

Mileage 15.54 Time 3.58

Day 43 Greenhead to Bellingham

2008-06-07T13:41:00.000-07:00

Today was definitely another of those days that I wanted to put in a bottle specially after the slight doubts of yesterday. I was armed with a packed lunch today as it was going to be a long expedition : basically I was packing two days into one. Again rained overnight but sun was shining as I set out along a lovely grassy and shady track up to the ruins of 14th century Thirlwall Castle which was unfortunately built from the stones of Hadrians Wall hence the reason the latter didn't exist here. The Walls defensive ditch was clearly visible as I entered Northumberland National Park and the first impressive views of the thick wall itself appear at Walltown. A Canadian lady who lost her daughter to cancer was moved to tears when she heard what I was doing and gave me £4 and a pin badge. I decided to stick high up against the wall rather than follow the "easier" valley floor path despite the former having some serious ascents and descents, some so steep they required steps being set into the hillside. There are several turrets (watchtowers) and mile castles (guardposts) along the length of the wall, some better preserved than others. Loads of day hikers were out and I met a couple of women from Australia who not only donated £5 but promptly "accosted" two guys who were also well impressed and ushered them to donate £15 in return for a photo of me! In a couple of places the craggy cliffs provided excellent opportunities for rock climbing. Further up and down and up and down then bought me to Housesteads Fort, one of the finest Roman hilltop remains in Britain and this proved an excellent picnic spot.

Fully refreshed I then backtracked half a mile to pick up the Pennine Way northwards away from the wall which had given me a lot of pleasure during the mornings exertion. Dropping down from the craggs over sometimes marshy, sometimes heather moors, sheep scattering in all directions (why don't they simply run to the side when I approach instead of racing off in front and sticking to the same path I am on? They really are stupid). The path then took me through sections of three forests : pine and spruce tree giving me a bit of shade from the front whilst I ran on lush green paths. There was a little bit of open heath and moorland to negotiate in between but the tracks were clear enough to follow. Unfortunately, after a few farm fields there was quiet a long section of road which I had to walk in order to reduce jarring and after reaching further farmfield, one of which was a lovely long downhill, there was a huge herd of cows and a big bull - I'd rather walk these and end up being chased! Steep uphill over craggy rocks to a radio mast before more following the tracks through marshes although this time the ground was giving rather than wet and boggy, before dropping down to the road into Bellingham. Again the path fell short of the village so it was a walk for the remaining mile or so.

Staying at Demesne Farm bunkhouse which is brand new and as they have a gas kitchen it was really easy to self cater tonight. A really good day today but I am extending the list of ailments to now include a possible twinge in my left knee and more rucksack burns on my back! Still, I'm continuing to smile through the pain! By the way onroute fundraising from today has meant my journeys total has now topped the £1000.00 mark.

Mileage 24.53 time 6.31

Day 42 Alston to Greenhead

2008-06-07T00:51:00.000-07:00

Thunder storms last evening but I woke to sun again this morning. From my hips down every part of me now aches I feel about 80. Found an alternative use for the bunk bed ladders as they are very handy to haul myself up off the floor after kneeling to pack my rucksack in the morning!

Nice breakfast including porridge and then set off along a grassy track between the A689 and river South Tyne, crossing several farm fields before crossing the road and heading uphill around the ramparts of Whitley Castle, a Roman fort built to defend a supply route now called the Maiden Way.

Crossing the A689 again it was a lovely run through several fields following the disused railway line before dropping down under the viaduct to follow a stream towards Slaggyford. Didn't want to further damage my leg so once out on the A689 I walked the road bit into the village looking for a tea shop...no luck but I did find David and Marilyn on the village green park bench having looked for exactly the same refreshment stop as me! After a brief respite I continued along a lane next to a beautifully converted chapel before dropping through a small copse to once again duck under the railway line and cross more fields before having a little problem trying to work out exactly where the footpath went once I got to Merry Knowe Farm. It took a bit of time to establish that they had filled in the top of the style in the dry stone wall but there was a small painted piece of slate indicating that I needed to climb over the wall which actually left me in the back garden of the farm! More fields, many with colourful wild flowers before once again going under the railway and out onto the A689. It was then another uphill onto Glendue Fell to follow the Maiden Way Roman road, barely deviating from a straight line and out across heather clad grouse shooting moors although I didn't see any today. Once again and for the last time across the A689. I initially planned to follow a quiet lane all the way to Greenhead but decided to continue to follow the Pennine Way as the going would be easier on my leg albeit longer mileage. Bit boggy underfoot in places and very up and down, sometimes quite steep. I sort of followed the wrong trail over Featherstone common which ended me up in some real soggy bits but after convincing myself not to panic and blow the emergency whistle decided to head for the highest point where I hoped to find the trig point and I did come across what appeared to be the only Pennine Way signpost. The first trig point that I saw ended up being nothing more than a lamb standing on a pile of rocks (David and Marilyn saw exactly the same a little while later) - the real trig point was on the next hill. It was then an exhausting journey through the rest of the common and then down towards the A69 only to then run parallel with the road for around a mile before dropping down to finally cross it. Rather than go down the busy A69 into Greenhead I ran through several more fields and across the local golf course.

Bushwhacked today and really struggled over the last 6-7 miles and looking forward to a huge tea! Had a final drink with David and Marilyn as they are having a shorter day tomorrow - I'm now very envious! I'll miss those guys popping up on route when I least expect them and their overnight camping stories. Raised £30 tonight in the pub and Frank the 500 miler also gave me £10.

Mileage 16.45 time 5.10

Total mileage 676.21

Day 41 Dufton to Alston

2008-06-05T12:47:00.000-07:00

Another fine day to wake to this morning, a day that was to be a real high literally as I was going to traverse over Cross Fell which, 893m, was not only the highest peak on the Pennine way but also the highest on my entire route. The view from Dufton Youth Hostel was great, all around were high hills some looking just like huge pyramids. Trouble was, whilst they looked great as a view I had to go over them today! After following the trail up an old hunting gully around Dufton Pike it started to get very humid and at first I thought it was starting to rain before realizing it was pouring off me.... nice! A grassy track then took me up and around Brownber Hill before crossing a completely dry Swindale Beck and then the climbing started although I was running stretches of the uphill bit wherever I could. The pull up to the first cairn atop Knock Old Man was quite steep with several false tops and the cairn at the top (794m) was a handy fruit pastille stop! Each day I am the last to set out but usually the first to finish....bit like a hound after the prey.

Passed two couples that had stayed at Dufton before getting to Knock Old Man. A flagged path then provided easy running down to the road going to the radar station on top of the next hill of Great Dun Fell (848m) : the radar was rather like a mini EPCOT ball. After climbing to the top of this hill it was the more flags over the marshy area between this and Little Dun Fell (842m) - at least I only had to drop 50 - 60m between each hill rather than completely down one and all the way back over the next. Another descent and more flag stones before a bit of boulder scrambling to reach the bigun although it was a bit confusing trying to decipher where the actual top was - three times what I thought was the trig point turned out to be a huge cairn on yet another false top! Eventually I saw the Stone Cross windbreak and the real trig point. Frank, a guy who is walking a total of 500 miles in five pieces in aid of Lupus disease was waving me on to the top and took my glory photo atop the trig! There were loads of tiny flies (thank goodness they didn't bite, they were just annoying) but also lots of swifts snapping them up and when they flew close to me you could hear the "whoosh" (the swifts not the flies).

Leaving the summit behind I dropped down to a track that took me past a little bothy called Greg's Hut. Basically this is a shelter for anyone to use or stay in should they get stranded. Just as I was running past, who should come out but David and Marilyn having had a brew up and signed the visitors book! Walked up the track with them then upped the pace once it started to go gradually downhill. Apparently the track was originally a corpse road ......nice! Whilst I ran virtually all the way down to Garrigill along this stony and slightly undulating track, it was almost seven miles long - definitely the longest sustained running I have done all the trip but I paid heavily for it on the steep descent into the village as my leg was really hurting ever stride. The post office offered tea on the village green so how could I pass that opportunity by? After chatting to three cyclists going coast to coast I then limped half a mile up the road to a lovely grassy path alongside the river South Tyne and was able to run through little copses and wild flower meadows before around two miles of lovely farm fields each separated either by stone styles or gaps in the dry stone walls.

The Youth Hostel at Alston is actually right on the Pennine Way and I almost ran straight past. By the time I arrived my leg was much better - I just need soft going underfoot for the rest of the trip then! Cooked spag bol for tea ......yum, I didn't really like the look of the village - no more quaint cottages but lots of derelict buildings and shops, boy racers and kids hanging round the market cross!!

Millage 19.91 time 5.14

Day 40 Langdon Beck to Dufton

2008-06-04T11:07:00.000-07:00

Waking up this morning and looking out the window it was difficult to believe I was in England as it was a perfect blue sky, the sun was out and the houses are so remotely spread out it could have been a foreign country. A bird watcher had set up his single hide in the middle of the meadow opposite the Youth Hostel striking a very lonely figure. Lovely run through grassy and sometimes flagged fields alongside the river Tees before having clamber over a couple of sections of huge boulders beneath 30 m high cliffs. Board walks were conveniently placed over a few boggy patches before I reached Couldron Snout, a frothing mass of water plunging 60 m from Cow Green reservoir. I already spied a rare ring ouzel which is rather like a blackbird with a light brown throat and then spotted her nest with four blue and brown speckled eggs....jackpot 10 points! Caught up with my extended family, David and Marilyn, while scrambling up the side of the impressive waterfall and walked with them for a few miles (we passed from county Durham into Cumbria). Across Dufton Fell occasionally on flagged path and other times on grassy or stony track. To the South is the Warcop army training ground complete with red warning flags indicating firing ranges. After reaching the crest of Rafp Hill I then had a nice run down to Maize Beck and after crossing the footbridge headed slightly uphill to the surprise of the day : High Cup Nick , a "U" shaped valley created by glaciers with a view of the lakeland fells silhouetted on the skyline. I stood at the very end of the valley, high up on the basalt columns looking at the incredible view stretching before me - jaw dropping. When David and Marilyn arrived they kindly invited me for a brew up and here I was, normally a two sugar addict, drinking black tea with no sugar.........John would be impressed! I then ran most of the rest of the journey down into Dufton as it was almost all downhill but whilst the first part was on grass and then track, the rest was on a quiet lane so had to be aware of my leg which has again come up in a lump but isn't causing me too much pain when I run which is great.

Dufton is a really picturesque village this time with red sandstone cottages rather than the grey stone I had become used to over recent weeks. First stop ? coffee shop for a cup of tea and a tea cake. David and Marilyn arrived a bit later and I met another end to ender but he was walking North to South. Pub opens at 6pm for tea but the Appleby horse fair is on this week which attracts a lot of gypsies and travellers - it's only about 8 miles away and apparently some of them visit the local villages and pubs and have been known to cause a nuisance. The YH has a wealth of nature in its garden (excellent news for me!). Their cat is a bit dozy though as there is a rabbit (of the wild kind) and a chicken (of the domestic kind) feeding right under its nose. Red squirrels are chasing each other on the lawn over ownership of the peanut feeder and wild birds galore are homing in on the various seed dispensers. It's like a mini nature reserve here!

Milage 13.28 Time 3.34

Day 39 Baldersale to Langdon Beck

2008-06-03T12:28:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately no ghost sighting but even more disappointing, no baby owl although there was hooting in the night. Looks as if it has poured overnight and still raining this morning. Crossed Blackton Reservoir but stopped shortly afterwards toad spotting. Across wet fields (no chance that feet are going to stay dry) and then across very soggy Mickleton Moor. It was extremely slow going trying to avoid the worst of the boggy patches and there was also a lot of standing water. On through several farm fields were signs told me to "stick to footpath and keep in single file". Dropped down through a small copse to cross Graffholme reservoir. Muddy fields greeted me so more careful negotiation. Although I's already left Herriot country I had an amazing experience at Wythef Hill Farm where a vet was in the process of delivering a HUGE bull calf via cesarean - quite a raw and mucky process but incredible to watch although neither the cow of the calf looked overly impressed! All the little uns are so much younger up North. After yet more fields of bleating sheep (I've worked out that the ewes appear to moult their Winter fleece rather than being sheared as they are starting to look a tag on the scruffy side with chunks of Winter wool falling out to reveal a sleeker coat underneath) before a fab downhill over grass all the way down into Middleton -in - Teesdale where I stopped in a cafe for coffee and tuna sarnies. The staff were really interested in my journey and apparently there are a couple of guys 2 - 3 days ahead who are also going to John O'Groats but not arriving there until the end of July so I should meet and pass them at some point.

I've now started to head West rather than North as there is a big hill that you can't go over and have to go round. By now it has stopped raining so jacket's off. The second part of today was fab along the bank of the river Tees. Almost every field was full of a brilliant array of meadow flowers : yellow,white,blue,pink against the lush green grass. There were zillions of rabbits all scampering away from me back to the safety of their burrows. Whilst the morning had been the turn of the moorland birds that I had got so used to, now the river dwellers were back again : grey wagtails (who are actually yellow!), robins, blackbirds, ducks, heron, swifts and swallows. There were also lapwings in the meadows and after a continued display of diving by one pair I saw the tiny bundle of brown feathers just beyond the fence that they were trying to get me away from. Looks as if the young learn from a very early age to stay motionless. There were two lovely waterfalls -Low and High Falls, the latter is England's largest with a drop of 21m. After passing a working quarry it was then up and over Bracken Rigg a strange hillside covered with juniper bushes fenced to keep sheep out but the path between them was very higgledy piggledy fashion. Afterwards the way was conveniently flagged before dropping down to Harwood Beck where after negotiating a stony bank of the sidestream it was then a simple run up a farm track to Langdon Beck Youth Hostel but nit before I spied a young snipe in the grass - I definitely need to get in touch with Bill Oddie! Walking into the YH, a couple waiting to register also knew all about me...Kerry and Nancy are doing a sterling promotion job!

Cooked my own tea tonight and low and behold look who has just arrived, David and Marilyn...apparently they were having a coffee break when I overtook them this morning.

Mileage 15.63 Time 4.11

Day 38 Keld to Baldersdale

2008-06-02T13:09:00.000-07:00

Have another £20.00 donation this morning from a woman who had suffered with breast cancer in 2000 but now seemed to be doing well. Bit misty but dry and although I started out with my waterproofs on, soon discarded that leaving the T shirt. Retraced my steps through the Keld hamlet briefly stopping at Caurake Force before heading uphill along a stony and then grassy track and out onto Stonesdale Moor. This was fantastic to run along as extremely springy underfoot. I watched from up on high as several farmers were rounding up their sheep, this time using the reliable canines! It was quite interesting watching the white blobs on the hillsides below form orderly groups as if being pulled together by a lead. After heading uphill again, more moor beckoned but although it might appear lifeless, if you stand still and listen, the birdsong is almost deafening - golden pluver, curlew and lapwing all raucous with the latter two having no fear in divebombing if they feel you are getting too close to their nests! Then Tan Hill Inn appeared out of the mist - this is Britain highest pub at 528m above sea level and although it has recently been the subject of a couple of TV ads for double glazing and in the last few months for solar heating, inside retains a lot of quirkiness - time to stop for a coffee and a packet of crisps. Unfortunately a group of bikers stole the unique rubber stamp so no passport update but I did get another £10.00 donation!

Next onto the delights of Sleight Holme Moor, described as a "soggy expanse of bog and low, tussocky moorland" - they're not far wrong! I only got half a mile before deciding I really didn't want to go swimming today and retraced my boggy steps back to the road. Two miles later I picked up a track which connected me back to the Pennine Way but beyond the mire. Guess who I met? David and Marilyn, so I walked with them for a mile or so across a few boggy fields before having a nice run across Wytham Moor (there were a few streams of running black water that had to be safely negotiated en-route so more gazelle like antics required). After ducking under the A66 I then had another lovely run up and over Ravock Moor which suddenly transformed from bog grasses into masses of heather and again springy footpaths. A couple walking the Pennine Way North to South stopped to ask if I was the "long distance runner going to John O'Groats?"! My fame had proceeded me!! Apparently they met Kerry and Nancy earlier (they had a good head start today as they had gone onto Tan Hill Inn yesterday) but it was really nice to be recognized.

More marsh and bog fields needed careful negotiation which really slows the pace but I would much rather have dry (ish) feet and non smelly trainers. I'm getting good at emergency stops preventing me from heading feet first into a bottomless pit. After reaching the top at Race Yate, Baldersdale's reservoirs came into sight and it was an easy run through several fields to reach my overnight stop right at the foot of the dam. This is normally a team building venue and was original a Youth Hostel. I'm looking out of the window as I write this with swallows nesting right above my head, pied wagtail nesting in the dry stone wall below, rabbits galore in the fields, curlews screeching overhead - I've already seen a couple of red kites and a vole and to cap it all there is apparently a baby owl that comes each evening to the other side of the wall........wildlife tour continues!! I'm also staying on my own in this huge house overnight (and I'm led to believe there is a ghost) another element of trust that I am finding along my way.

As far as the leg is concerned it's still there (the leg that is) not so painful today although I could feel the jarring when I ran on the road, so more positive today.

Mileage 16.7 Time 4.17

Day 37 Hawes to Keld

2008-06-02T11:21:00.001-07:00

Had a vivid dream of Mum and Dad last night which was really nice as it was so real. I'm sure they are following my every step and this is their way of telling me.

£5.00 donation from a family at the Youth Hostel. Church bells were chiming as I ran down through Hawes and my leg is still sore so I'm running a bit gingerly to start with. Across flagged fields to Hardraw where I had planned to visit Hardraw falls which is Britains highest unbroken waterfall at 100 ft but I heard through the grapevine that just a trickle of water was coming over the falls due to lack of rain and you had to pay anyway so I carried on. I took a sandy, cobbly walled track uphill - 8 or 10 mountain bikers whizzed past me downhill clearly having fun. Started to drizzle and grey clouds all around so on went the waterproof top. I was beginning the ascent of Everest actually Great Shunner Fell which goes on and on and on in fact on for 5 miles across boggy moorland. There were lots of false tops. There were sounds of curlew, grouse and golden plover and I saw my first ever grouse in the flesh - unfortunately it was the common variety which are brown and red ( picture the grouse on the whiskey advert ) rather than the rarer black grouse but I have been told that I am guaranteed to see the later at some point. By now it's raining constantly. I passed the couple from Earby now to be known ass David and Marilyn plus another couple of hikers and we all stopped at the wind shelter on the eventual summit for a group photo but it did look as though we were all waiting for a bus. The views were unfortunately clouded with mist but I am sure they were brilliant underneath. Gently downhill over springy grass, moor and flags to then drop more steeply down into Thwaite via a stony and sometime slippery walled track. Apparently no Pennine wayfarer should pass the opportunity for a cup of tea at the Kearton restaurant so I didn't. I've just met back up with the couple from Australia : Kerry and Nancy and had a lovely cup of tea, sandwich and chips when David and Marilyn arrived - told you no-one passes it by!

Sharp uphill across fields to then follow a dry stone wall high above the valley where I had an amazing sight of field after field, all dry stoned walled and each one had a large grey stoned barn for the animals to shelter in. Around the top of the steep limestone slopes many places were too stony to run on as there were toe tripping stones everywhere and therefore quite slow going. There was an enormous back of primroses and bluebells but they were just emerging, way behind those in the South.

Stopped at Upper Kisdom Force via a detour then ran on into Keld which is a tiny hamlet where there is no mobile reception. I'm staying at Keld lodge an old Youth Hostel now turned into a stunning B&B which captures wayfarers from both the Pennine Way and the coast to coast walk, both of which converge here.

When phoning John from the village phone box a vole was running around outside. Big donations tonight as there were lost of hikers doing the coast to coast and I had two lots of £20.00 and one of £10.00 including my first Scottish notes!

Miles 13.61 time 3.46

Day 36 Well Deserved Holiday!

2008-06-02T11:07:00.000-07:00

Legs sore this morning with a bit of a lump so decided not to do anything and try to keep off my feet as much as possible.

No internet at Youth Hostel but apparently quite a few at the community centre and there is also an internet cafe here - proof that they do exist outside Bournemouth. Problem, community centre closed on Saturday and the cafe is undergoing refurbishment! Just my luck...NOT!
So bought postcard and a newspaper as I have no idea again what is going on in the word and then wrote the postcards while having a couple of coffees in the village. It's actually very busy here with plenty of little shops and it seems that ever biker (both cycling and motorbiking) is meeting here as they are absolutely everywhere. Sunny today so sat on the stone bench reading the paper and eating chips then dictating yesterdays diary over the phone to John for blog updating.

Nothing to do so retreated indoors to listen to my music and read the free Hello magazine then see where I am going for the next 10 days - no break now until I get to Melrose on the 10th June. Can't believe I'm only a week or so away from Scotland........ wow! That will be a huge milestone and confidence builder but I have got a lot of running to do before then and I hope my leg holds out and doesn't get any worse.

Day 35 Malham to Hawes

2008-05-31T05:54:00.000-07:00

All on my own again. A family staying at the Youth Hostel where really interested in my exploits at breakfast and donated £40 as they were leaving. I saw the Earby YH couple walk past my window and probably going to be meeting up with them a lot over the next few days. Picked up the Pennine Way again which went directly to Malham Cove a massive 80m high natural amphitheatre of limestone after seeing the worm eye view from the bottom walked up the zillion steps to the water eroded limestone pavements across the top. The trail then followed a dry stone wall before emerging on open grassland at Malham Tarn. Stopped for a bit of bird watching in a conveniently placed hide before setting out again towards Fountain Fell. I waited by a style whilst six blind or partially sighted hikers and their sighted guides negotiated the ladder. That was impressive and I had total respect for what they were doing and showed the totals trust they had in their helpers. It was now a long long drawn out climb over Fountains Fell - no more the green grass of farmland but instead the darker green of moor grass and interspersed with boggy becks and gills (little streams) - new shoes got a slight christening in one of the bogs. Once I reached the top although it was misty I could just make out the top of Pen -y-Ghent, one of Yorkshires "three peaks" at 694 m. It was a lovely downhill run, sometimes steep and sometime a bit rubbly, to the "main" road where I made the decision to stop for lunch. Out came cheese roll and pain au chocolate that I had doggy bagged from breakfast (stole)! I thought I was all alone but I suddenly heard voices and there huddled behind a wall was the Earby YH couple! They were having trouble getting their gas stove to work for a brew of tea - luxury indeed. This was where I was to leave the Pennine Way as although that went on to Horton - in - Ribblesdale I had made the decision to head straight to Hawes which would make this a long day but would give me the benefit of a day off tomorrow. So I then followed the road for a couple of miles to a small hamlet of Halton Gill (strangly enough whilst probably wanting to live in the middle of nowhere every single house was equipped with a satellite dish) to then follow a track and then a footpath very steeply uphill. At times it was boggy and I had to put in little gazelle leaps to ensure clearance of the mire. Once reaching the top it was a well worn path through more bog fields (I'm beginning to learn which plants you can stand on in boggy situations and which ones will just sink). Unfortunately the pain has come back in my leg so I'm guessing its down to the pounding up and down hill so I'll have to continue to pill pop. In the valley more very noisy motor bikes were burning up the lanes ruining the silence. Back on the lanes it was then a mixture of slow run and walk all the way back uphill to the viewpoint at the top although when I got there I couldnt see what the viewpoint was for other than for a bit of moorland, and I've seen plenty of that. What goes up must come down and the down was a 1:4 road that went on and on for the next mile and a half straight into Hawes. Too tired to go out afterwards and had a massive three course meal at the Youth Hostel which was excellent and then straight to bed - such a party animal!

Millage 22.99 Time 5.57

Total mileage 580.63

Day 34 Earby to Malham

2008-05-31T05:26:00.000-07:00

Didn't get too much sleep last night - snoring and someone got a text message in the middle of the night and really thought I had seriously injured my leg, and lay awake thinking that I would need to go to the hospital from Malham and with my leg in plaster and what I would write on my blog to announce non completion...not to fear as leg much better in the morning but pill popped just in case! Ozier troop and I went into the village for a fry up so very late setting off. It was warm and sunny so back to Summer gear and sunnies! Steve is taking most of my luggage today so light backpack which was luxury. Footpath to Thornton-in-Craven where Tricia and I picked up the Pennine way again. Initially up steep hill but then into rolling fields - so quiet and peaceful the only sounds were birdlife and animals chewing grass. Bog field needed careful negotiation before running alongside Leead and Liverpool canal for a short distance and under an unique double arched bridge (top arch was added to allow levelling with road). We left the canal just after East Marton to go for several miles over field after field of sheep!! before crossing the railway and dropping down into a pretty Roman village of Gargrave where we stopped for a while for liquid refreshment and chocolate cake in a local pub. We then continue on uphill initially on lanes then over field. The views were fantastic from the top and a total change of scenary from the last four days, ie no moors, craggy hills and boggy expanses, but just field after field of grass,cows, sheep and lots of small copses of mixed trees. Fantastic long sweeping down hills that seemed to go on forever and which were an absolute joy to run down, even Tricia was ecstatic! Eventually crossed into the Yorkshire Dales National Park and dropped down to run alongside the river Aire. Met up with a couple walking the Pennine Way who had stayed at Earby Youth Hostel last night - should see them again at Hawes YH in a couple of days. Continued alongside the river to Hanlith where we took the lane steeply uphill past Hanlith Hall and through yet more fields to finally reach Malham. Animal Olympics festival is ongoing all week and rather bizarrly there were lots of paper mache and scarecrow creatures doing various Olympic sports dotted around the village ie polar bear doing the pole vault and penguins doing the 40k walk. It was a very busy village and after icecreams we all walked to Janet's Foss via a lovely wood and glades with a strong smell of garlic. There were many fallen trees which had been strangely "stabbed" with hundreds of coins! Joe and Lou enjoyed paddeling under the waterfall before we walked up to Gordale Scar, a huge gorge in the rocks formed in the ice age and was pretty amazing to look at. Local pub for tea again.

Mileage 13.25 time 3.30

2008-05-29T01:08:00.004-07:00

Day 33 - Mankinholes to Earby (Simon says "centre of the universe")

No wind, No rain (intro to a famous Diana Ross song!?) but heavy mist. Unfortunately still couldn't see the Stoodley Monument. Steep downhill through woodland to join Rochdale canal. Got chased by Canadian goose along towpath! Plenty of moored canal boats - some were pemanent moorings as even had "community veg patch" at side of the canal. Needed to get breakfast so took detour to Hebden Bridge (Last of the Summer Wine country) for bacon buttie and latte. Very VERY steep cobbled uphill via Butress Lane and via Heptonstall which was lovely cobbled street village with grey stone terrace houses and then onto Slack and into the mist. Picked up Pennine Way bridleway but at this point couldn't see more than 20 m in any direction so opted to stay on tracks and lanes rather than footpaths across moors. Eerie silence all around, curlews everywhere and appeared out of the mist like fighter bombers wailing, mini pteradactyls. Followed the track around yet more resevoirs but today the water was calm. Picked up lane past Widolop Resevoir and although water was just to my left, couldn't see it! Downhill, steep at times to Thursden where mist started to rise then very steep uphill to pick up Bronte Way across yet more sheep fields. Sun tried to come out briefly and I had a shadow! Couldn't find the footpath I needed from Bronte way and after going up and down the track a couple of times picked one that pointed in the right direction. Through bog fields but luckily they were quite dry and bouncy until that is I reached the stream and couldn't put the brakes on quickly enough, left foot straight in the bog! Wet feet again! Undulating lanes through Trawden and up steep hill otherside. Along quiet lanes before dropping down to laneshaw Bridge when I picked up the Bronte way again - signed by some reason by a witch on her broomstick and quite a few houses had weathervanes with the same design, unsure why. Then followed unsigned footpath through a farm and out onto a country lane where I passed into North Yorkshire (WOW!) before running around base of a hill and sharp downhill into Earby. Right shin starting to hurt - hope its my trainers telling me they've run out. Plan was to "retire" them tonight anyway so when tricia turned up we had an official retirement party. Fab meal down the pub with Simon, Steve, Tricia,Joe and Louise.

Miles 23.45 time 5.36

2008-05-29T01:08:00.003-07:00

Day 32 - Diggle to Mankinholes

Pouring with rain and blowing a gale. Bill gave me a lift up to top hill to pick up the Pennine way where I left off. Thought I had lost my gloves which would have been a disaster but found them! Nice run down rubbly track and missed Pennine Way footpath sign as looking at ground. Windy uphill run to Millstone Edge and then vast peat moorland so by now soaked and battling severe side/headwind. Nice downhill out of wind to cross A640 then passed a guy trying to get some respite from the weather behind low wall, his name was Sam. Then passed moor fires that had raged yesterday. Stopped at burger van in layby on the A672 for coffee. 2/3 walkers already gone through that morning then via "posh" footbridge (wind tunnel so a challenge to cross) over M62 (aptly area also known as Windy Hill!). Then nice run across flagstones across Redmires to Blackstone Edge, bit weird as sandy underfoot with huge boulders and "rock pools", could have been on the beach. No distinct footpath so followed the occasional bootprint in sand. The cobblestones to Agin Stone (old boundary marker) and turned onto hagged and paved Roman or packhorse track. Dropped down to A58 and "popped" into The White House Inn, who should be propping up the bar eating sarnies but David! Lovely wood fire so chance to warm up, hot soup for lunch then just about to leave and Sam tuens up, he's walking Pennine Way with his dad but he had had to drop out. Both left pub together straight into driving rain and wind again! Flat run along tracks beside resevoirs with white horse. Mist kept rolling in and out and visable trig points soon disappeared into nothingness! Passed David sat down behind a wall where there was respite for a little while from the wind and rain. Track arched around Warland Drain and then flagged across yet moorland of heather, bilberry bushes before then dropping off Pennine Way along Calderdale Way via long cobbled path into Mankinholes and out of the gales and driving rain. Youth Hostel not open so changed out of wet clothes in conservatory. Sam arrived having decided not to camp at Hebden. Waited 1.5 hours only for the reception guy to then tell me the back door to the kitchen was open and tea/coffee was available, typical! Pub for meal - still undecided re route I would take tomorrow, ie planned one via Burnley and Bronk Walp of 20 odd miles with unknown terrain or via Pennine way to lothersdale on well marked footpath where Tricia would meet me and take back pack for the last 6 miles of the 26. The fact that I don't have maps for Loth to earby settled the decision to stick with original plan! Another stamp in passport - this one of Stoodley Monument which is just uphill from here but hidden in the mist, celebrates the defeat of Napoleon at Warterloo.

Miles 14.09 and time 3.04

2008-05-29T01:08:00.001-07:00

Day 31 - Crowden to Diggle

Porridge! no rain but still overcast and very windy. Footpath behind Youth Hostel took me uphill to join Pennine Way and initially rugged but gentle undulating run but soon steep ascent. Crossed couple of cloughs or streams then steep uphill to Laddow Rocks. Adrenaline junkies looking for free fear factor need just come and tackle first couple of days of Pennine Way. Path right on edge of sheer drop over craggy rocks - wind gale force again and took all effort just to stay upright with one leg in footpath trench and other on grass tussocks to prevent being blown over. Finally dropped down to follow brook, muddy in placed before crossing area of peat bogg to pick up flagstone path, against wind across Dunn Hill, went from Derbyshire to Yorkshire here, up to Soldiers Lump on Black Hill where quite a few hikers including David were huddled against the trig pillar. Another couple of hundred yards before flagstones dropped down other side for lovely run passing quite a few walkers burdened with large backpacks. Afer crossing yet more cloughs, arrived at A635 where welcome 'Snoopys' refreshment van was parked in a lay-by - very popular with both walkers and runners and drivers alike. Apparently quite a few endtoenders have gone through in last few days. After coffee crossed road to fabulous run downhill around side hills to Wessenden Head Resevoirs. Another runner stopped to chat told me it was pressy hairy over top of valley. After climbing out it was very windy but this time behind so pushed me along over flagstones across Black Moss Moor and onto 2 more resevoirs where had small piece of grass on which to run between them - side wind kept on blowing me nearer the water. Bad erosion on other side and matting put down plus lots of trays of new plants to be planted. Headed for Rederook Resevoir before descending via packhorse route to A62. Struggled to get latch back on gate it was so windy before following the Pennine Bridleway downhill into Diggle. Arrived 1.30PM which is earliest I arrived. Apparently 13 Buddhist Monks are due and someone with a horse. TV in room so 1st chance to catch up with what is happening in the outside world since Throwley Hall Farm 5 days ago. Now have been on my adventure exactly 1 month. Orphaned lamb being bottle fed, brought down from moors by couple of hikers who thought it was on its own. Went down to Diggle Hotel for tea £5 and £20 donations. Sheep very interested in horse and ganged up to go investigate.

Miles 12.61 time 3.28

2008-05-29T01:07:00.001-07:00

Day 30 - Edale to Crowden

Breakfast a bit to be desired, kids were still there and huge queue to get anything. Pain au chocolate and croissant were the most appetising. 3 new ladies were all from Malaysia, Lily, Honey and Brenda and 2 other ladies had walked to Kinder Scout yesterday, they gave £7 between them. No rain yet(was predicted for today) but very windy, initial path from youth hostel over grassy fields of sheep, wind behind me. Through Ollerbrook Booth then into Edale. Pennine Way starts opposite The Old Naggs Head. Ominously, mountain rescue were doing a collection. Nice route through several fields via flagstones and down to Upper Booth. Enjoying this - no worries! National Trust shelter/information at Lee House with very friendly chickens. Then sandy/stony track slightly uphill packhorse stone bridge and steep steps (Jacobs Ladder named after Jacob Marshall, packhorse driver who scrambled up slope to smoke pipe whilst packhorses took longer zig zag track. Lovely views back down to valley from top. Guy coming other way hardly moving due to wind and dressed for the Arctic! Some people going my way in shorts and t shirts! Gore stuff keeping the wind out. At outcrop rocks called Edale Rocks difficult to see were path went. Then path turned into wind and boy was it windy! Rocky path so difficult to run on and could see Kinder resevoir below and Manchester in the distance. After 1.5 miles or so, got to where Kinder waterfall should have been in full force but due to lack of rain it had totally dried up which was actually good news as all surrounding peat was spongy and bone dry. Again difficult to find track on other side but when did pick up met loads of hikers going other way, many thought I was a real fell runner, praise indeed! Steep downhill to path crossing road at Ashop Head with Snake Pass then up to Mill Hill where road of flagstones laid over Featherbed Moss for next 3 miles. Put on gloves and buff as now getting cold. Into ferocious headwind so case of run for a bit then walk to be able to breath! It's nothingness out here but cotton grass and peat. Flagstones brought in by copter to prevent erosion of fragile soil. Crossed A57 Snake Road and continued uphill on other side, crossing another packhorse route before entering Devil's Dyke, shallow trench between peat fields which then followed and eventually entered the stream so got a bit boggy. Up onto Bleaklow plateau to Bleaklow Head where again difficult to find path and needed to use compass! Started to drop down to eventually meet the stream - part of the path was rugged, part flagstoned. Crossed river to then head steeply uphill then along rim of Torside Clough. Mega MEGA windy and although dropping gradually, all my energy was spent on staying on my feet , the weight of the backpack helped but still got blown over twice. Rugged steep downhill to disused railway track then followed dam to cross between Torside and Rhodeswood Resevoir before track through conifers led to A628. Further track to Crowden Youth Hostel for welcome cup of coffee and recounted windy adventures with others including David. No mobile reception.

Miles 18.94 time 5.18

2008-05-29T01:02:00.000-07:00

Day 29 - well deserved holiday!
Walked back over Back Tor into Castleton. Overcast and windy but the good news is that the mobile reception came back at the bottom of the drive - didn't like not being able to contact people as I felt very remote and isolated. The sun then came out but the wind was chilly. Uphill again to Peverill Castle ruins then stopped for a hot chocolate before going to Peak Cavern (AKA Devils Arse!) where they used to make huge lengths of rope. The caverns are so big they can have concerts and wedding receptions inside! Then took a ride in a boat in Speedwell Cavern : over 1/2 mile long and just big enough for the boat to pass along...that was great fun if very chilly! Had to wear hard hats due to the narrow tunnels to protect my head! Chips for lunch which I ate on the lovely village green. It was a very busy village with lots of hikers, tourists and cyclists milling around. Found Castleton had a YH....should have stayed there to avoid the continuous walking over Back Tor and the noisy school kids but they didn't have internet either unfortunately....never mind!

2008-05-29T00:47:00.000-07:00

Day 28 - Priestcliffe to Edale
Margaret and John's neighbour's Sheila and Arthur kindly gave me £15 for my efforts. Fresh eggs for breakfast from Marigold (one of the 19 free range hens at Highfield B&B) then off...ran through several fields occasionally having to stop to climb over the stone stiles and on to a disused quarry where there was a VERY steep downhill with large cobbled stones which made it incredibly difficult to run. Millers Dale has an old water wheel from 1860 which used to grind corn and animal feed : the landlord at the time took part of the ground corn as payment. Steep uphill onto Limestone Way on a track between dry stone walls then on quiet lanes. It was very overcast, spitting and windy...great! Picked up the Pennine bridleway at Wheaton. Two dozing lambs woke with a start and began bleating furiously as if lost - one 'baa' from mum and they legged it..talk about instant voice recognition. Very craggy and steep hills up onto Old Moor : very bleak and open but grassy waymarked paths. Back on Limstone Way and dropped down very very steeply on damp rocky path under Peveril Castle and into Castleton. Stopped for a coffee and toasted t-cake in a lovely coffee shop and one of the customers kindly donated £10. Out through the other side of Castleton where I picked up the footpath that would take me over the top of Back Tor and down into the Vale of Edale. Very steep uphill and from the top I could just make out the Pennine Way wrapping itself around the hills! Ran down into the Vale and to the YH - no internet access (broken!) or mobile coverage and a huge group of school kids staying for the weekend!! Also no transport back into Castleton where I was planning to spend tomorrow! Very tired tonight and fell asleep just after 5pm...woke for nice 3 course tea and in bed by 7.30 at which time the kids were just going out for their evening events!
Mileage 11.66 and time 3.06

Total mileage 475.30

2008-05-28T13:37:00.000-07:00

Day 27 - Ilam to Priestcliffe

Had a fantastic 'collection' this morning - each of the riders gave me £20 plus the two other couples gave me £20 each and then Muriel (B&B owner) also gave me £5....WOW! Sad postscript - the cow was dead when I ran past her this morning. Today was a fantastic journey through Dovedale and Wolfscote Dale following a babbling brook. It reminded me of a walk John and I had made in a canyon called Angels Landing in the US. The path was gently undulating along sandy and sometimes rocky pathways in a valley surrounded by either high sided hills or craggy rocks. At Milldale there were zillions of ducks and magpies (and a very conveniently sited coffee shop!). In Wolfscote Dale I heard some sort of falcon screaming and looking up, saw one (bigger than a kestrel but definitely not something like an eagle / buzzard) carrying what looked like a young rabbit. It landed on a rock and then there was a lot of bird screaming with the female, I'm guessing, looking for the food...eventually he took off and amazingly passed it in mid-air to the female who then shut up and flew back to the nest with it...fab! I then went through a small wood and out into rolling hills - you would never know that such a fantastic and magical place existing just beyond the woods. I then followed the path into Hartington which was a lovely busy village where it seemed everyone knew everybody...they were very friendly and the postlady gave me £5 and another guy gave me £10...very profitable day! The area is littered with disused lead mines. There was a fab long downhill where I was able to really stride out from Highlow Farm (Low means hill or something like that...rather like the Tre and Pen from Cornwall!). A herd of heifers in a field next to the lane decided to join me on my downhill run and it was 3 fields before they were abruptly stopped from going any further by a stone wall...they made me smile! I had a rum 'n raisin icecream at The Old Smithy in Monyash...yum! It seemed that all cows HAD to be milked around 4pm as they were all either making their own way back to the farm or being rounded up by a landrover! There was then a very long uphil l but what goes up must come down, which it did, into Taddington and onto Priestcliffe. Margaret and John were exceptionally welcoming...nice cup of tea in their lovely garden followed by the well received offering of lamb stew and a glass of wine! Apparantely I was really excited when I arrived...definitely a day where I wanted to bottle all the smells, sights and sounds and keep forever!
Mileage 19.5

2008-05-28T13:15:00.000-07:00

Day 26 - Abbots Bromley to Ilam
Sincere apologies for the AWOL situation - totally unavoidable I'm afraid as I'm now in 'non-internet' territory!
Anyway, back to the diary....chilly and overcast morning again so t shirt and leggings. Mary told me the road I was intending to take was private so better be 'armed with an excuse!'. Decided to chance it anyway but at Dunstal I was suddenly faced with 'Private Drive - strictly no footpath'...bah humbug farmer!! Anyway, a Mr Frogitt told me to use it anyway but it was a bit scary knowing that I was blantantly trespassing! Hurried past a couple of houses and didn't even stop when I saw a herd of fallow deer - I have no idea if they were wild or farmed. Picked up the Staffordshire Way again so sigh of relief! Met a postie in his van who had never seen anyone on the footpath and promptly donated £2. Across zillions of fields either containing curious cows or meadows of wild flowers (dandelions, buttercup and clover which all make a satisfying slapping sound against my trainers!). I slightly lost the SW running through a lovely gully dotted with railway sleeper bridges over a meandering brook into Utoxeter and ended up further down the main road than I intended, but soon back on track and popped into Tesco for a sarnie and replenish a couple of toiletry items! The checkout staff were giving me strange looks as I repacked my backpack! Another racecourse visited then across grassy fields to the underpass of the A50 by the lovely stone Dove Bridge. Had lunch sat on a hilltop surrounded by white blossomed trees - the blossom was falling like snow storms. There was a lot of shooting and I assumed they were blasting pheasants but turned out to be a clay pigeon competition. Across flat sheep (again!) filled fields and past two huge barns both being renovated and both with the same nesting holes as in the barn a few days ago - is this now a legal requirement on all conversions? Then followed the River Dove past public school and a small flock of strange looking sheep with massive perms! I was then supposed to pick up the Limestone Way in Rocester but only found one sign on the whole footpath - bad! Thank goodness I could work out the route using the location of buildings and the river! Many of the stiles didn't have any signs at all so the only way of knowing which way was to look for trodden grass or vague direction of dots on the map! Went in Calwich Abbey Estate and all the boards told walkers to 'stick only to footpaths' - there wasn't any ruling for runners so I went by my map and not whether or not there was a marker or stile! 100% accurate route by following my own route! At Ousley Wood met by very steep lane all the way into Stanton where my legs started not to want to work - very tired! Undulating lane until meeting the A52 and then dropped down into the valley again and back up the other side. One thing I have noticed is that all the hedgerows have totally disappeared as has all the birdlife - all has been replaced by dry stone walling but unlike the Cotswolds this was grey stone. When I met the A523 I should have gone straight across to my overnight stay but knowing there was no possibility of any food being available I had to detour left (downhill!) into Waterhouses for fish and chips which I ate propped up behind a wall in a field! Then retraced steps (up a very steep hill!) into Calton where I took the footpath which soon disintegrated into nothing but littered with rocks. Initially couldn't see the road ahead so thought I'd somehow gone wrong but it was there...very very minor road only going to Throwley. It was mostly uphill (most of today seems to be up!) until I reached the top where the view was fantastic - free roaming cows and sheep and a long downhill to Throwley Hall Farm, right next to a run of Throwley Hall. A kestrel constantly circled right outside my window and kept landing on the phone wires. There was a very sick cow in the pasture that the farmer was giving glucose to - it didn't look very well at all. 3 horse riders were staying for a few days and then doing circular rides around the area.
Mileage 21.7 (GPS ran out of battery at 18.92 and although I know I went much further, I'll have to go with my map mileage) - time unsure!

Communication issues. 24th May

2008-05-24T07:34:00.001-07:00

This is John, Carole's husband signing into Carole's blog on her behalf.

Carole has safely arrived at Edale, at the start of the Pennine way, however unfortunately it appears she will not have access to the internet to update her blog for about another week. Carole just wanted me to let everyone know she hasn't fallen down a hole or run out of energy to write her blog, well not just yet anyway. Full service should be resumed in around a weeks time.

2008-05-22T13:51:00.000-07:00

Day 25 - Penkridge to Abbots Bromley
The day started off well as one of the staff at the Littleton Arms gave me £10 first thing - her daughter had had leukemia in her childhood and she told me that I had inspired her...another nice morning. Couldn't find the footpath through Penkridge so after a slight detour I went under the M6 with a shortish run along the canal towpath until crossing a bridge and picking up the Staffordshire Way. Initially I lost the footpath and followed what appeared to be a distinct trail through a cereal field : a guy was walking ahead and actually took the correct route so I backtracked and followed! When I reached a small copse I was trying to work out whether I needed to take the bridleway or footpath when a voice suddenly boomed 'hello, hello'...it was the guy phoning someone in the middle of the trees but I thought I'd gone a little bit cuckoo and could hear the trees talking! After Bednall, more cereal fields but this time I can actually see what the crop is - wheat, as the ears are showing. A nice sandy track uphill took me into Cannock Chase Country Park : the Staffordshire Way was extremely well marked and the terrain exactly like the New Forest ie sandy trails with lots of open plains covered with heather. A lovely downhill track took me down to Sherbrook Valley and the brook which I followed through beech and fir tree coppices and eventually out onto the A513. I planned to make a visit to Shugborough Park where everyone was dressed as in 1805 so you could ask them about their lives but they weren't aware of anything from the 20th and 21st centuries! Taking the shuttle bus to the house, Bill the driver got chatting and told me he had cycled John O'Groats to Lands End in 45 hours as part of a relay team 20 years ago! A quick look round the house (which was the home of Lord Lichfield of photographic fame) where I met one of the room ushers who had 'crewed' for Bill's cycle team - he gave me £10! Tea and treacle cake (with cream for energy!) in the teashop then a walk around the grounds before setting out again on my journey, this time picking up the SW over Essex stone footbridge and dropping down to follow the canal towpath. This time there was lots of activity both with boats and people - seems everyone was out painting their vessel. Saw a duck with 12 ducklings and a pair of swans with 6 cygnets. I was a bit miffed at being 'overtaken' by a guy out running but he was only going 4 miles and didn't have a backpack! I didn't have the heart to say how far I was travelling! Wildlife tour continued with the sighting of a rat who quickly scooted back into the vegetation. Having left the canal I then ran into Colton across buttercup strewn fields. I spotted a tawny owl which appeared to be fast asleep in a tree and 'stalked' closer to get a photo before it flew off...quite a wildlife tour today and this was definitely the highlight. I went the wrong side of a strip of trees, ending up at a farmyard in error - having retraced my steps I bumped into the farmer and acted exactly like a 'tourist' ie apologetic and surprised when I eventually found the correct route. Unfortunately this was a path between nettles and barbed wire so impossible to actually run without risk of sting or cut. I then dropped won to run below the dam of Blithfield Resevoir and into Abbots Bromley. St Nicholas church houses 6 famous reindeer antlers and a hobby horse costume which are used in the annual 'horn dance' held on the 'Monday following the first Sunday after the 4th September'...it's believed to date from 1226 although the antlers are even older, having been carbon dated back to 1065 and therefore extremely valuable. Just a short jog upto Marsh Farm for the night. Unfortunately no internet - nearest would be library in Sheffield for which there is hourly bus but didn't think open on Saturday anyway! Unsure when I'll be able to next update blog - feeling more isolated now! John going to put 'temporary communication problem' notice on web! Ongoing plan was to eat in castleton but really nothing else to see. Went back to coffee shop I visited yesterday for latte and chance to write postcards. Back over hill but this time via Hollins Cross view point. Sun was lovely on way up met about 25 walkers coming down but windy once hit top and down other side 3 new boies in my room! Wrote down days adventure as no way I'm gonna remember! Start Pennine Way tomorrow and to be honest I'm a little scared!
Mileage 20.38 and time 4.42

2008-05-22T13:25:00.001-07:00

Day 24 - Bridgnorth to Penkridge
Sincere apologies everyone for the lack of communication but I'm all up and running (excuse the pun!) again now and signing in from Priestcliffe courtesy of John and Margaret. So, story continues.....
Yet another fab breakfast (still not bored of the 'full English'!). Melissa kindly gave me £5 and another couple staying donated a further £20. Sunny so although I'm still donning my leggings, I did opt for a t-shirt today. After sadly leaving my 'country mansion' my route took me through fields of sheep and then a bridleway through some woods - very wet, boggy and muddy (again!) but there was no way that I was going to start the day with wet feet so took it very slowly and was careful where I was putting my feet! Dropped down to the River Severn and across a footbridge and then through Apley Park where a couple in a car stopped me, thinking I was from the public school and playing truant! Running through a field of cows it wasn't until I'd got very close that I realised there was a HUGE bull just feet away but luckily he wasn't bothered in the slightest. Went through a gatehouse and via a track through woods to Stockton where I picked up the Monarchs Way (this was supposed to be signed via a logo representing the Royal Oak tree at Boscobel in which Charles II hid with Colonel Carless, the Prince of Wales crown and the ship The Surprise on which Charles eventually escaped to France but all I found were stickers on a few lamp-posts!). It was a fairly flat route now mostly on quiet lanes. At Beckbury I crossed some fields full of some sort of cereal then more tracks and then round yet more fields of the same cereal crops stretching for over 2k....huge! By now the weather was overcast and a little chilly. I did pass one windmill but bit disappointing that it didn't have any sails. My legs were starting to feel really heavy this afternoon and it took me a while to twig that most of my day had been spent on the road as opposed to grassy fields and combined with my backpack weight wasn't really a great recipe! Crossed the M54 (yet another motorway to tick off) and soon on a bridleway alongside the walled boundary of Chillington Hall which I had to run all the way round to get to the other side (the estate filled 6 squares on my map!) and then continue on my NE route. I nearly trod on a pheasant and when she flew off I was unsure who was more startled! The Hall was actually a big red bricked mansion which wasn't particularly pleasing to the eye but did have a huge avenue of oak trees that stretched for over 1/2 mile with rare breed cattle grazing quite contentedly. I then dropped down to cross the canal and on into Brewood. Gently undulating lanes then took me across Watling Street (Roman road - dead straight and now the A5) and continued on these all the way through to Penkridge where I was staying at the Littleton Arms, a lovely brasserie type restaurant. The manager had kindly agreed to me doing a collection and after plucking up the courage to cold-call on people, they donated a fantastic total of £77.50. I met a party of 4 people - the lady proudly told me that she had just completed the MoonWalk marathon in London which raises money specifically for Breast Cancer Awareness. One of the men she was with unfortunately had just been diagnosed with cancer : she was quite emotional when she found out what I was doing and proudly said that it had made her evening....I felt very happy that I had done a little to make her feel that way.
Mileage 21.89 and time 4.42

2008-05-18T10:01:00.000-07:00

Day 23 - Bewdley to Bridgnorth
Felt I was being a pain at breakfast! Had to keep asking for things ie white sugar ('cos I'm fussy), brown sauce and decided not to go for the full house by asking for another pack of marmalade! Clearly no donation to my efforts here! Also got woken up at 6.30 AM by a tractor left running right underneath my window! Anyway, no sign of rain today as the sun was brightly shining albeit it was a little chilly so still donning the winter running gear. Stayed on the left bank of the river this time and after briefly following the Worcestershire Way (marked by a pear sign), picked up the North Worcestershire Way (marked by a fircone). Nice wide grassy tracks right next to the river with the Severn Railway following the same route on the right hand bank. I passed what was left of the old bridge of the disused line which crossed the river just north of Bewdley and then just before the Trimpley Reservoir the first steam train came along heading for Bridgnorth. After hearing the familiar horn, I legged it for around 200 metres (no mean feat with a full backpack!) in order to get a view of the train through the trees. Just afterwards the train crossed the river over a lovely metalled bridge and I was gutted that I hadn't managed to get this far as it would have made a brilliant picture. I wasn't sure how long it would be before the train arrived coming from Bridgnorth but decided to press on anyway. Again, it was extremely muddy underfoot when travelling in the woods and I met a group of mountain bikers who weren't doing a great deal of good to the footpaths anyway (I'm sounding old aren't I!?). The Severn Valley Country Park was about half way so decided to take a slight detour and grab a sandwich and cup of coffee - there was a great view of the valley from the cafe window and another train came round the side of the valley which was great timing as that made a great picture. I transferred briefly to the cycle way which ran alongside the railway line as far as the station at Hampton Loade and then picked up the Severn Way again alongside the river. Just before getting into Bridgnorth I missed the temporary redirection signpost for the Severn Way and instead, followed a rather overgrown footpath a bit too close to the river - there were quite a few landslides and I was scrabbling periously close to the edge at points! It was only when I reached the road at the other side that I saw the 'temporarily closed' sign! Bridgnorth is actually at the top of the hill but to reach it I had to climb one of at least 6 flights of steps. The market town was buzzing which surprised me for a Sunday afternoon. Got a few provisions (chocolate to eat whilst watching the film tonight and another bottle of Lucozade for my journey tomorrow!) and then ran through the town arch and headed towards the small village of Nordley where I was staying for the night. The Albynnes is a large country house farming sheep and with the long downhill run on the private drive, gave me a fab initial view...definitely got the thumbs up! Melissa has kindly lent me the use of her laptop to update the blog and she's also washing my running gear!
Mileage 20.06 and time 4.32

2008-05-18T09:40:00.000-07:00

Day 22 - Worcester to Bewdley
Unfortunately John left last night so I'm all on my lonesome again! At least I've had two good meals with perfect company over the last two nights and it was great seeing him again. This morning is dry but very grey so unsure how long I'm going to last without my wetsuit again. Stopped off at the post office to deliver a few postcards back home then headed back towards the Severn. I wasn't aware that the racecourse was so close to the town : I literally ran straight into it! It really is on the edge of the river and was badly damaged in the severe floods (last night John and I found markings in the wall near the cathedral which showed the height of all the floods over the years : although the June 2007 wasn't the highest, it was well up there and even when I was on the footpath beside the river, I still couldn't touch the tide mark!) - I can clearly visualise the TV footage of the sculler rowing down past the furlong markers in the home straight! I didn't get out of Worcester before I took a break as there was a University rowing competition in full flow on the river and it was quite interesting watching them from the bridge. When I did set off again, it was a lovely run along well maintained paths -at last I met 3 more runners but 2 of them were running in the opposite direction and the other was on the side of the river! It was extremely quiet, just the noise of the breeze in the trees and birdsong (including several cuckoo although I still haven't seen one!). Having run through the grounds of a pub with every imaginable farm bird including peacocks roaming free, the footpath was then diverted around yet another soil and gravel excavation plant at Grimley. At Top Barn Farm there was a massive dog agility competition going on so again, any enforced stop! Some of the dogs were really fast (and it was obvious that this was a very serious affair!) but quite a few got a little bit carried away and kept jumping the wrong obstacles. Stopped for lunch at a pub in Holt Fleet then crossed over the river onto the right bank. The drizzle was back so jacket got another airing but luckily not for long and it was soon tucked away in my backpack again, although yet again I've got wet feet! There was plenty of Canada geese including a few fluffy goslings and the lovely run continued through field after field. I didn't pass or meet a single soul. It was a bit of a muddy run through the country park into Bewdley and having then crossed the river again, this time via the pretty stone bridge (I think designed by Thomas Telford?) located my accommodation for the night - this time I was staying in a pub (Woodcolliers Inn) but for the 3rd time in my journey, they didn't have my booking listed (I've now phoned up all the B&Bs for the next week or so to make sure they all have me down....which they do!). The landlady was a little bit 'off' and intimated that it was 'impossible' that they've lost my details! Very basic room and I had a big spider in the shower room for company! She also wasn't very keen on helping me dry out my wet (and now very smelly!) trainers so looks as if I'll start off with wet feet (again) tomorrow.
Mileage 17.56 and time 3.44

2008-05-16T05:50:00.000-07:00

Day 21 - holiday (again!)
Damp and grey this morning so hoping it was going to be a bit brighter further north we drove (first time in a car for 3 weeks!) to Kidderminster and then decided to take a trip on the Severn Valley steam railway up to Bridgnorth (which I'll be running to on Sunday!). Lovely journey along the river, over viaducts and through tunnels. When they had all the torrential rain last June, much of the underpinning of the railway and the topsoil was simply washed away, leaving the tracks suspended in places. They've had to do a lot of renovation in order to enable the trains to run again and all the places where the damage was done and landslides occured was clearly visible. Now in Bridgnorth library to read the new comments and add a bit of an update for today as unsure when I'll be able to get to an internet for the next few days. On the way back, we were seriously impeeded by a loose ewe and her twin lambs - they simply refused to get off the line and we were basically 'chasing' them in the train which was really funny. Even the engine driver got off at one point and tried shooing them off the line which didn't work. Eventually the problem was solved by a mass let-off of steam which frighted them off the line and allowed the train to pass safely.....bring back the age of steam, it's much more exciting!
No mileage!

2008-05-15T08:54:00.001-07:00

Day 20 - Tewkesbury to Worcester
Oh dear...the weather has finally broken but I've got a great tan so far (even if I have lines!). Definitely going to be needing the waterproofs and donned long leggings for the first time in 2 weeks (they actually came in handy for defence against nettles too!). Bob definitely felt guilty over loosing my booking so no charge for the night which was great. Needed to pick up the Severn Way but this was currently on the other side of the river so followed footpaths and bridleways across Shuthonger Common (one point I had to go all the way round a field as they were spraying it with something - definitely didn't want to get a mouthfull of that!). Back over the M5 (if I didn't know that I was still travelling northwards I could have sworn I was going round in circles) and through a lovely old, thatched village of Uckinghall. There was a lot of soil quarrying just afterwards but the lakes that had formed or been formed as a result, hosted a whole load of birdlife : herons, swans, ducks, curlew, lapwing, Canada geese (which are probably the only ones I could immediately recognise). I missed the footpath somewhere along the way and ended up running / walking ('cos the fields were ploughed up to the edge and very uneven which made safe running virtually impossible) round 2 sides of a field before crossing illegally over a barbed wire fence into a Christmas tree plantation and finally out onto the track beyond - it was only then that I refound the footpath : only about 10' across and nicely mown...how on earth did I miss that?! At Upton Upon Severn the Severn Way crossed to my side of the river so the first few miles were easy running along the embankment. I then had a bit of a close interaction with a herd of heifers - they were definitely scared of me running through their field and galloped all the way to the end before crashing into the metal gate...they then turned around and started galloping straight for me so I baled out underneath the electric fence! It was only when they stopped and stared at me that I found out there was a big black bull in the field too! I stayed on my side of the electric fence! At Severn Stoke there was an optional diversion of the Way all the way round the bend of the river but I took the shortcut across the fields instead (no medals for going the long way round!). My shoes and leggings were absolutely soaked not just from the rain but also from the wet grasses and I was doing my bit for the environment by picking up hundreds of seeds on my wet leggings and then auto depositing later on down the route! At Kempsey, just outside Worcester it stopped raining and actually begain to feel a bit warmer - there were large motor boats moored alongside static caravans which had been raised about 6' and were complete with patio doors and wooden sun decking - the river was about 10' lower so unsure if these were just to enhance their views or as flood defences incase of another catastrophy as happened last year. Unfortunately the nettles were back (hence the earlier mention of my legging defences!) and appeared no-one had done any footpath management as entire stretches of it were covered and impassable : needed to create a new footpath along the edge of the adjoining fields. I saw the bright irridesent blue of a kingfisher darting from tree to tree. Unfortunately the footpath was closed for some reason at Diglis locks so I had to divert onto roads into the centre of Worcester. Stopped at the government offices for another stamp for my passport and was helped by the pa to the Mayor! For the first time, I couldn't find my B&B (didn't help that the road didn't have a road sign!) so had to phone them for directions - I was actually only about 200 yards away anyway. John's arriving tonight and staying tomorrow too which will be fantastic as I haven't seen him for almost 3 weeks. Also looking forward to a Chinese meal tonight so I'll probably pig out somewhat! I can always run it off! After updating the blog, went to warm up in a coffee shop plus caught up on the recent news by reading a paper cover to cover! A couple got chatting to me, took a note of my blog and handed me £10....then had a fantastic meal at The Four Seasons - the staff were brilliant and to cap it all, there was a group of lads who got a little bit vocal (the swear box we have at work would have been racking in the fines!) but one of them offered to buy us drinks as an apology - my wine glass was still full so suggested he donate to my efforts instead (very cheeky of me I know but I'm getting quite good at this!) and to my surprise, he donated £10 and wouldn't let any of his mates leave the restaurant without giving something - the next table then followed suite and I ended up with a whopping £74.12 (and almost a packet of chewing gum!).
Mileage 18.28 and time 4.20

Total mileage 342.55

2008-05-15T08:31:00.001-07:00

Day 19 - Charlton Kings to Tewkesbury
Yet another sunny day but a bit breezier. Geraldine cooked up a fab feast for breakfast including fresh fruit (which normally isn't on my diet agenda!). Started off by travelling via the Cheltenham Circular Trail (26 miles funnily enough, around the outskirts of Cheltenham!) - got an injury early on by not picking up my knees high enough when tackling fallen trees - drew blood and I'll probably have a bit of a bruise but I think I'll live! Then rejoined my familiar friend, the Cotswold Way : part of the early morning route followed a dry-stone walled track which was easy running towards Cleeve Common. Bit of a puff getting to the top as although not steep via the track, it was uphill all the way but the views from the top over Cheltenham and the historic racetrack were fantastic. Once I'd reached the Common, the wind was a bit brisk but it was like running in the New Forest - short cropped grass courtesy of the ever-present sheep (and these ones weren't the least bit bothered that a scary human was running within a couple of feet of them unlike most sheep I'd encountered) and gorse bushes covered with bright yellow flowers this time of year. I had been lulled into a false sense of security as the route was initially fairly level but it soon brought me back to reality as it descended and then ascended very sharply to Cleeve Hill and across yet another golf course. At this point I was to say goodbye to the familar acorn signs of the Cotswold Way for good. Skirting around the top of Nottingham Hill I came across Wickfields Farm which looked as though it had recently undergone a huge restoration - one complete side of the barn now included what appeared to be nesting holes for pigeons and swallows which I thought was quite novel. Having done the hills, I then dropped down through Prescott which is where they hold the famous speed hill climbs in old cars (Bugatti seems to be the popular choice there) and at Dixton, I transferred to the Gloucestershire Way - this definitely wasn't as well signed and I had to rely more on my trusty maps to work out the direction. I had never thought of Labradors being guard dogs but at Oxenton there were 5 'ferocious' looking beasts all chained to individual kennels announcing my arrival in their territory. It was then an easy flat run through fields of cereal crops (now knee height) to Claydon before crossing the M5 once again into Tewkesbury. Arrived quite early in the afternoon so put on my tourist hat and visited the abbey, then went into Bay Tree coffee shop for a toasted tea-cake and coffee. I got talking to 3 people in the sunny walled garden who were making a documentary on last year's floods and it turned out they were from Parley! Julie and Andy Heath who owned the coffee shop found out what I was doing and not only did they 'sub' me my lunch, they also gave me a cheque for £25 - transpired her mum has terminal pancreatic cancer. When I arrived at my B&B, they didn't have my booking and even worse, were full for the night! Transpired they had done the same as Mary at Kingrove and not transferred my booking from their old diary! So, having created a bit of a panic for them they transformed their son's bedroom into my room for the night - he'd only been there the night before so I have no idea what they would have done if he was still there! Walked back into Tewkesbury to the Wetherspoons pub for tea and had another donation of £4 from a couple on holiday. On the way back, did my bit for the wildlife as a duck stupidly mistook the road for the river and made a bit of a crash landing. Luckily, an approaching driver saw the incoming missile and braked hard, avoiding a catastrophe...I then had to make a lot of noise to get the duck to take off again and do it properly!
Mileage 19.37 and time 4.36

2008-05-15T08:07:00.000-07:00

Day 18 - Middleyard to Charlton Kings
Started earlier this morning : another lovely day weatherwise and the sun was already warm. Didn't stop in Stroud, instead briefly touched the main circular road then headed uphill on the long, drawn out climb out of the town. Stopped at the post office in Gainscross to get another stamp - they're boring but at least it's a register of my passing through. Up through Paganhill, Bread Street (weird names some of these places), Whiteshill and reached the top at Scottsaqua Hill where I then descended via National Trust land into Painswick and back onto the Cotswold Way again. The next 7 or 8 km were through some lovely woodland with a brief emergence onto Painswick golf course : I started to chat to an old guy who asked me where I was running to. He then proceeded to tell me his whole life story in 15 minutes! Apparantely he used to run for Henley Harriers and represented England in the 220 metres (once round the track in those days!) in an international against France at Crystal Palace - unfortunately the French won that day and it was obvious he still isn't happy about that! The path took me through sunlight dappled woodland of beech and fir trees and whilst very easy underfoot was extremely undulating with some very steep climbs in places. Squirrels were everywhere and I've now got used to the bounding sound they make and don't stop dead in my tracks looking for something a bit more exciting in the way of wildlife! I emerged from the woods at The Peak and Barrow Wake just past Birdlip where there were some fantastic views from the viewpoint high up on the hillside. Lunchtime so stopped at the Air Balloon where I had a donation of £5 after chatting to a young family...worth wearing my printed shirts all the time! Decided not to follow the Cotswold Way back up the steep hill to Crickley Hill Country Park so instead dropped down into Ullenwood and picked up the Way again over Leckhampton Hill. I saw my first deer of the whole journey, nibbling in a plantation - my stalking to get a closer shot with the camera came to no avail as she lay down in the shade! There's an unusual and precarious stack of rocks high on Leckhampton Hill called the Devil's Chimney, quite where it came from and how it was formed I have no idea but it looked impressive. Along the top of the hill but then missed a footpath sign (well it was well hidden in the bushes!) so ran around an extra 1/2 mile in the wrong direction before back-tracking and finding the offending direction to then have a lovely downhill run across another golf course and into Charlton Kings. I was staying at The Studio owned by Geraldine and Frank Smith and within 5 minutes of arriving was sat in the sunshine in the garden drinking a glass of wine! Great first impressions! Later on they took me down to The Langton Arms where they'd already 'prepped' the manager (Dave) that I was turning up and he had kindly told a few people what I was doing and that I was looking for donations - a massive £97.20 was collected including a single donation of £50 from a guy who I think was suffering from cancer himself....it took me ages to get to sleep that night as I couldn't get over how generous people were in giving money to a total stranger on faith.
Mileage 20.51 and time 4.48

2008-05-12T12:29:00.000-07:00

Day 17 - Chipping Sodbury to Middleyard
Mary was brilliant and didn't want any money from me so there are nice people in Gloucestershire! I felt a bit bad when she started to cry as she'd lost her dad to cancer. Nice start to the day with me picking up the Monarch's Way through Little Sodbury and then quite steep uphills through fields to Horton where I treked upto the fort and found a millenium tower built for owls and swallows to nest! The Monarch's Way was then joined by my old friend the Cotswold Way and I followed these via chalk bridleways and grassy fields to Hawkesbury Knott where there was a monument to Sir Somerset. On via tracks to Hillesley where I stopped for lunch at The Fleece and received free drinks for my efforts...definitely nice people here! Then a lovely run down past fields of cereals to Wortley where the footpath then went directly through a tall field of rape seed - I ended up looking extremely jaundiced and covered in yellow! I went round the next field! On reaching Wooton under Edge the Cotswold Way suddenly really picked up and I was suddenly crawling up a near vertical footpath onto Wotton Hill. However, at the top I saw a huge dog fox sniffing around and the most stunning views yet - I could see Wales and the Severn Bridge! Still more climbing through lovely woodland on well marked tracks to Nibley Knowl monument where I climbed all 120 steps upto the top! I then followed the Cotswold Way down the steep hill again only to find it doubled back up to the top field where the monument was! Bad move!! Back on the village lanes I was faced with a huge hill (made the one up to Wotton Hill look tame) well named Breakheart Hill and then dropped down through Folly Wood to Dursley where an ice-cream didn't even touch the sides! Out the back of Dursley the Cotswold Way was temporarily moved which appeared to add a bit extra to my mileage. Strangely I decided not to follow it up the near vertical hill of Peaked Down and Cam Long Down and instead continued on the valley floor before then having to climb out of the valley into Coaley Wood where again, it was an undulating but very well marked and maintained footpath to Coaley Peak viewpoint with 180 degree views both over to Wales but also showing where I'd come from that day. The rest of the way to Middleyard was through lovely beech woods covered with wild garlic. A really great day through stunning scenery but very hilly (mildy challenging they say!). The locals apparantely don't eat at the local pub but anyway, it closes on Mondays (like I would have known that!) so Pam kindly cooked me lasagne and garlic bread followed by strawberries and cream - whilst delicious after a long day's exercise, definitely wasn't a patch on Pam's at Northlake (nor was the company!). I've got burn marks on my back again but worked out these are from the stitching on my shorts so will roll them down slightly in future!...not too painful at the moment though
Mileage 22.84 taking 5.41

2008-05-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

Day 16 - Bath to Chipping Sodbury
Yet another gloriously sunny day and after breakfast Caroline (another BJ!) arrived. Tricia decided to stay in Bath for a little bit of shopping and after I had offloaded most of my 'luggage' with Caroline's husband John and therefore feeling so much lighter we set off back down Bathwick Hill into the city centre. First stop for sightseeing was The Crescent which looked stunning in the early sunshine. On the outskirts of Weston Park we picked up yet another long-distance footpath : The Cotswold Way, which was extremely well marked but for the first mile or so, climbed up over Dean Hill and Kelston Round Hill with views both sides of Bath and Bristol. At the top we found not only a viewpoint but also Bath racecourse (unfortunately although I pass several racecourses on my travels over the 10 weeks, I haven't planned it very well to coincide with any race days!). After running round the fort ramparts we ran alongside the golfcourse before crossing into my 4th county (Gloucestershire) and being faced with a lovely monument topped off with a griffin, in memory of Sir Bevil Grenville who was killed in the 1643 Battle of Lansdown that took place in the fields we were about to run through. We met quite a few people early on but the last people we saw were just after this monument! We ran through lovely undulating grassy fields with fantastic downhills (hand-break off time!) although it was a little boggy by the fishing lake (wet feet again...maybe I have to have wet feet each day!). When we climbed back out of the valley, we were amazed to find a seat with a sign 'tea, coffee, cold drinks 50p' seemingly in the middle of nowhere - there was a tiny garden centre so we just had to stop for refuelling on refreshments..it would have been rude not to! Dyrham Woods were simply covered with white star shaped flowers and smell of wild garlic and were a joy to run through. Then, we suddenly came across 2 green plastic chairs...in the middle of the woods...in the middle of nowhere! We just had to occupy them and have a photo stop - it was then that we spotted the message box which contained a notepad and pen in a plastic box - what a fantastic idea! So having added our own comments and names we continued on through the undulating fields before arriving at the National Trust Dyrham Park where we had scheduled to meet up again with John. Unfortunately Caroline was suffering badly from a cold and having downed a cup of tea and slice of cake, decided to call it a day there which was a real shame but totally understandable - I hope you feel better soon. They kindly offered to take my luggage to a rendevouz point of the first junction after the M4. I missed the footpath heading for Lower Lapdown Farm but bck-tracked and soon picked it up : missing signpost. Crossing the noisy and busy M4 I met up with them again and picked up my stuff. I then had a lovely run through a massive private estate of Dodington Park which is apparantely the home of Mr Dyson of hoover fame. Across Kingrove Common to my B&B for the night - unfortunately Mary didn't have any booking for me but luckily did have room! It was a fabulous old farmhouse. Having walked down into Chipping Sodbury for something to eat, unfortunately the Spar was closed for refurbishment and although there are 7 pubs (old market town) none did food in the evening! I ended up getting an Indian take-away and sitting on the market cross like a little waif and stray - this is the only bit of the trip that I don't particular enjoy!
Mileage 19.94 taking 4.36

2008-05-10T02:27:00.000-07:00

Day 15 - holiday!
Tricia's arrived - hoorah!! All checked in at the YH and sipping cups of hot choc...everyone else has gone so I have the internet all to myself. Going to be grockles today but just thought I'd update the total mileage I've covered so far, which is quite staggering.....drum roll please........137.4 in the first week and a further 113.37 in the second making a total 250.37 WOW!! no wonder my legs feel a little bit tired! We spent the morning wandering round Bath - the plan was to go to the Therma Spa in the evening but found out we couldn't pre-book so would just be a case of turning up and hoping that it wasn't already full! We decided to go and visit Prior Park so grabbed a couple of sarnies from Subway. Established that the easiest way to get there was on the Bath tour bus (it's all uphill and didn't relish the trek up there to be honest!) but the ticket man was a real 'jobs worth'...yes we could use it as a shuttle but we weren't allowed up on the top deck and didn't get the 1/2 price discount 'my dear' for being National Trust members...still, the £2 charge was worth it as we were dropped right at the entrance. After walking round the park, we dropped down to the lake and ornamental bridge where we ate our packed lunch. After a bit of a photo-shoot, we slowly walked back to the YH via the Bath Skyline footpath - yes it was a little bit on the undulating side but Tricia really enjoyed it and the views were stunning. After picking up our swimming stuff, we headed back down into the city and after grabbing something to eat, checked into the baths : glorious! There's a rooftop heated pool, 4 steam rooms and a bath with jets that move you round the pool! It was soooo relaxing and I felt so much better. We had a rude awakening during the night - someone decided to go to bed at 2.30 AM and just to make sure everyone was awake, to switch the light on then go have a shower (still with the light on) before bedding down at 2.45 AM!! But in true Brit style, none of us complained...we're useless. Still, we did make sure we made a bit of a noise when we all got up!

2008-05-09T10:23:00.000-07:00

Day 14 - Gurney Slade to Bath
Disgusting breakfast..have no idea what it was cooked in but tasted horrible so left most of it (also think it was all budget food!)...am I selling this B&B to you all? Mrs not very friendly left early (hoorah!) but said that £30 cash or cheque should be given to her husband...daylight robbery if you ask me! Anyway, I was already packed so duly gave him the dosh and departed, not caring if running so soon after breakfast would give me a stitch. Soon picked up some nice footpaths through fields although did at one point think I was taking the wrong path - no worries, should learn to trust my directions more. Into Chilcompton and then a nice downhill run into Midsomer Norton - after the green fields and countryside, this was a grey monotonous town covered with telegraph wires and cables so not nice (apologies to anyone who knows anyone who lives there). Out the otherside and through fields (I keep getting wet feet!) and into Radford where I picked up the Limestone Link Path. Strangely, the first few hundred feet were right through several people's back gardens and I don't mean at the bottom of them - right past their kitchen windows! Radford has a lot of association with mining funnily enough and there was a heritage trail that I followed for a short time over some of the old mining town. Following the Cam Brook through field after field after field was easy enough running as it was flat, although I did have to watch my footing as there were potential hazards with the cow footprints! At Dunkerton I crossed the river and stopped for a while mesmorised watching a couple of buzzards 'playing' with a crow - I'm guessing the crow had a nest nearby and was trying desperately to divert the attention of the hunters. Then found quite a few damselfly which weren't around a few days ago - must be the warmer weather that is now making them transform. At Combe Hay I decided to take a liquid refreshment break having found a lovely outpost called The Wheatsheaf - very laa-dee-dah with prices to match (small bottle of coke was £2!) but the gardens were lovely and the sun was shining and I'm on holiday! After quenching my thirst I ran along the valley again and then almost had to crawl up a hill it was sooooo steep (15 degree up!) - I'm sure the down side wasn't as long as the up! The good news is that when I reached the bottom of the 2nd hill, a signpost said there was only 2 1/2 miles to go to Bath! Anyone who has been to Bath will know that it is very, very, very hilly round there and whilst I had a lovely scoot down to the town centre, the YH where I was staying for the next 2 nights was up near the top of Bathwick Hill, so whilst I was able to pick up the Bath Skyline footpath across fields, it was still another uphill to the finish. The hostel is really nice so already a more positive outcome than last night!
Mileage 17.01
Time 4.13

Total mileage 241.61

2008-05-09T10:02:00.000-07:00

Day 13 - Street to Gurney Slade (that well known village in deepest darkest Somerset!)
As there was no provision for breakfast (and the other woman...or was it a man? I was beginning to wonder! well she was beginning to alarm me with her actions and comments - she was travelling onto another YH further north to be a volunteer but it's not any of the ones I'm due to stay in) I decided to head off earlier than usual and stop in Glastonbury for something to eat and drink. Another lovely day in paradise as the sun was already warm even at 8.30. After sidestepping Street, I headed off across yet more Somerset levels towards the dramatic folly standing high on a hill. I had initially planned to climb upto the tower but the closer I ran, the higher the hill became so quickly put that idea out of my head! Glastonbury is a lovely little town but you will see some bizarre sights as it's central to the myth and magic of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table - lots of colourful clothing being worn and loads of street entertainers dotted around. I grabbed a thick doorstep bacon sarnie and coffee and watched the world go by for an hour or so - this is what was so important for me to do on this trip (not the eating / drinking bit, but to see the sights and sounds of the country). I then headed out of Glastonbury and after yet more moors and drainage ditches, started to head into the hillier landscape. I did see a lovely big vixen but unfortunately the farmer on whose land she crossed, clearly didn't appreciate her - she'd either been shot or poisoned and the farmer had then hung her body on one of his fence posts : what the point of this was I have no idea but I guess he'd also killed any cubs as they would have been too young to survive without their mum - very sad postscript. At Launcherley I spotted a white stone statue way up on the top of the hill, depicting the dragon logo of Somerset. Picked up the Monarch's Way for a short time before dropping down underneath the A39 and into a really pretty village called Dulcote (certainly not Dull!)...complete with village green and fountain. There were even people outside their houses for once! Undulating lanes then took me through Dinder and onto Maesbury Castle (presumably Norman?) of which just the outer ramparts remain albeit covered with grass. Tonight the BJ's are going to be running at Hengistbury Head near Christchurch as a memorial run for our friend Lucille Dickenson. Unfortunately she died on New Years Day this year and they were going to be laying some flowers in her memory. I decided not to actually pick any to do the same as I thought they were much nicer growing in the countryside, but I did do my 'memorial run' thinking of her. After dropping down off the ramparts I again picked up some little country lanes into the villages of Binegar and Gurney Slade, where I was staying for the night. Not somewhere I would recommend nor return to I have to admit! The B&B landlady was actually out when I arrived so my plans of reading a magazine in the sunshine in the garden went totally to pot. The house was also right on the A37 so lorries thundered past! When she turned up around an hour later, there was no apology just a 'didn't think you'd be arriving so early'...I didn't call 3pm early. Anyway, to make matters worse, she asked me to wait in the dingy front room as she'd not even made up my room. After that, I went down the pub to read a magazine in their beer garden - yet another slaughtered lamb although the barmaid was very friendly. Had healthy home-made burger and chips there (with the two pub dogs sat by my table eyeing me up!) and then retired to the lovely B&B for the night - at least there was a TV to keep me occupied!
Mileage 18.6
Time 4.10

2008-05-08T02:34:00.000-07:00

Day 11 - Tiverton to Taunton
Really sorry for the lack of regular updates but I'm finding it tough locating internet sources - it appears that it's only Bournemouth that has internet cafes! I'm currently in Glastonbury library and although there's normally a timelimit per 'visitor' of 20 minutes, the very kind librarian has let me stay on for another session...Had a fantastic nights sleep last night and woke not to the sound of bleating but mooing! Bright sunshine greeted my bleary eyes and after another hearty breakfast I set off towards Taunton. The first few miles were gently undulating and I'm getting into a familiar pattern of walking up the hills and running down them. Country lanes again through tiny villages, some just consisting of one or two houses. Halberton is bigger and dates back to the Norman times (everything aged seems to be from the Norman era!) with a very attractive little church that I had to run all the way round and then an ancient duckpond. Unfortunately the top half of the village was very run down and delapidated which was a shame after the bottom half. After a couple of fields I dropped down to the Grand Western Canal so at least this would be level going for the next few miles. Unfortunately no canal boats and I only passed a few people on my travels. No locks but plenty of tiny brick bridges which just added to the serene views. Running through Sampford Peverell I actually recognised the trail from a previous visit - quaint little church right next to the canal and a 'postman pat' like bridge up into the village, ducks and swans aplenty....get the picture (am I making you jealous?). Unfortunately just afterwards, the canal passed quite close to the M5 which spoilt the scenery and tranquility a tad. The hot weather caught me out a little and by the time the canal ended I was gasping for a drink - unfortunately hadn't come across a single pub alongside the waterway so had to take a 3/4 mile detour into Holcombe Rogus to visit the local pub (luckily the signposts from the canal tell you exactly when the village facilities are open / closed to avoid an unnecessary journey!). Duly refreshed I retraced my route back to the river and then followed the West Deane Way across several fields (some of the signs were a little to be desired and took me straight into a bog....wet feet again!) but on the whole the route was well signed and used. I tried looking for another drink at Bradford-on-Tone where there was both a pub and post office - unfortunately both were closed! It's no wonder so many post offices are closing these days if they only open in the morning! Where are they when you need one? Still following the river along the WDW across a lovely big field of small cabbages, I eventually got to the outskirts of Taunton where, like an oasis, I found a great little corner shop and stocked up on refreshments. My B&B was only about 1/2 mile away so walked the rest of the way. After chilling for a bit I walked into Taunton town centre in the evening in the hope of finding an internet cafe but no joy...pizza for tea!
Total mileage 25.4
Time 5.40

Day 12 - Taunton to Street
Sue Haynes (another Bournemouth Jogger pal) had phoned to say that she was going to come down to Taunton to join me on my day's adventures and safely arrived with her bike. In the meantime, I did manage to update the blog for day 10 using the (very) slow pc at the B&B : unfortunately both the O and U keys were missing on the keypad so I had to proof read my typing very carefully (apologies in advance if I missed any letters!). Yet another warm sunny day so duly plastered on the suncream and donned the sunnies. The first stop on today's journey was to the County Council offices in town, to try to get another stamp in my passport - they were very helpful and I eventually left with an official county seal for which the legal guys had to give authority...I feel priviledged! Then we headed off through town and picked up the towpath of the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal which again was very peaceful. The first young birds were starting to make an appearance - there was a pair of swans with 7 cygnets and a little later on, a couple of ducks with 2 young. We spent a bit of time watching some vigorous movements in the reeds, hoping that we might see an otter but they turned out to be created by some massive fish..whatever they were doing they were certainly having fun! At Bathpool we passed under the busy M5 and continued to Creech St Michael and onto Charlton where we left the canal and instead crossed over the railway line and continued our journey alongside the River Tone. Whilst there were plenty of gates, most of these were easily opened (apart from a couple where we had to join forces and lift the bike over) and the journey was really pleasant along a high bank. Then we hit trouble with a capital T in the form of stinging nettles....Sue came up with the brilliant idea of using her bike as a battering ram - the rape seed and hedge parsley had no defence against this weapon but when we lost the footpath we hit serious problems as the weeds were head hight and there were huge stingers hidden in them....by the time we decided that this wasn't actually the footpath, our legs were tingling all over and covered in red dots and wheals! Not pleasant. We decided to back track and then found the footpath had 'moved' to the bottom field instead! So just a little bit of a muddy bog to negotiate...To recover, we decided to have a lunch break at the foot of Windmill Hill - Sue had raided Waitrose earlier and laid on a terrific spread of munchies which probably wasn't the greatest fuel for running but tasted lovely anyway. Then we hit the road again, running alongside the River Tone but with a row of houses between - some of the houses were really well kept and quaint whilst others were ramshackle and appeared to be left to basically fall down which was a real shame. Over the railway line and into Athelney and onto Burrowbridge where I took a small detour from the route to visit Burrow Mump for a photo stop, a derelict church atop a hill owned by the National Trust. Going into Othery we seemed to hit the only hill on the Somerset levels and Sue zoomed past me on her bike....not fair. Ice-cream time at the local shop! At Beer Door, Sue elected to follow the minor lanes whilst I decided to take the 'shortcut' across the fields and meet her the other side - bad idea! back to stinging nettle territory every time I got to a stile which was bad news for my legs! At the next footpath sign, decided to play safe and go the longer lane route instead. Across King's Sedge Moor we briefly saw what we thought was a cow struggling to calve but it turned out that she had somehow fallen in one of the ditches and was being dragged out by a tractor - bit undignified! Caroline (yet another BJ...Bournemouth Jogger) phoned to say she was going to join me on my run on Sunday...getting to be a bit of a BJ reunion this trip is which is fantastic news! I was beginning to struggle in the last miles despite the flat terrain (Sue was getting very bored of the same endless views by this point!) and my legs hurt! Sunburt on the back of them, whipped with stinging nettles and having been pounding out almost 200 miles in the last couple of weeks - not that I'm complaining, but just wanted to let you all know that this isn't a holiday! Anyway, enough of the complaining...long trek across Butleigh Moor and then up through a bridleway to emerge at the top of Walton Hill. Great views of Glastonbury Tor in the distance and the marvellous sight of the Street YH at the end of the woods - we were both looking forward to a lovely cup of tea but unfortunately it was purely self-catering and NO MILK!! so we just had to scoff the rest of the cakes without liquid refreshment and the Sue set off to cycle the 15 odd miles back to her car at the Taunton B&B but this time she decided not to follow the same footpaths (although I did say that we had already battered down most of the stingers on our way through!) and went via the mainish roads. I really did enjoy her company today so thanks Sue! :o) The youth hostel was about 1/2 mile outside of Street and there was only me and another lady staying the night (she did kindly offer me use of her goats milk but then added that she needed to make it last for the next 3 days...talk about give and take in the same breath!). It was all very quiet and strange! Unfortunately whilst they did have a pc, my website was blocked so no updates for that night. I walked down into the village to try to grab something to eat - bad idea! All the shops are in the High Street, but I wandered around for at least 1 1/2 hours and didn't find it at all...just about to give up when I spied some locals and asked them...1/2 hour later I was stocked up on pasta 'n sauce, rice pudding, lucozade and MILK! Whilst cooking my pasta I put my music on speaker and started singing along - little did I know that the other woman was quietly reading in the other room, in direct earshot of my wailing! Oh well...she didn't complain.
Todays mileage 22.9
Moving time 5.29

2008-05-07T01:27:00.000-07:00

Day 10 - Crediton to Tiverton
Apart from the squeeky floorboards acting up during the night I had quite a good nights kip! The YH was quite quiet and I found myself sharing a dorm with a lady from Australia and another one from California - both kindly donated £5 to my fundraising. After a good hearty breakfast I trapsed up to the bus stop to catch the next one going to the bus station - from there I needed to catch the bus back to Crediton in order to ensure I didn't cheat and leave a bit of my journey out! All was going well until the driver started swearing quite profusely (would have cost him a fortune if I had my swear box from work with me!) as he couldn't find reverse...hmmm bit of a problem then...luckily one of his mates knew where it was! Safely dropped back in Crediton I set off down behind the sports centre and was soon jogging across several fields of young heifers - they're always the curious ones! then uphill pass Shobrooke Park. Today was going to be a bit on the hilly side (and loads more up than down!). The first few miles were undulating through some villages / hamlets until I hit Thorverton when the uphill really kicked in...I picked up the Exe Valley Way although not sure where the 'valley' bit came into play as the first few miles were up and over the top of the Raddon Hill range! Did a bit more wildlife spotting and found a lizard in the hedgerow - rabbits were everywhere and appeared to be doing their version of 'whats the time Mr Wolf' as everytime I turned round there was another one running across the road behind me! The views from the top were stunning - there were a couple of guys flying remote control planes in a punchbowl at the very top..but what goes up, must come down and it was good to be able to run again albeit sounding like a herd of elephants as I thumped down the lane on the otherside. At the bottom of the hill I came across Bickleigh Castle which, although not open to the public still gave a dramatic view from the outside. Stopped for a soup and drink at the Fishermans Cot which was right next to the river. There is a large old stone bridge which is said to have been the inspiration for Simon and Garfunkles 'Bridge over Troubled Water'. Picked up the Exe Valley Way again the other side of Bickleigh Mill which went through some lovely, if not a bit muddy, woodlands - the aroma of wild onion / garlic was almost overpowering but the white flowers gave a lovely show underneath the newly leafing trees. The very last bit of todays journey was through an unkempt farmyard where I did feel sorry for the cows stuck in a barn up to their knees in mud and muck. Then up through a series of fields where it was clearly obvious the farmer didn't want footpath walkers - had to go all the way around the perimeter fence of a steeply sided hill in order to get out onto the road at the top! Short jog along the road to tonights farmhouse stay : in the middle of nowhere but I had a HUGE room all to myself. Went down to the pub (again!) in a village 'a Devonshire mile' away! Nice meal and then to cap off a lovely day, saw two hot air balloons in the distance as I walked home - no need for a sweatshirt tonight...

2008-05-04T12:44:00.000-07:00

Day 9 - Okehampton to Crediton
Debs is on her way! Had another fantastic breakfast courtesy of Simon and Pam : they were heading off to meet friends in Salisbury (typical...I'm staying at their place down in Devon and they pootle off to less than 30 miles from my house!). Pam refused to take any money from me for my fantastic stay and I am really really grateful to them both - if anyone is going anywhere near Okehampton I thoroughly recommend Northlake B&B (they have kennels there too so you can take your pooch on hols with you!). Then a very strange thing happened - remember the two guys from the (very) steep hill yesterday? Well they were staying at Northlake too....what are the chances of that!? Their wives dropped them back down into Okehampton so that they could pick up on the Coast to Coast trail where they left off yesterday and they then came back to the B&B with the morning's papers - got talking to them and they had heard all about me (I presume) from Pam and Simon. They then donated £10 each to my efforts - we do live in a nice world really...
Debs and Mike then turned up with a further £5 from Mike's mum (thanks Mike's mum!). The weather forecasters predicted a bad wet day so although Mike kindly took the bulk of my 'luggage' in the car, I decided to take the backpack with the waterproofs and camera stuff as it still made easier carrying. We headed back up the B3260 then crossed over the main A30 into quieter country lanes. Although it's only been just over a week since we've run together (Bournemouth Joggers get together!) we still had loads to talk about. I think Debs was initially a bit disappointed that we weren't going to be on many footpaths but that disappointment didn't last long as we hit a bridleway which led downhill to Sticklepath..fantastic running. Then we picked up the Tarka Trail (made famous by the otter!) which took us back over the A30 and through a string of tiny hamlets. Debs had a fit of giggles at a sign announcing 'appointments required to visit the plants' posted on a gate....do the cabbages really have diaries? We passed a lot of animal runs and managed to pick out tracks of deer and fox or badger - looked as if they made regular trips down through the field, over the hedge bank, across the road then down through the bottom fields to the river. Running into Spreyton, we had only just commented that it was yet another village where no-one appeared to exist when, like an oasis, the pub appeared round the corner....The Tom Cobley Arms was heaving...massive plates of carvery were being wolfed down and who were we to just run by...of course we had to stop and savour the atmosphere with a diet coke and lemonade and lime! Definitely a place we'd like to revisit so make a note of the location! Unfortunately, Debs didn't do a very good job as my PA as although the barman politely questionned her activities when she went in to buy the drinks, she just said we were out for a 'run in the country'....flippin long run if you ask me! We then ran down to the valley floor and followed the stream to Coltsfoot. Rustling in the hedge made me stop and I found an adder....this was becoming a safari! A bit further on, more rustling resulted in some sort of mouse making an appearance. One confusing point is the signposts - one told us 'Crediton 4' then after a further 1/2 mile running the next one said 'Crediton 4 1/4'...were we going in the wrong direction? No, definitely going the right way....next signpost 'Crediton 3' then 'Crediton 3 1/4'....something to do with the Devon sense of humour I guess!? Just before reaching Crediton we watched a farmer rounding up his sheep...not in the conventional way with a dog but appears the poor hound had been made redundant as he was using his 4x4!! Then, just to prove we're not too far from home, passed a pub advertising Badger Ales...they come from Blandford! Unfortunately we then arrived at our final village destination which meant my time with Debs was quickly drawing to a close. We passed a lady sweeping outside her house and she was interested in what we were doing - Debs had clearly learnt from her actions at the Tom Cobley and proudly (I think!) told her what I was endeavouring to complete - the lady gave me £1 but then let her neighbour know who gave me £5 (well, actually £4 plus a €0.20 posing as a £1 coin!)...maybe I should employ Debs after all!? We ended up in the local Wetherspoons drinking house whilst we waited for Mike, Matt and Jons to join us from Torrington for the ride down to Exeter. Mike thinks I'm a bad influence on her as that was 2 pubs in one day! Unfortunately it was then time to say good-bye...can't believe it'll be another 9 weeks until I see them again (we'll have to go on an ultra marathon run in order to catch up on all the gossip for that length of time!). It's been great to see friendly familiar faces over the last couple of days and I do really appreciate Liz, Paul, Debs, Mike, Matt and Jons taking the time to join me. Love you guys :o)
Total mileage today : 16.6 with 'moving' time 3.53

2008-05-03T10:50:00.000-07:00

Day 8 - holiday!

After a wonderful cooked breakfast (I'm not yet bored of them!) walked the mile or so back down into Okehampton. Pam kindly offered to do my washing whilst I was out which is very much appreciated - Debs is bringing up some new socks tomorrow as with the state mine are in, even just after one week, I could quite easily see them walking home by themselves! Hand-washing just doesn't get the same results! Had a quick wander round the town - got another stamp in the passport at the local post office (I am finding that I'm getting some weird looks and the staff are asking me what I need it for!) and bought a couple of postcards to send home. Then grabbed a table and ordered a latte...first 'real' coffee for a week and it was delice! It was great to see Liz and Paul (Liz is a member of the same running club as me - Bournemouth Joggers ..there you go Liz, I mentioned the club for the first time : sorry it hasn't been sooner!) - the first recognised faces in a whole week and Liz stocked me up with flapjacks and other yummy goodies! Paul is running the Exeter half tomorrow and I'm sure he'll do really well as usual. We had a good long natter about what was going on at home (feels like I've been away ages) and what I've been up to, then had some lunch and before we knew it, we'd overstayed our welcome at the cafe! Liz and Paul headed off to their hotel in Exeter whilst I decided to be a real tourist and hopped on a bus for Lydford Gorge : so much for rest and relaxation! It was a lovely 1 1/2 mile walk through the undulating woodland path to the waterfall and the same back again, then onto the Devils Cauldron which was another 1/2 mile in the other direction. After spending a leisurely few hours thoroughly enjoying the sights, I wandered back up the (very) steep hill into Lydford to catch the bus back to Okehampton. I was suitably impressed by a guy who successfully managed to cycle up the (very) steep hill and duly congratulated him "no pain, no gain" was his response. Then, found the same guy with a friend 'slumped' over his bike a couple of hundred yards up the road "no pain, no gain" I responded to which both of them heartily chuckled! Grabbed some chips from the local fryer and ate them whilst I wandered back to Northlake...all in all I probably walked a good 8 miles today! The wind has really picked up here and according to the TV the weather isn't looking too great for tomorrow...my old friend the rain could be making quite a bit of regular appearance! Still, one thing I'm really, really looking forward to is seeing Debs, Mike, Matt and Jon tomorrow morning - the guys are gonna take my backpack for the day and Debs and I are going to run (slowly so that we can get in as much chit-chat as humanly possible!) to Crediton....I haven't seen her in a whole week so there's sooooo much to catch up on!

2008-05-02T01:07:00.000-07:00

Day 7 - Launceston to Okehampton
Had a great night's sleep but I'm still tired this morning! One more day's exercise and I get a day off (hoorah!) - Liz and Paul are going to be meeting me tomorrow in Okehampton and then Debs is coming over on Sunday to run with me to Crediton (does she really know what's in store for her!?). Had a good meal in the local pub last night but unfortunately there weren't many people in the bar so no good trying to drum up support via my collecting box. However, one of the locals saw my 'adverts' on the back on my t-shirt and very kindly settled my bill without me even knowing - there are some really kind people out there and I'm finding quite a few of them on my travels. So, with the £5 I found in the village and the £9.45 from the pub, another £14.45 for the kitty. Lovely breakfast this morning, courtesy of Marilyn and Bill at Rose Cottage - really nice overnight stay complete with view of the castle from my window. There were 3 ladies from Kent staying and they gave me a further £10 this morning.
Once again out on the road by 9.50 with a pleasant jog along the Two Castles Trail which links the Norman Castles of Launceston and Okehampton. Took a wrong turning once meeting the A338 and started heading back towards Launceston but soon realised the error of my ways! Yeehaa....hit my second county after passing the 'Welcome to Devon' sign...nearly a week into my journey and only just out of Cornwall! After passing through the village of Lifton I followed the trail through some fields and woods before running along some fabulous lanes to pass Dingles Steam Museum - decided to stop for a coffee as I was passing! The weather was fantastic today - no rain and had to get the sunglasses out...first time since day 2! Stopped at the post office at Lewdown to get a stamp in my passport...keep forgetting to get this done each day! Lovely downhill run to Lewtrenchard (where the Rev Baring-Gould who wrote Onward Christian Soldiers is buried)...and then up and over Galford Down...I'm just loving today....sun is shining and the views are absolutely terrific and round every corner is something to 'wow' about. Lots of the original stone bridges over the streams / rivers are still in place. Nice run down to Watergate then a steep uphill walk onto Breara Down after which I picked up the West Devon Way along a nice wide track. When I got to the A386 I had a great view of the brick viaduct that used to carry the London railway in the olden days then crossed the road to head up to the open spaces of Dartmoor - where's the icecream van when you need it? Had a bit of fun in the sun trying to get a picture of me jumping off the rocks (OK, so I'm 41 going on 10 but it was fun!) then picked up the Two Castles Trail again heading downhill past the huge Meldon reservoir and underneath the iron Meldon Viaduct. Needed to do a bit of head scratching to find the right footpath through the woods that would then take me over the A30...after a couple of tooing and froing eventually found the correct route, passing a guy with full wetsuit and goggles swimming in a waterhole! The Devon Way then passed right through the middle of the local golf course and through woods to the edge of Okehampton where I took a little detour to visit the remains of the castle. Then through the centre of town and out the other side and UPHILL again to Northlake B&B which would be my home for the next 2 nights. Pam and I have had quite a few 'chats' via email over the last few months and I feel she knows a lot about me already! She and Simon kindly invited me to tea tonight which I very much appreciated - lasagne, garlic bread and salad followed by delicious tiramisu washed down with wine...great running diet and one I thoroughly recommend! Day off tomorrow which I am now very much looking forward to...one week successfully completed - 9 weeks to go!
Long journey today of 26.7miles

Total mileage 126.80

2008-05-01T11:20:00.000-07:00

Day 5 - Tregolls to Jamaica Inn (Bodmin Moor)
Woke again to drizzle so didn't bother packing my coat in the backpack as I was bound to need it shortly! Marilyn kindly donated £20 to my fundraising after having presented me with a fab full English...I think people are suitably impressed with my efforts! Nice slightly undulating journey on quiet country lanes. If I hadn't been able to update my blog the previous night then I would have taken a one mile detour into Bodmin in order to find an internet cafe but as it was, I headed straight for Boscarne Junction from where a steam train runs in the summer months. This was also my joining point for the Camel Trail to the end at Poley's Bridge. It was a lovely track following the river Camel and easy to follow through woodland. Apparantely there are quite a few otters now in the area but I didn't see a single one! I left the track at Tresarrett (another Tre!) and then did a bit of walking as the hills were a little bit on the steep and long side (still, you get to see more when you're walking!). A very strange thing happened in St Breward...the village was covered with Christmas trees, lights and decorations! Apparantely they were having a meeting that night to discuss the expected closure of their post office and all the decorations backed up their campaign 'all we want for Christmas is our post office'...quite sad really. The postmistress kindly opened up just for me so that I could get a stamp on my LEJOG passport! Might be a collectors item soon! I was due to take a footpath through some fields direct out onto Bodmin Moor but it was way too muddy and there were some serious looking cows with big horns so decided to take the easier option of the road! It then started to hammer down with rain and by the time I hit the moor good and proper, was coming down like stair-rods. The route over to Brown Willy (highest point in Cornwall at 420' was pretty easy at first - straight down a puddly track. I found the clump of trees where I needed to turn off in order to get to the north face of the 'mountain' and it was there that the well-known moor mist came in all of a sudden and totally hid the top half of Rough Tor, directly next to me...could see how frightening this could get. Then it hailed! I felt like I was in the middle of a paintball battle so I did what sheep do and just turned my back to it and let it pelt me. Now all the footpaths suddenly became raging torrents and I was completely soaked and more than a bit cold. Managed to 'row' up the river posing as a footpath to the top of Brown Willy and locate the path down the east side which took me out to an old grass covered wall that then ran down to Tolborough Tor. I did quite a bit of running but my shoes were being sucked off my feet virtually every step. At the top of Tolborough I could see the walled lane that I needed to take but again, there was a river running down the middle of it! No pussy footing around - straight through it : I couldn't possibly get any wetter! At last I reached the bottom and could see the very welcome sight of the flags of Jamaica Inn which would be my home for the night - unfortunately it was on the other side of the main A30 so I had to take a further detour under the road to reach sanctuary and a nice hot shower! I didn't venture far from the bar and the staff put out a few buckets for loose change - I raised another £25.25 but most of this came from just two guys who were well impressed with what I was doing (one had lost his wife to cancer and was supposed to be walking the dog...turned out an expensive pint!). It's rumoured that the inn is haunted by many troubled souls and has been made famous by Daphne du Mauriers book of the same name. However, I didn't hear or see anything so I still need to be convinced!
Total mileage : 22.8 with moving time 5.21 and stopped of 1.03

Day 6 - Jamaica Inn to Launceston
Guess what...it's raining AGAIN! Decided last night not to venture back onto the moors again this morning (whilst an experience yesterday, it really wasn't something that I would rush back to repeat!) so kept to the side roads and then a footpath through a farmyard that led out into fields. Unfortunately with all the rain recently, these turned to bogs and it was quite a puzzle trying to find somewhere a little bit firm and dry to put my feet each step! You'd think it would dry out the higher up the hill I got but it didn't - infact at the very top there was a gap in a stone wall where the footpath was telling me to go, but this was where the cows also went and it was just a huge quagmire of mud and cow muck! Then, running down a side lane into a forestry plantation I came across a sheep and lamb who had clearly got out of the field thinking the grass was greener on the other side - the ewe was definitely a candidate for the olympics as she cleared the fence a good 4' high...her lamb couldn't follow and I was then the big bad human scaring the poor little creature....talk about rabbit in the headlights! Back onto quiet country lanes and through villages / hamlets still with the 'Tre' prefix! Some of the footpaths are really well marked re the direction to go in but the actual terrain is a lot less desireable! Many a time I climbed over the stone walls to find a field clearly used for cattle which had huddled next to the footpath 'landing site' - I'm getting quite adept at my monkey swings from conveniently placed tree branches and my 'leaps of faith' from the stone stiles in an attempt to clear the deluge of foot deep wallowing mud! John thinks it would be quite funny if I lost my balance and fell backwards - clearly I don't feel the same way! I reached Lewannick from where there was just one track down across the river : unfortunately a sign told me the bridge had been closed since 2006! It was all downhill so if it truely was a 'no-go' it would be a mega climb back out of the valley...still, nothing ventured, nothing gained so I decided to follow the track despite not knowing if the bridge was still there. Luckily it was, so having climbed out the otherside, it should have been a relatively straight forward route all the way into Launceston...not so! Not being able to find the footpath through the farmyard, I asked directions from the farmer to be told that it was a bridleway and certainly I could follow it...how you could get a horse down there I'll never know - the farmer had parked his van right next to the only gate and that didn't open anyway without a fight! Then the track through the woods was completely flooded (becoming the story of my trip!) but it was the right way and eventually I ended up on a lane leading to a road. Followed this all the way into Launceston and although I got a little lost in the town itself and ended up going right round the Norman castle, I eventually found my night's B&B at the other side of the river. Once I'd done the obligatory washing of my muddy clothes (socks and shoes are gonna start running themselves soon!) I went back up to the castle for a closer view. Going to try out the local pub tonight
Today's facts : short(ish) 13.2 miles with moving 3.08 and stopped 47.03. The batteries were low in my GPS so unsure if these are the 'true' figures

2008-04-29T12:35:00.000-07:00

Day 4 - Trispen to Tregolls
Wet weather gear required today! Jacqui laid on a fab breakfast : grapefruit, cereal, full english washed down with plenty of fresh brew...delice! Had to wait a little while before getting ready as not good to go running on a full stomach! Everything was in waterproof packaging for the deluge that was expected today. Nick and Jacqui wouldn't accept any payment at all which was really, really kind of them - all going to my fundraising! They mentioned that they've had a few 'end to enders' staying including a guy with a horse....he apparantely took 12 weeks but couldn't ride the horse much as his gear was too heavy!
Nice downhill to start with then through sleepy little villages and alongside the main A30. I was hoping to find a little coffee shop or internet cafe in Indian Queens (looked quite big on the map) but the only place I found was an Esso garage which seemed to be the local hang-out...not much happens down here! It had been raining steadily for about an hour and the wind was slap bang in my face - not pleasant. Then, like an oasis, a fish and chip shop turned up and no ordinary chippie - this one had been placed in the top 10 last year for the UK best chippies! Very popular but I decided just to get a hot choc to warm myself up - hadn't realised how cold my hands were until I tried to undo the zip on my backpack! Good job I got inside as the rain started to hammer down. Got chatting to a couple of guys who were confused with my clothing attire! Once I'd warmed up, the rain had virtually stopped and I was out running again when a guy in a car shouted out 'did I know where you can buy flowers?'...did he really think that someone running with a backpack and a large volume of maps draped round their neck knew where to buy flowers??...I apologised that no I didn't! I climbed up to the ramparts of an old iron-age fort at Castle-an-Dinas and at that point the sun decided to show it's face. Ran round the ramparts and then out the other side, being careful not to fall down any of the old mine shafts apparantely dotted around the field! It was now starting to get a bit wet and muddy underfoot and by the time I reached the road, my feet were drenched. Up to Tregonetha (another Tre!) and missed the footpath I'd planned, but still, managed to take the next one and then double back along the road. Decided not to go down the next footpath as it led straight across a newly ploughed field and I had visions of my feet suddenly weighing an extra tonne! Not one village shop did I pass all day nor any pubs...arrived at my next B&B a couple of hours earlier than my previous days and there wasn't anyone in....Lester was out on the farm but they had the foresight to put their mobile numbers on the front door! I'm staying at another farmhouse tonight called Tregolls (and another Tre!) and just polished off a huge tea of chicken casserole, veg, strawberry pavlova, cheese and biccies....good job I'm running all the calories off each day! Marilyn has kindly let me use her office pc to update the blog whilst I still remember what I've done today! I'd bruised my back on the 2nd day with the tube from my camel back constantly banging against my spine : this made it a little bit painful yesterday but much better today once I found out what the culprit was! Managed to get up quite a sprint downhill!!
Today's facts and figures : 17.6 miles with a 'moving' time of 3.51 and a 'stopped' of 1.19
Keep the comments coming - I'm loving reading them all so thanks to everyone who has taken the time to leave one for me...

2008-04-28T07:32:00.000-07:00

Day 2 - Penzance to Helston
After a slap up breakfast I headed off down to the seafront. It had rained in the night but I was greeted with a lovely blue sky. Stopped off at Tesco to fill up on Lucozade for the day's journey and then set off in earnest. Although the tide was out, I just had to take a trip out to St Michael's Mount so hopped on board one of the shuttle ferrys then climbed the (very) steep cobbled hill up to the top. I've never actually been inside the building and it was quite impressive with fantastic views out over the bay from the back. I met an elderly couple on my way down - both were suffering from cancer and they wished me well on my endeavours. I then picked up a baguette for lunch and hit the coastal path proper (took me a little while to find the way down to the cliff but got there in the end!). Up and down, up and down I went and after a while found it was quicker to walk the ups! Each headland I went round gave a brand new view of what I still had to cover : I found some really quant derelict cottages with a whole load of pulleys and winches down to the beach and lots of 'chys' : not really sure what they were for but they were large square buildings with a huge chimney! Stopped for a cornish icecream on Praa Sands and soaked up a few rays! I'd been running for quite a few hours by the time I reached Porthleven and then saw a sign back to Penzance just 12 miles!! Still that was the easy road route, not the scenic clifftop one I traversed! Then more ups and downs to Helston - a couple of really really old cars passed me, one looking exceedingly like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! Helston itself was a steep one roaded town and they were in the middle of putting up the bunting for a floral festival next week. I was staying at The Wheal Dream pub about a mile out of Helston (up hill!). To be honest, it was a bit like the slaughted lamb pub in An American Werewolf in London! Everyone (the barman and 2 locals) looked at me very strangely when I came in dressed in my running clobber with leggings rolled over my knees (well, it had been sunny and warm!). The barman (Dave) had been expecting me hours ago and promptly asked me where my bike was!!? He was a bit shell-shocked when I said I was running! Still, I had a room all to myself so no snoring from others to keep me awake tonight! Took me a while to work out how to lock the door (handle had to be raised) and get the shower to work (pulley to get the hot water!) but apart from that, I was sorted...kettle on then! After a lovely shower, went for something to eat and 'scoffed' a huge roast beef and all the trimmings downed with a pint of lager shandy...yum! I was the only one in the restaurant but there were about 20 people next door waiting for an exciting folk guitar rendition...they were nice enough to let me pass my box round and I raised £26.24 with Dave rounding up to £30. In bed by 8.30! I know how to party!!

Total mileage today : 22.9 miles having 'moved' for 4h 53m and 'stopped' for 2h 44m. Total ascent 2,775' and max elevation 465'
Day 3 - Helston to Trispen (north of Truro)
Woke to rain but this soon cleared. Wasn't expecting a continental breakfast (where's all my energy going to come from!?). Headed off uphill (again!) on the main road but before long was jogging along peaceful country lanes with just sheep and cows for company. Somehow joined the wrong footpath and got a tad lost - asked for directions from a driver but he had no idea as he was on holiday! So, studied the map, retraced my steps and voila...sorted! Paths were a little muddy but negotiable. Came across a derelict engine house that looked very much like the 'chys' from yesterday! Back on the road and through a village called Carnekie...where is everybody? This is like the village of the dead - not a single person in sight, not even a car passing by!? Up another bridleway and stopped on top of a wall to phone John who reckons that all I do is walk and eat ice-cream! Lost the footpath again (they're not very well signposted here in Cornwall!) so just ran straight across the farmer's fields to the lane at the bottom, then got 'attacked' by the farm dogs for trespassing! (should improve their signposts then!). Then a lovely downhill track and across a meadow. Stopped for lunch in another 'slaughtered lamb' pub...what is it with everyone down here...do they not see many single white females dressed in running gear?? Had a fantastic view of a viaduct just before crossing the river then as I approached Playing Place a guy who had cycled LEJOG pressed £2 into my hand - made me very happy! I'm now in Truro library, increasing my internet cafe skills. Underneath a huge viaduct to join 'Quiet Lane' which took me all the way down to a small meandering stream through the village of Idless then through a lovely wood to Trispen. Stayed the night at a great farmhouse called Trevispian Vean (learning a bit of Cornish language - a chy is a wheal or engine house from the days of the tin and copper mining, Tre means farmhouse or homestead and Pen means headland!). This place was fantastic - owned by Nick and Jacqui who couldn't have been more accommodating. I was planning on going back into the village to the pub for a meal but they offered a meal of pheasant pie...how could I refuse!?

Total mileage for the day : 23.6 with a 'moving' time of 4.58 and 'stopped' of 2.30. In bed again by 8.30!

2008-04-27T01:08:00.000-07:00

Let the adventure begin!

Very early start yesterday as John drove me to Salisbury station at 5.15 : bit of an emotional goodbye...for once I'm very pleased they invented mobile phones as at least we can stay in touch each day. Wave105 were airing my departure every half hour in the news! Train down to Newton Abbott and then changed to what was more akin to a shuttle train all the way to Penzance : loads of different travellers from shoppers, stunt bike riders and surfers. Sarah, Kevin, Will, Eddie and Max had gone down to Penzance Friday afternoon and it was really nice to see friendly faces when I disembarked. Lovely weather and set off straight for Lands End. I needed to register my attempt at the Lands End Hotel and add my comments into the 'endtoend' book. Then got my first stamp for my 'passport' which read 'challenge accepted' and had my obligatory photo taken at the signpost.

Will gave me a 26 second countdown (unsure why it was that long but everyone joined in for the last 10!) and then I was off - I continued to wave back at them for quite a while as I was running up and down the coastal path towards Sennen Cove. Loads of surfers in the sea and the view from the top of the sandy hill (which I ran up all the way I'm proud to say!) was stunning. Overall my route was quite well marked and easy to follow : I only went wrong once and that was because there was a temporary footpath change on the coastal path but I easily found my way back. I did fall over once but luckily this was in a field full of long grass and I simply couldn't see where I was putting my feet so didn't see the huge boulder that tripped me up..still, it was a soft landing and hopefully that's got all the falling over with! It seemed that round every corner there was something amazing, from a simple field of young cows that were peering with curiosity over a dry stone wall and made such a cute photo, to the ancient settlement of Cune Euny, stone wells in the middle of nowhere and a tree covered with hundreds of colourful ribbons (couldn't work out if this was a memorial or some sort of witchcraft!!?).
Little bit of roadwork at the end before crossing several fields to Penzance Youth Hostel for my first nights stay.
Now for the facts and figures for the first day : total mileage was 10.2 miles with 'moving time' of 2h01m and 'stopped' time (well, I did say I was there to see the sights as well as run!) of 42m36s. Total ascent was 1,323ft and maximum elevation was 593ft.
Kevin and Sarah picked me up in the evening and we went off for a meal and drink at a really nice family pub in Penzance to celebrate completing my first day! Kevin even arranged it so that the landlady kindly did a quick 'whipround' in the pub and collected a further £23.22 for my fundraising - all in coins unfortunately so I've asked Kevin if he would mind dropping that back home for me! Too much extra weight to carry!
Rained in the night but sun is already out so looking good for my 2nd day over the coastal path towards Helston. I'm loving it!!

2008-04-25T15:32:00.000-07:00

I've been on the telly....I've been on the telly!! Went up to Paul's house this morning and met with the guys from Meridian. They then filmed me running up and down the roads and meeting with Paul and his family. Also had an interview for a mid-day slot but we had to do two takes as someone started up a brick grinder in a neighbouring house just before I was about to speak....maybe a candidate for outtake TV!!? Lots of general questions with Paul and his family (which after a while became general waffle as we'd run out of things to talk about!!) then I had another interview on my own and finally left the TV crew to interview Paul and get some film of him in his home environment. Very exciting!
Last day at work today and they called me up in front of the whole department to wish me good luck - don't like that at all and very embarrassing!!
Seen the results of the interview tonight and they're really good - I look quite the athlete sprinting down the road! Quite a few people have already commented that they've seen me so hope it gets Paul the publicity he deserves.
Sarah has already left for Penzance and this time tomorrow I'll have started my journey and completed the first leg. Her family are meeting me when the train arrives at Penzance and taking me down to Lands End (I think it's to make sure I actually start my challenge!).
So....all packed and ready for action! Bring it on!!

2008-04-23T07:55:00.001-07:00

I'm gonna be on the telly....I'm gonna be on the telly....!! Meridian contacted me a couple of days ago and want to hear my story so the plan is that I run up and down the road for the camera and then do an interview on what I'm doing and why and suchlike, then they'll interview Paul and his mum and why having support from people like me is so important to maintain and improve his quality of life. Still waiting for BBC Solent to arrange a possible interview and only 2 1/2 days to go now!!
Had a bit of a scare the last day or so as I've not been able to obtain confirmation that my map packs have all arrived - 7 sent but I'd only been able to get confirmation from 4 of the accommodations that they'd arrived! I know one had been returned to the sorting office as unfortunately no-one had been around to sign for the package but joy.....it's been redelivered and I've spoken to the youth hostel who've confirmed receipt! Just one left now to confirm receipt and that's one less worry!

2008-04-21T02:16:00.000-07:00

Party weekend!
Rushed off my feet from Friday night onwards. Went over to visit Paul and his family on Friday night and was overwhelmed at his positive attitude - he's a really happy guy and enjoys going out with his dog Button (who was trying to embarrass everyone with her antics with a teddy....I'll leave the rest to your imagination!). He's really appreciative of all the efforts being made to raise funds towards a specialist spa bath and continues to check on my progress via this blog.
Picked up the last few raffle prize donations on Saturday morning and posted all my route maps....I've had to trust Royal Mail Special Delivery to get them all to their correct destination as without these arriving, I'm going to be stuck!
Saturday night and it's party night....what a fantastic event it was. Most tickets were pre-sold but many friends turned up at the door of Sarah's huge 4-storey mansion near the Adventure Park at Hurn...we should have thought about charging for guided tours as these were really, really popular! Food and drink were in plentiful supply with many bringing some sort of edible or drinkable donation! Almost £400 of raffle tickets were sold on the night, everyone hoping to win one of the 45 or so prizes that had kindly been donated by various local businesses and individuals - all the kids (and some of the adults!) were eying up the 4' supersoft black teddy that I'd picked up just that morning from Sydenhams builders merchants (unsure why a DIY chain had a teddy to donate but it was gratefully received anyway!). I'd also put together 11 lots for the auction ranging from horseracing and keep-fit packages through to golf sessions and football memorabillia. Steve did a fantastic job on the tannoy and really got everyone involved. There were quite a few bidding battles going on, especially for the Chelsea FC football and rounds of golf at Dudsbury (Sarah's youngest son Max is an avid Chelsea fan and had his eye on the signed ball all night (excuse the pun!) - short of being on his knees and begging, Kevin couldn't ignore his son's puppy-dog eyes for too long and eventually won the coverted prize!).
The music room proved extremely popular and the sounds of drums and guitars continued well into the early hours of the morning. Sarah and Kevin's eldest son Will was playing requests on his guitar and I have no idea how little Max and Eddie managed to fall asleep on the sofa in the room next door whilst all this was going on!!
A fantastic total of £1,088.20 was raised through admission, raffle, auction and the odd donation which has now boosted the current total through the £5,000 barrier. There is £2,479.37 in the pot for Paul with £1,600.01 online (the extra penny came from Lilian who wanted to see her name at the top of the donation list!) and £1,015.00 offline for Cancer Research, making a huge running total of £5,094.38.
Just one working week to go now!

2008-04-16T00:17:00.000-07:00

Look who I met at the marthon!

Then looking very pleased with myself after it's all over

2008-04-14T00:11:00.000-07:00

WOW!! feel like I'm in a whirlwind now and there's no way down! Meant to post a blog on Friday night but as usual, hadn't got anything packed for the London marathon weekend so you'll just have to read everything in the one blog!
Travelled up to Fareham Friday night so that Jason Beck could interview me for Wave105 - he decided to do this outside to create more 'realism' and I had to pretend it was the morning of the marathon! Met Andy Jackson who was just going out for a quick ciggie and then when the interview was over, Andy decided he wanted me in the studio for a live take as well!! Although I was only on air for just over 2 minutes it was fantastic! Kate Weston and Andy are a terrific double act and it was so funny...Andy kindly sent me on a copy of it so I'll try to work out if I can add this to the blog.
Saturday, travelled upto London with Sue Evans and best mate Tricia. We met up with Dory and Michelle at the hotel then went off to the marathon Expo to register and have see how much free stuff we could pick up! Had our last carbo pasta meal and early to bed although didn't get to sleep much - that's about 3 nights running now so getting a bit tired.
Sunday dawned a lovely blue sky - perfect and not too chilly. All went to plan with the trains to Maze Hill then walked to Blackheath where Dory and I wished Sue good luck and the two of us went into the 'good for age' green start. We already knew exactly where Tricia would be cheering us on and made a bee-line to the celebrity corner and had photos taken with Ronan Keating who was also kind enough to sign our numbers! Made our day - didn't matter what happened in the marathon now!
There was a huge downpour after I'd run around 11 miles so got a bit chilly and feet were soaking wet but stopped raining an hour or so later. For the first time I actually saw the lead men running down The Highway, at 21/22 miles when I was going through 13/14. When I ran back through the other side there were still thousands going through halfway.
Question of positive brain bullying going along Embankment - my initial target was a sub 3.45 so that I could get another 'good for age' but having trained on a sub 3.30, if I reached that....well that would be the holy grail. I was definitely going to get the initial target so part of me was saying to ease back so it didn't hurt so much but then I bullied myself into sticking to it and seeing what happened....so I did! I'm sure they move that finish line further down the Mall each time....crossed it in 3.29.03 on my watch but hands so cold I couldn't push the stop button! Official time (drum roll please) 3.28.56......huge pb by 15 minutes!! I was sooooo proud of myself. Then was a little bit ill....!!
Met up with Tricia at the Cancer Research hospitality - they really look after you there even carrying all your bags! Couple of teas and coffees later I felt much better and decided to go for a massage....who should then walk in and pop up on the table beside me?? Ronan Keating!! Had a good chat - he was hoping for a sub 4 for his first marathon and achieved 3.59 so was ecstatic...
What a day!!

2008-04-09T13:48:00.001-07:00

I'm getting a bit emotional now...contacted the news agency and they really want to tell my story but after I've finished so that they can do the full 'end to end' diary complete with my photos and then sell it to the highest bidder! And then I got a call from the radio station asking if I could possibly call in to see them before London in order to do an interview.....plus I've been stopped so many times at work today following the article about me in the internal bulletin : everyone either thinks I'm inspirational or completely crazy! I'm taking the latter in a positive manner! Does all this publicity mean that I'm a celebrity?
Loads of 'hits' to my justgiving site so I just have to keep raising the target figure...only did that yesterday and I've nearly reached the new goal already....keep it coming
Weather for Sunday's marathon is currently 13 degrees with showers - be nice if they stayed away for the duration of the race so that there will be somewhere dry to curl up afterwards! Hope it changes over the next day or so but at least the temperature will be good for running.

2008-04-08T12:31:00.000-07:00

WOW!! Exciting news - arrived home from work today to a letter from a news agency asking if I would be interested in being interviewed for an article for a women's magazine.....would I?? absolutely! Don't want to start getting too excited but it's a real break-through on the advertising front. Have to call them tomorrow to get the full scoop so hope it's not going to be red-herring. My 'adventure' is also being publicised at work on the internal web tomorrow so my face is everywhere at the moment. I feel like quite a celebrity!!

2008-04-06T07:49:00.000-07:00

So what on earth has happened with the weather?! Last weekend's Bournemouth Bay was held in lovely spring sunshine yet awoke this morning to a snow blizzard! Running has now really tapered ready for next weekend's London marathon. Ran every day last week but the 13 on Sunday was my longest distance. Raced in the Poole Runners Ladies 5k on Tuesday night and despite being a little windy in places, ran really well finishing in 11th place in a time of 21:12 - thrilled to set a new club record and therefore a pb - strangely enough another one I bettered by just one second!
Collected another 4 raffle / auction prizes yesterday and I have to admit that it's been amazing as to just how many businesses and representatives have been willing to help me out (but also how many just don't bother to answer emails and letters!). It's looking as though I will be able to have at least 5 auction lots and more than 25 raffle prizes which is fantastic.
On the fundraising side of things, this is going brilliantly. One of my neighbours popped round yesterday to say that they'd had a whip-round at work and presented me with a cheque for £100 for Cancer Research - it really does amaze me how many people will put their hand in their pockets to help.
Current pledges are : Paul £1,144 and Cancer Research £778 offline and £1,105.01 online (thanks to Lilli who bucked the trend and included an additional penny in her donation!) totalling£1,883.01 and a fantastic £3,027.01 overall - it's certainly a great feeling to move over the £3,000 mark as it seems only a few weeks ago that I hadn't even made it to the first grand....roll on the next one!

2008-04-01T00:20:00.001-07:00

Official results are out and yipee, 1:35:18 means I did improve my pb by a whole second! Received an email from Paul Cole, racehorse trainer, yesterday offering me a morning on the gallops as a prize for the auction so having already had the same offer (plus breakfast!) from Nicky Henderson I can put these together with the national hunt racing badges at Newbury and flat at Salisbury for a couple of really cracking auction prizes at the party on 19 April (I might even have to go in disguise to try to bid for them myself!).
My story was in the Echo yesterday and took up half a page! Two pictures and a really good write up. Also phone Meridian and South Today and sent of the required emails so hopefully they'll be interested in my upcoming adventure....

2008-03-31T00:02:00.000-07:00

I can now tick off 'interview on the radio' from my to-do list! Last night was spent in the company of Robert Neesam on Hospital Radio Bedside which surprisingly wasn't as nerve-racking as I was expecting! Unsure how many people were actually tuned in at the time and unfortunately John couldn't get logged in from home to listen as they are waiting for a sponsor, but it was a great start to my publicity trail! And as if it couldn't get any better, Debs phoned yesterday to tell me that I was on the Bournemouth Echo website as the '4th most popular story'! This should mean that the article is in the paper today.
It was also the Bournemouth Bay half marathon yesterday. In the middle of the week the forecast had been for torential rain and strong winds - couldn't have been furthest from reality as it was a gorgeous spring day and I caught the sun! This was the final 'prep' for London and really gauges how the speed sessions have been coming along - I was competitive and ran really well, even catching and beating someone that I've never beaten before which gave me a real high! Unfortunately the results aren't yet posted but I stopped my watch on 1:35:19 and it wasn't until I got home that I discovered I'd run exactly that time last year in setting the Bournemouth Joggers club record! What are the chances of doing this? I only hope that my official time knocks at least one second off my time!

2008-03-28T13:44:00.001-07:00

The realisation of what I'm going to do has just hit me I think! Last night was the first (ideally the last but I have a feeling it won't be!) night I've laid awake with lots of 'what if' and 'need to do this' and 'need to do that' stuff going through my mind for hours....yep, I was starting to panic a little. Still, Missy Harris reassured me first thing this morning at work that I was not to worry and everything would be fine! Donations from local businesses for our raffle cum auction on 19 April are arriving daily so that list is steadily growing which is great

2008-03-26T14:40:00.001-07:00

Yikes, it's now exactly one month before the start of my adventure. Things are starting to get a little bit close and scary! Fundraising stats : £999 for Paul and £559 offline and £910 online for Cancer Research, making a total for them of £1,469 and a grand total of £2,468. The Grizzly a few weeks ago was brilliant : the mud baths weren't quite as squelchy and deep as in previous years but the terrain was still very slippery and the ups and downs and water splashes were still there (one of the climbs was so steep they'd added a rope to drag yourself up the hill with!) - photos were brilliant. Weather was good although there was an almighty hailstorm that hit me around 2 miles from home! Finished in 3:45 and I've never completed in under 4 hours before! Bodes well for London marathon (hopefully!). Then the following weekend myself, 3 others from Bournemouth Joggers (Dory, Angie and Caroline) and Linds (who is running in her first ever marathon at London and doing extremely well with her training I should add) braved yet more wind and rain to skid and slide 22.94 (exactly!) miles over the Purbecks (ie hilly!) for our last long training run before London. We ended up muddier than the week before! Easter weekend saw my shortest weekend run with the Rotary 1/4 marathon - again it was blustery so difficult to run in a straight line in some places but I ran well, finishing in 7th place in a time of 47:22. This weekend is the Bournemouth Bay 1/2 - guess what!? It's due to pour with rain and blow a gale...again! The wind is bound to be in our faces either on the outward or return trip along the seafront....great!! I'm going to be the 'guest of honour' on Hospital Radio this Sunday which is going to be exciting...I've never been interviewed on radio before! Then I contacted the Bournemouth Echo today and they've taken down my story and the camera man is coming up tomorrow lunch time to take some photos and I should be in the paper in the next couple of days ....told you it's all getting a bit scary!

2008-02-27T13:22:00.000-08:00

Everything still appears to be going to plan which is a bit scary! All accommodation now booked for the trip and training going well. The alarm clock is getting used every Sunday morning for the long runs but as there's quite a few others from Bournemouth Joggers training for the London marathon or the Mad March Hare (20 mile road race this coming Sunday) or the Grizzly (mud, water, mud, hills and more mud 20ish miler cross-country race in 2 weeks time!) it's been great to have quite a bit of company and the miles seem to go past quite easily. So far the weather for the long runs has been fantastic.
Fundraising is also coming along nicely....current tally is £457 for Paul with £200 online donations and £289 offline for Cancer Research making a total to date of £946. There are also plans for a fundraising event the weekend before I leave which is exciting

2008-01-31T05:16:00.000-08:00

Training's going well : running 6 days a week at the moment but once the higher mileage kicks in, I'll get Monday off as well as Friday...yahoo! At least that's one reason to look forward to the first day of the week! It's great to have company on the longer Sunday runs so really appreciated Debs and Jax's company last Sunday for the 15 miler round Poole and out to Upton Park - weather was brilliant first thing in the morning on a day that wouldn't have been amiss in the Springtime

Sponsorship is going really well so thanks everyone who's supported me so far....just keep it coming! The total pledged for Paul is standing at £235 and for Cancer Research £135 with further online donations of £105 making a total of £475 in just over 2 weeks

2008-01-05T07:38:00.000-08:00

Well, here we go then. Forgive me if this all goes wrong as I'm new to this techy stuff and just trying to find my way round the website and what I actually need to do to get things up on my blog!

So, what is this all about......

The challenge : I'm going to RUN from Land's End to John O'Groats
Who with : me, myself and I !!
When : at the end of April, shortly after having run the London Marathon
How far is it : over 1,100 miles...that's around 42 marathons back-to-back!
How long will it take : around 10 weeks, averaging 17-20 miles per day
Who for : The Paul Seal Trust Fund and Cancer Research
Why : why not?