Today we left Bridge of Orchy and headed to Kinlochleven

Today we had Mike Z walking with us today and Mike P part walking and providing transport logistics.

As we left Bridge of Orchy it was raining and pretty windy. Overnight the wind was strong enough to wake us up and the forecast was for winds in the morning of up to 50 mph. So we were looking forward to another “weather” day. We crossed the River Orchy, one of the finest white water rivers in the UK, and headed towards the Inveronan Hotel (last accommodation on the west highland way until Kingshouse. Moody weather made for great scenery and then we saw a family of red deer wandering across in front of us.

The drove road mentioned in the photo was actually built by Thomas Telford in the early 19th century. Cattle were shod (like horses) for their journey down this road.

As we walked across Rannoch Moor (along Telford’s Road!) we were lucky that the wind mainly dropped and the rain only made sporadic appearances. The path itself was particularly hard to walk on for large stretches, no wonder the cattle were shod!

We made it to the car park of the Kingshouse Hotel in good time where Mike P was waiting with our lunch – which was then safely stored in our backpacks for the top of the Devil’s Staircase.

After Kingshouse the path wound upwards (when does it ever not) and then back down to the start of the Devil’s Staircase. A bit of a slog to get to the top at c557m but we made it in good spirits and found somewhere out of the wind to sit down and have lunch. Having just climbed up, Mike P then went all the way back down to get the car and meet us in Kinlochleven.

The walk down towards Kinlochleven was quite long but a constant descent, getting quite steep in places. We passed our 1,100 kilometre milestone on the way down and walked into town via the operating hydro plant.

A tough day (not as tough as yesterday) but enjoyable and with some spectacular scenery.

Tomorrow we head for Fort William.

Today we left Inversnaid and headed for Bridge of Orchy

Today we had Mike and Graeme walking with us and Karen kindly taking our bags up to Bridge of Orchy.

Overnight there were three things of concern (for me anyway) about today (more about those later).

Rain was promised for the whole day and, by and large, the weather delivered. We started off with quite a hike downhill to the Inversnaid Pier and the turning onto the West Highland Way. Mike left his nice red car all alone in the car park – hope it’s there when he returns in a few days.

We started out on the path with memories of last year – we were already wet and tired, it was dark and we got lost once. So concern number one was that it would be as bad as last year. Happily it was tough but not nearly as much as we through and the forest protected us from much of the downpour.

After the very rocky bit the path evened out somewhat, although there was quite a steep set of “stairs” towards the end and various swearwords could be heard from the back! We then started the next section of the route which runs alongside the River Falloch. Concern number two was that a bridge was “missing” last year and this necessitated a detour through and down a muddy field to the next bridge. Anyway the bridge was still out but the concern was alleviated as we skipped across the river on some conveniently placed rocks and avoided the detour (last picture above).

After the walk by the river, we met Karen and handed Graeme back over as he had only planned to walk half of the day (the hardest part) with us. We then started on the third section of the day. This was concern number 3 – the route is so convoluted and phone signal (for the map) is so random. No need to worry though, the route was well signposted as we climbed high up into the forest and then trudged down the inevitable slope too eventually get to Tyndrum and some hot food in the Green Welly Stop. At this stage we were well and truly soaked, despite the waterproofs, so the food was very much needed.

After Tyndrum we started on the fourth, and final, stretch of the day. With all earlier concerns alleviated all we had to worry about was the rain, wind, soaked feet and tiredness. The volume of water falling from the sky was reflected in the speed of rivers, waterfalls and even a rainbow at one stage. We arrived at our stay for the night very, very tired and very, very wet – bizarrely we all agreed is was also a very enjoyable day.

Tomorrow we head further along the West Highland Way towards Kinlochleven.

Today we left Drymen and headed for Inversnaid

We started today with no-one walking with us but would meet Graeme and Karen halfway through when Graeme would walk the rest of the day us and Karen would drive our bags to Inversnaid.

In the 18th and 19th centuries Drymen was used as a stopover point for Highland cattle drovers as they made their way to and from markets in central Scotland. One mile from Drymen is the ruins of the country house Buchanan Castle, owned by the Duke of Montrose, which was also used as a hospital in World War II, and which housed Nazi senior officer Rudolf Hess. At one time the estate was also home to the seat of Clan Graham.

We left Drymen, unbeknown to us, on the Rob Roy Way – a Scottish long distance footpath that runs from Drymen in Stirling to Pitlochry in Perth and Kinross. As the sun rose and burned off the morning mist the views were lovely, there was no traffic and then shortly before we reached Aberfoyle, we passed our 1000 km mark. We also spotted a couple of red squirrels – they disappeared up the tree so fast that there was no chance of a photograph.

We met Graeme and Karen in Aberfoyle to buy a sandwich for later and Graeme to then walk with us. We also met Lynn (a colleague from work) who had very kindly made us scones, brownies and banana cake and was waiting for us with coffee as well!

Aberfoyle supposedly originates from the Brittonic Celtic, aber poll or aber phuill (Scottish Gaelic, Obar Phuill), meaning (place at the) mouth of the Phuill Burn (the Pow Burn enters the River Forth at Aberfoyle). 

Walking on, we passed many lovely houses, all in an excellent state of repair, and then many lakes and excellent views of Ben Lomond (974m and the most southerly Munro).

We spotted some Alpacas and then enjoyed our walk along the side of the lakes and marvelling at the views as we moved closer to our stop for the night. It also seemed only fair to include a picture of Graeme as he walked with us but wasn’t present for the early morning picture.

All in all, this was a really enjoyable walk, the weather was much better than advertised, the traffic was absent and it was good to arrive at our stop for the night in the daylight (last year we arrived here wet, cold and in the dark!).

Tomorrow we head for Bridge of Orchy along the West Highland Way – a challenge in itself in dry weather – but the heavens are proposing to drop their entire contents on us so I’ll report back tomorrow on how that goes.

Today we left Hamilton and headed for Drymen

Today we had no-one walking with us with Graeme picking up our bags and taking them up to Drymen. The hotel we were in is owned by Hamilton Park Racecourse which racecourse is a flat racing venue, with a season which runs from May to October. Racing has been staged in Hamilton since 1782 and it is now part of Scotland’s great sporting heritage. More than two centuries worth of punters have visited the course wanting to place a bet or simply just enjoy a grand day out at the races.

We started out from Hamilton bright and early – so early it was only about 8c, coldest start of the day so far. It took a while to warm up as we crossed the Clyde (again) and passed through the town of Bothwell.

As we walked into Uddingson, we passed the rather grandiose entrance to Bothwell Castle Golf Club and then the Tunnocks factory and original baker’s shop. Tunnock’s was formed by Thomas Tunnock (b. 1865) as Tunnock’s in 1890, when he purchased a baker’s shop in Lorne Place, Uddingston. The company expanded in the 1950s, and it was at this time that the core products were introduced to the lines, when sugar and fat rationing meant that products with longer shelf-lives than cakes had to be produced. It is the 20th oldest family firm in Scotland.

On the way into Glasgow city centre we passed an impressive avenue of town houses in Tollcross and walked past Celtic Park – with a capacity of 60,411, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is also known as Parkhead or Paradise.

We then passed through the centre of Glasgow and reached our 600 mile milestone.

Finally we moved on from urban areas with footpaths / pavements and got ready to spend 3 hours negotiating traffic on the A809. And this is where today’s blog title originates. The vast majority of traffic is considerate, slows down, moves out and the passengers even wave back at us. In the main, most of drivers who have driven at us, cursed us for having the temerity to be walking on a road and driven at very excessive speeds have been Audi drivers.

At this stage, when not looking out for the Ingolsdtat demons, the scenery was evolving into something quite spectacular while threatening rain. A few drops but thankfully nothing materialised. We spotted a new breed of yellow sheep but these are Blackface Sheep and are apparantly either dyed by farmers in advance of showing or it is the after effect of a sheep dip to prevent sheep scab. Finally we crossed Kendrick Water and came to our hotel for the evening.

Tomorrow we leave Drymen and head to Inversnaid on the shores of Loch Lomond.

Today we left Abington and headed to Hamilton.

Today we had Gareth and Terry walking with us and John (St Andrew’s Hospice) kindly moved our bags forward to Hamilton.

We left Abington Services and headed out onto the continuation of yesterday’s B7076 but now upgraded to the B7078. A bit of a brisk morning which was perfect for walking. Shortly after we left we passed our 900 km milestone and had now done over 1,000,000 steps.

We walked up the bicycle path and reminisced about the last time we walked this path the sun had long set and the temperature had dropped. Unfortunately lots of fly tipping along the path which is a real shame in such a beautiful place.

There was an excellent cycle path as we walked to Lesmahagow and then Kirkmuirhill we were surprised by a couple of rain showers, thankfully not too heavy but got us back into practice for walking in scotland – coat on, coat off, coat on ….

We then walked into Larkhall where we stopped in a deli/cafe for a quick sandwich. It was such a nice difference to the pre-packaged “meal deals’ we have been having for lunch over the past weeks. Then past the 13 blocks of flats in nearby Muirhouse, across Avon Water (another subsidiary or the River Clyde) and into Hamilton.

The sun was out and Hamilton was quite quiet, presumably as it was Sunday afternoon, with the old buildings looking quite resplendent. Today was a nice and flat walk, and tomorrow we head through Glasgow on our way to Drymen.

Today we left Moffat and headed to Abington

Today we had no-one walking with us and Jon was helping with the logistics.

As we left Kirkpatrick-Juxta, having been dropped off where we stopped yesterday, the sun was rising and some of the clouds in the sky were quite spectacular. Today was another day on a single road and for a goodly period this morning the last picture above was pretty much our only view.

The A74 was originally the only dual-carriageway route from Scotland to England. It was a low-standard dual carriageway that carried large volumes of traffic while having many intersections with both other major roads as well as farm tracks. It also had bus stops and houses along its length. A new motorway – A74(M) – was constructed parallel to the existing road, leaving the old road to be used as a local access road and one of the carriageways turned into a cycle-path. Today it is amazing to think that all the traffic on the six-lane motorway just a few metres away was once carried upon the empty tarmac that is now the B7076.

With the Mainline Railway on one side and the A74(M) on the other, the valley is home to a large number of streams that eventually merge into the River Clyde.

As we progressed towards Crawford, where we would take a few minutes rest and have our lunch, the valley opened up with rolling hills on either side, plenty of wind turbines, and the River Clyde running through. There was even an interesting shaped forest on view!

The River Clyde ( Scots: Clyde Watter, or Watter o Clyde) flows into the First of Clyde. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland and runs through Glasgow. Historically, it was important to the British Empire because of its role in shipbuilding and trade. To the Romans, it was Clota, and in the early medieval Cumbric language, it was known as Clud or Clut.

Today, despite being the same road, was totally different from yesterday. The road was sufficiently far away from the A74(M) and the railway to mitigate the noise and it was refreshingly void of traffic. Even the road surface was smoother to walk on – although the uncomfortable camber on curves was still present. With the nice weather (walking north means the sun is always on our backs) and the slightly shorter day it was a much more pleasant experience overall.

Tomorrow we head to Hamilton on the outskirts of Glasgow.

We have now been walking for three weeks, with just one rest day, and looking at the map it is still amazing at just how far we have walked:

Today we left Gretna and headed for Moffatt

Today we had no-one walking with us and Jon was helping with our transport logistics.

Our hotel in Gretna was actually still in England, even if only by about 10 metres. So as soon as we left and crossed the River Sark we were officially in Scotland. The Scots defeated the English at the Battle of Sark in October 1448 in a significant victory for the Scots, who had not defeated England since the Battle of Otterburn in 1388. The river has been made famous, partially by the Robert Burns’ poem, Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation. We passed from Gretna through Gretna Green, with all its tourist attractions and set out on our companion for the day – the B7076

As usual, cows were curious as to what two blokes in matching t-shirts were doing and the whole herd wandered over to have a look. The B7076 starts out as a very long straight stretch that seemed to take forever to cover. We passed Robgil Tower, on the banks of the river Kirtle, one of a number of towers built along the border as protection against incursions by the British. It was owned for centuries by Clan Irvine, but a report from 1834 indicates that it was owned by James Smail by that time.

Our journey then then took us through Ecclefechan, birthplace of Thomas Carlyle. Shortly after a helicopter spent a long time hovering above us – we did hope it was Jon dropping in with our lunch but suspect it was actually just a training flight.

By now we were bored with the B7076 – very rough surface, steep cambers that seemed to go on long after the bends, not too much to see and incessant noise from the nearby motorway and the forestry lorries than enjoy a turn of speed on the road. By the time our lunch stop came along we were quite jaded, however as usual, a 10 minute rest and some food was enough to re-invigorate for the remaining piece of the journey.

On the final stretch of the day we started to see some hills and evidence of the forestry process at work and then we arrived at our stopping point for the day (and start point tomorrow) – Kirkpatrick-Juxta. The church was named in the 15th century as Kirkpatrick-Juxta to distinguish it from four other churches of St Patrick in the See of Glasgow, namely Kirkpatrick-Irongray, Kirkpatrick-Durham, Kirkpatrick-Fleming and Kirkpatrick in Nithsdale. This Kirkpatrick was styled Juxta as being the nearest of the five to Glasgow, the seat of the Bishop.

Tomorrow we head for Abington

Today we left Penrith and headed for Gretna

Today we had Will and Toby walking with us and David (a colleague of Mike) very kindly took our bags up to Gretna.

We left Penrith with a slight chill in the air but the promise of a nice day ahead weather wise. Penrith has been noted for its numerous wells with well-dressing ceremonies taking place on certain days in May. Three miles south-east of Penrith, on the River Eamont opposite Ninekirks are the “Giants’ Caves”, with a well dedicated to St Ninian.

After a while we passed an interesting blue plaque – Francis Percy Toplis (22 August 1896 – 6 June 1920) was a British criminal and imposter active during and after the First World War. Before the war he was imprisoned for attempted rape and during the war he served as a private in the Royal Army Medical Corps, but regularly posed as an officer while on leave, wearing a monocle. After the war he became notorious following the murder of a taxi driver and the wounding of a police officer who attempted to apprehend him. The manhunt was major news at the time. He was tracked down and killed in a gunfight with police.

We continued along the A6 – not a whole lot to see really, mainly arable land and sometimes views of the Lake District peaks in the distance although these faded as we got closer to Carlisle. The only thing of real interest was a huge machine digging up potatoes with one person driving and one on top presumably sorting through he potatoes as they were harvested. Farmers certainly have some great machinery to operate.

We walked into Carlisle via the same route we left it one year ago after our rest day. A quick stop for a coffee and to buy some lunch and we set off again. As we crossed the River Eden (with very low water levels) we passed our 500 mile / 800 km milestone.

Then it was a moderately long walk alongside the M6 where the most interesting features were a n active wind turbine, some fencing between us the the busy motorway and the crossing of the River Esk estuary. We found the Welcome to Scotland sign but our Gretna hotel is in the “no-mans land” between the welcome to England / Scotland signs. This apparently counts as England so we have to wait for tomorrow before crossing the border.

Tomorrow we continue up towards Glasgow, stopping at Moffat for the night.

Today we left Kendal and headed for Penrith

Today we had no-one walking with us and Roy (a colleague of Mike’s) kindly transported our bags up to Penrith.

Kendal takes its name from the River Kent (the etymology of whose name is uncertain but thought to be Celtic) and the Old Norse word dalr (“valley”). Kendal is listed in the Domesday Book as part of Yorkshire with the name Cherchebi (from Old Norse kirkju-bý, “church-village”). For many centuries it was called Kirkby Kendal: “village with a church in the valley of the River Kent”.

The sun was still rising as we left Kendal meaning it was rather chilly with some mist still surrounding some of the local hills. We walked past the warning sign for Shap Fell – remembering the descent down last year we were not looking forward to the climb.

We took a little detour away from the A6 (more of a short-cut really) and climbed a bit higher to see some spectacular scenery. Four jet aircraft (F-35B I think) flew really low over us heading towards the Lake District peaks and valleys and returned back over us a short while later. Then we finally found a friendly cow, who didn’t run away and seemed to like having her head scratched.

Then it was time for the climb of Shap Fell. In truth it wasn’t as fearsome as expected but it was still pretty brutal going – thankfully the weather, although sunny, wasn’t too hot. Eventually we made the top, going past the memorial stone and the Bothy – converted to a camping barn from an old telephone repeater station, surrounded by moorland with no houses or neighbours for miles around.

After the summit of Shap Fell there was only one way to go and that was downhill for a few miles as we headed to the town of Shap. Here we bought our lunch and then kept heading towards Penrith while enjoying the amazing views of the Lake District peaks to our left and of the Yorkshire Dales to our right.

We sat down for lunch on the grass outside the entrance to Thrimby Farm and then picked ourselves back up for the remainder off the journey, via Clifton and Eamont Bridge. We were really in need of an ice-cream at this stage and find it very strange that most villages we have passed through have no shops (or even a post office). Anyway a petrol station on the outskirts of Penrith satisfied our need as we finally made it to our hotel for the night.

Yesterday’s rest day was welcome and needed but after 43 kms through incredible scenery the rest day is a dim and distant memory.

Tomorrow we head to Gretna (in Scotland)

Nothing more to say really 🙂