Stanage Edge - Peak District

Really thought I should get the Blog up & running again, particularly as it's nearly time for that 'holiday' I kept promising Les during the latter stages of LeJog! So, here are a few days walking I've managed to sneak in over the last few weeks just to ease me back into a more normal lifestyle!

Headed for the hills with Jamie & Kirstie.... last 'outing' for them before returning to work & the first September since 1972 that I haven't been busy drawing up class-lists, arranging seating-plans & preparing lessons! Totally unplugged now!

Jamie & Kirstie at south-eastern end of Stanage Edge

Plan had been to park at Grindleford Station, catch a train to Bamford & return along the moorland 'edges' via the conveniently-situated 'Fox House Inn' but it turned out to be a bit of an inauspicious start as I'd taken the wrong map, Jamie couldn't find hers, we just missed the train & there wasn't another for 2 hours! Never had these problems on LeJog!

Win Hill & the northern end of the Derwent Valley

Didn't matter too much as I've walked here several times before & we weren't really likely to miss the edges in such good visibility.... it did, however, make for an interesting trek across Bamford Moor: the tussocky grass became ever deeper; the thistles, ferns & gorse ever higher as we approached the narrow stream I knew runs around here somewhere......

One of the sculptures on the Bamford Touchstones Trail
High above the village, this sculpture represents 'Air'
All 3 of us have previously passed other sculptures in this millennium project when walking the Derwent Valley Heritage Trail

Small abandoned quarry on the edge of Bamford Moor - heather was incredible!

Mapless, we finally resorted to the obvious track & gave High Neb a miss.... always another day!

Song of the Day (an occasional series!): 'Purple Heather' by Van Morrison, from his 'Hard Nose the Highway' album

Bamford Moor from Stanage Edge

Highlight of the Day: as planned, from the end of Stanage Edge we followed the high-level route over Burbage Rocks before descending to the 'Fox House Inn' & a slightly-late lunch. Between trains again so we dispatched Jamie, by bus, to go & fetch the car! With almost military precision she returned just as our excellent fish pies were being served.... couldn't have planned it better!

Beer of the Day: 'Lakeland Stunner' - a light, golden, slightly lemony ale from Jennings Brewery; good & very refreshing after a walk though it did come up a little cloudy. Went well with the fish pie!

Memorial set into the track on the climb to Stanage Edge

Day 104 (Final Day!) - Auckengill to John O'Groats

Well The Walker did it! What can I say? 104 days walking, averaging about 13 miles a day, plus all the extra touristy things we managed to fit in. I still can't quite believe that we can get up tomorrow and not think about where the walk is, what time we'll be meeting, if the van will fit in the parking place or if the campsite will be any good and where should I book the next one. It's been an amazing experience. What, though, will he think of next?

The weather looked as though it was going to hold earlier this morning, however, by walking time the rain had started and it didn't let up all day. We planned to meet at Duncansby Stacks - I'd walked there with the kids before; it has excellent views of the Orkneys. I hadn't walked into John O'Groats along the cliffs, though, and even in the rain it is a smashing walk. The village seemed pretty much the same to me as last time except we couldn't go near the famous signpost unless we paid to have our photo taken next to it. We have family photos of us all having fun pushing each other off the plinth - no chance of that now!

We called in at Canisbay Church to see the "John de Groat" Stone and found it in the middle of a Flower Festival. The whole church was decorated with beautiful flower arrangements, each one depicting an aspect of village life, so articles such as treddle sewing machines, hand ploughs  and horse harnesses had been used for the bases. I can't wait to show the pictures to the flower club!

Canisbay Church Flower Festival

So, to celebrate the great achievement ( and our 37th Wedding anniversary - we seem to have spent a lot of them walking in remote places!) we had a fantastic meal at a nearby hotel. Now to plan our trip to America next year........


From Bernie:
Today's walk  10.0 miles     :     Cumulative  1295.0 miles

Stunning end to a fantastic walk! Anyone who claims the East Coast route is a dull way to finish LeJog must have been walking a different route from me!

Freswick Bay

Unlike the manager I hadn't been optimistic about today's weather & my only regret is that I didn't take photos of the Orkneys sparkling in yesterday afternoon's sunshine as we drove to our campsite at Dunnet - never mind, they may have their chance in the morning before we set off for home! Though it would have been easier to end in sunshine, the rain wasn't really a problem - this is a lovely stretch along some of the most impressive cliffs on the mainland while the ever-changing cloud patterns & shadows on the sea just add to the atmosphere.

Cliffs near Skirza Quarry

Started out with a feature unique in my experience; the busts of servicemen doubling as gate-posts & war memorials at St.Clare's Village Hall in Auckengill. First photographed these many years ago & in all my wanderings I've never come across anything similar.

Soon back on the cliffs, the serious ones beginning at the tiny, abandoned quarry at Skirza. Amazingly there is a path of sorts to follow &, if you only ever do one walk in this part of Scotland this should be it! Arches, stacks, collapsed sea caves, sheer gorges, nesting fulmars & the bobbing heads of seals some 200' below. Saw one 'bonxie' (Great Skua) as well but I think he was lost!

Fulmars

Highlight of the Day: ever one for changing finishing points, (The West Highland Way to finish on Ben Nevis, The Great Glen Way to finish at Clachnaharry sea lock!), I'd be inclined to make Duncansby Stacks the northern destination for end-to-enders. It's further away from Land's End by a couple of miles & is, visually, much more appealing than the hideous, gaudy monstrosity that is the John O' Groats Hotel. I don't suppose that LEDS has quite the same ring as LEJOG, though!
Huge, jagged, towering pinnacles of rock; they almost seem to be standing guard over the country's north-eastern corner. Even better today as the rain meant there were few other visitors!

Duncansby Stacks

Not finished yet, this approach takes the walker behind one final superb beach - the beautiful & surprisingly-sheltered Bay of Sannick. The manager & I counted 32 tiny black heads, young seals, watching as we passed & too nosy to even think about diving below the surface!

Bay of Sannick

But for all of this, today's was quite a sad stretch - I hate finishing long-distance walks. My eyes were drawn greedily to Stroma, to Hoy, to South Ronaldsay.... only a short ferry-crossing away but at least I didn't feel like turning around & walking all the way back to the start which has happened on occasions in the past!

Aaagh! John O'Groats Hotel! It has now been taken over by the Land's End people & re-development plans are in hand. Hopefully it will look a little different on our next visit....

Beer of the Day: 'Scapa Special' from the Highland Brewery, Scottish CAMRA Champion Beer for 2008! 'Signed-in' at the end of LeJog at the 'Seaview Hotel' & they had this on draught! Pale, golden & hoppy with a bit of a malty tang as well - very good beer to finish on!

Cliffs, stacks & arches!

Song of the Day (an occasional series!): 'Head Home' by Midlake.... says it all, really!

Thanks to everyone who has sent messages of support over the last couple of days & to all those who have sent their congratulations. The texts, emails & comments keep coming!
Thanks again to all those kind people we met along the way & for everybody's generous donations.

0 days left!
Things we're looking forward to doing when we get home (Walker): laying on the sofa with a good bottle of red wine & gently falling asleep without the manager's words, 'Don't forget you've still got to blog!', ringing in my ears!

The Blog page will remain open for some time yet as will the JustGiving page & I'll be using it regularly as I try to sort my other photos etc - I may even add some photos at the end once I'm home as the manager has ruthlessly restricted me to 6 photos a day & some really good ones never made the cut! She only let me use 10 today 'cos it's our anniversary!
Please feel free to leave comments - they'll come to our email as well.

104 days walking

328 postcards written

200 different pubs

42 barbecues

4 distilleries

Goodness knows how many new tee-shirts!

.... & still we made it to our 37th Wedding Anniversary!

Hereafter the manager will usually be referred to as Les, her contract having been terminated by mutual agreement.... unless, of course, I want to wind her up!

Made it, then!

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STOP PRESS...

Arrived John o'Groats 2.30pm Wednesday 10th August 2011

LeJog is complete!

More details will be published soonish... if the manager can ever get the Walker out of the pub.

Day 103 - Noss Head to Auckengill

A much better morning but pretty cold again! Where has summer gone?
In fact I wished I'd had gloves on and winter trousers when we walked out to Castle Sinclair Girnigoe. The wind was howling, though the sun did try to shine occasionally. The Walker was impressed by the work to save the castle that had been done since he was here last, however, he was less impressed with the path to Sinclair Bay. I decided to return to the van after battling for a short distance through waist high ferns, nettles and grass whilst being only a foot away from the cliff edge. Well, one of us needs to be in one piece! It was much nicer walking along the beach to meet him at Keiss.

Noss Head Lighthouse

Another friendly group of locals were in the hotel bar at Keiss; one chap had lived and worked in and around Scunthorpe for a number of years, so we chatted about lots of places we both knew and the steelworks there. He expected me to know loads of pubs, though - I was too young to go into them, I left when I was 18.

It's sad to think that tomorrow will be the last walking day. We are camping at Dunnet Bay and I can see a wide expanse of sea, beach and dunes from the window. It's really windy; there's massive waves rolling in and the van is rocking  gently now and again. I shall certainly miss this.

From Bernie:
Today's walk  8.8 miles     :     Cumulative  1285.0 miles

Absolutely brilliant day's walking, including an unbroken stretch of 4 miles along the finest beach in Caithness, with the weather just about on my side - still managed to get a soaking, though!

Wild & windy out at Noss Head; the very conditions that almost destroyed the few remains of Castle Sinclair Girnigoe, family seat of the Sinclairs - the Earls of Caithness & also of Orkney (we visited their castle in Kirkwall a couple of summers ago). Archaeological excavation & restoration work going on here & they're doing an excellent job. When I was here on the 'coastals' everything was crumbling into the sea, fallen stones littered the site & most of the building was too dangerous to enter - now half is open to visitors & the tower itself is almost secure. Wonderfully atmospheric spot & best viewed, I'm sure, with waves crashing into the rocks!

Castle Sinclair Girnigoe

Much drier & easier cliff-top section than yesterday but the manager's right, it is a little overgrown! Soon rock-hopping along the southern shore of Sinclair's Bay towards Ackergill Tower; this, too, was shored up with scaffolding on my last visit & undergoing major restoration - now it's advertised as a 5-star Scottish castle, 'one of the worlds most sought after exclusive use retreats'! Well, I got in the back way, for nothing!

Sinclair's Bay

Highlight of the Day: Noss Head, Castle Girnigoe, cliff-top & beach..... it could all have ended in disaster! Half-way along Sinclair's Bay a river races through the dunes & cuts a channel to the sea; this is the outflow from the Loch of Wester, a large expanse of water about a mile inland which drains rainwater from the surrounding moorland via a vast network of burns. You'll have noticed that we've had a lot of rain in recent days & the river was racing through the sand, stained deep brown with peat.
The highlight was actually being able to cross! The alternative was a massive retreat & a long stretch of dull road-walking or a tricky, marshy walk over the northern end of Ackergill Links golf course. Luckily (partly planned!), it was almost low tide - I wouldn't have stood a chance had the sea been any higher. The river wasn't quite waist-deep but I did get a wet bum! Good thing these new whizzo shorts the manager bought are quick-drying!

Outflow from the Loch of Wester - last hazard of LeJog?!

This river had been foremost in my thoughts ever since setting out this morning & once over, (or through!), I could enjoy the emptiness as I aimed for yet another castle, the ruins of Keiss. Too windy even for seabirds, my only companions were a couple of wind-surfers bouncing up & down the Bay.

Brave wind-surfer!

Beer of the Day: not quite sure how Palmer's 'Dorset Gold' turns out to be the only ale available in a Caithness bar but at least they had one! Very fruity flavour, almost tastes like they couldn't decide between hops & apples - pleasant enough but a bit sweet for me.

Old Keiss Castle & Sinclair's Bay

Song of the Day (an occasional series!): haven't had a Neil Young song yet so how about 'On the Beach' or even 'Cowgirl in the Sand'? Not sure that in either case he was writing about the kind of things I experienced today!

Glen & David: glad you stuck with us all the way & pleased you enjoyed the journey!! Many thanks for the kind donation!
David, you'll have to let us know how you get on playing golf up here - hope you don't spend as much time in the sand as some of the golfers I've seen over the last week!

Jamie & Andy: the cheque's in the post! Sounds like you're having a great time!

Ann: I can't wait to read it again to remind me what I did & to find out if I got there!

Pam: hope the weather improves for your holiday. Thanks for everything!!
PS - with your stories about fairies I was quite hopeful for the washing-up.... but it's still there this morning!

1 day to go!
Things we're looking forward to doing when we get home (manager): being in one place for more than one day!

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Day 102 - Thrumster to Noss Head

Another very wet night with rain pounding on the van. It did begin to clear but we were still fairly late starting. I had to drive back to Dunbeath where I had, stupidly, left my credit card in the Spar shop. Fortunately, it wasn't far to drive back - I had to drop The Walker along that road anyway. This drive is usually very pleasant with excellent sea views but the wind was really strong and there was so much rain that part of the road was flooded. I had planned to stop off at the Whaligoe steps but decided not to. I wouldn't have been able to see much in the driving rain and would have probably been blown away into the sea.

Further North, in Wick, I think the weather had been much better as there were lots of people wandering about in the town, but rain arrived with me! I visited the excellent Heritage Centre - another of those museums with gems about local history; it is extremely well presented and all looked after by local people. Wick, though, always seems to be a bit sad and run down. Maybe it's because the weather has never been good when we've stopped here; it's always been dim and dismal. The town centre has an odd assortment of shops, with the Tourist Information Centre hidden away upstairs at the back of a school uniform shop! Very strange!

From Bernie:
Today's walk  10.0 miles     :     Cumulative  1276.2 miles

Sweatshirt, waterproof & fleece today! Distinctly chilly out on those cliff-tops.... stuck to the shorts, though!

One of those days when it was impossible to completely dry-out; just as I started to feel warm & dry enough to pack my waterproof away another squally shower blasted in & soaked me again. My feet never had the chance to enjoy such moments - 20 minutes into the walk, 10 yards off tarmac & onto the moor & water was over the top of my boots! The only time I wasn't wading or splashing was when wandering the streets of Wick!

There is a coastal track marked on the map but since my last visit it seems that local farmers have extended their pasture as close to the cliff-edge as possible & defined their land with new, high & tautly-strung barbed wire. Crossing these fences in the strong winds was an adventure in itself!

Thrumster Railway Station

The last of my great Industrial Heritage pilgrimages (I think!) began at Thrumster's 'Old Smiddy Inn' where we'd finished yesterday afternoon with David from Whaligoe Steps. I say, 'I think', because while I was looking forward to Wick & thought I knew what to expect, the day's first gem came in Thrumster itself! Spotted a building which to my inexpert eye looked like an old railway station; on investigation I found it to be part of the old Wick-Lybster line, opened in 1903 to support the herring industry & partially-restored with a small memorial garden around it.

Castle of Old Wick

The manager is right about much of the centre of Wick but she didn't have the benefit of a cliff-top & harbour approach to the town. From the spectacularly-situated remains of the 12th century Castle of Old Wick my route took me through the South Head quarries & past the less-robust remains of Thomas Stevenson's breakwater - despite his engineering successes elsewhere the Wick waves defeated him & this project was never completed!

Stevenson's Breakwater & entrance to Wick Harbour

Beside the harbour itself is the splendidly restored 'Herring Market' building; originally opened in 1892 it looks tiny, cheerful & quite colourful next to some of the more modern shipping & fishing buildings. Close by is the 'Seven Gates' project, a series of metal sculpures at the entrances to the harbour's salt-cellars.

One of the Seven Gates - chose this because of the mermaid: 2 days in & I was visiting the 'Mermaid of Zennor' so this seemed to add a bit of symmetry to the whole affair!

Highlight of the Day: it was almost with reluctance that I dragged myself away from the town for the last of the day's splashy walking, out to the lighthouse at Noss Head, but my last sight of Wick as I rounded North Head was a perfect summary of my day. A superb view of the whole town with its historic harbours; in the foreground an old, sadly-neglected & obsolete-looking war memorial; one of the town's two tidal swimming-pools (still in use in rather warmer weather!; a modern fishing trawler anchored in the bay &, beyond all of this, the rugged cliff-tops that I'd walked stretching away to the south. Excellent day's walking..... & John O'Groats is due north of Noss Head!

Wick from North Head

Beer of the Day: finally stumbled across the Williams Brothers Brewery in Alloa - had a bottle of their 'Harvest Sun', a golden bitter with a gentle hoppy flavour & lemony bite.... this is good & I've got a couple more bottles of theirs to try!

Pauline & Terry: thanks for your kind comments about the blog - much appreciated!! And for the generous donation! Hope you're impressed by my developing railway 'knowledge'!

Thanks, also, to all those who have sent emails, messages etc wishing us luck for the last few days! Looking forward to it!

2 days to go!
Things we're looking forward to doing when we get home (Walker): laying on the sofa with a good bottle of red wine & enjoying the aroma of a real home-made curry wafting through from Les' 'big' kitchen!

The Wick River, just below our van..... & rising!

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Day 101 - Lybster to Thrumster

Heavy rain clattering on the van at 5.30 this morning woke me up; The Walker said it had been raining heavily most of the night. So there was no rush to set off today as the only let-up in the wet weather was, according to the forecast, going to be this afternoon but that, if it happened, would only be for a couple of hours. It was exactly right and this evening's weather is a repeat of the morning.

When I dropped The Walker off at Lybster Harbour, we both walked up to look at the burn, which was only a trckle yesterday,but was  now raging with water. I then went into the Waterlines Heritage Centre which seems to be more interested in being a cafe. It did have a few interesting geological displays upstairs and some local history - I always like that. There was a cool camera so that you could watch the area around outside from inside the centre. I played with this for quite a while (I was the only visitor, everyone else was eating cake in the cafe part!) watching the sea, the cliffs and zooming in on the sea gulls. Great fun.

Reisgill Burn, Lybster

From Bernie:
Today's walk  11.3 miles     :     Cumulative  1266.2 miles

Coldest & wettest day of the whole LeJog! Wore a sweatshirt & my waterproof all of the walk, a first for both.... still shorts weather, though!

Lybster Harbour

Amazing how quickly a landscape can change; even on moorland tracks here the ground is usually spongy to the tread but after 12 hours of heavy rain lakes have appeared from nowhere, streams flow freely over farmland & rough pasture alike, rivers have become fearsome torrents. Stuck to back lanes & the A99 today - the 2 short cross-country stretches looked totally unnavigable!

Another one of those sculptures! I'd have missed this if I'd gone splashing across the moor!

As noted, I'd planned that the final 30 miles or so would all be along cliffs & beaches which is why I'd allowed a generous 3 days; if this weather persists, as is forecast, we'll just have more time for touristy stuff! Already pencilled in a visit to the Old Pulteney distillery tomorrow to use up the last bits of 'time-in-hand'!

Song of the Day (an occasional series!): camped on the banks of the Wick River tonight &, hopefully, tomorrow! Dylan's 'Down in the Flood' would seem hugely appropriate (Sandy Denny used to do a cracking live version) & if you don't hear from us tomorrow, we may be!

Highlight of the Day: Wick & the castles of Sinclair's Bay are still ahead but today's walk took me to the highlight of this whole final section & a piece of Industrial Heritage which matches anything on the entire walk - Whaligoe Steps!
Built in 1792, this flight of 365 steps was hewn out of a 250' high, almost vertical cliff down a treacherous route to reach a seemingly inaccessible fishing station.

Looking down the Whaligoe Steps

Its name comes from a quirk of tides & currents which often saw dead whales (old age!) washed into the inlet. Enterprising locals rigged up pulleys & winches to haul butchered carcasses to the top of the cliff & from here an industry was born. As a fishing station the most significant catch was herring but salmon & crabs were also important.
At its height 20 boats worked out of this tiny inlet & giant schooners were reversed alongside 'The Bink', a raised level platform used for fish-processing, to export produce on a large scale. The remains of the salthouse can still be seen on 'The Bink' as can the cooperage at the top of the cliffs. If you look carefully you can still spot winches, eye bolts, barking kettle, fire grille, holes which held the poles for net-drying & even small niches which held oil-lamps to enable work to continue in the dark!

Whaligoe - the green patch at the bottom is 'The Bink', now grassed-over

This is an absolutely tremendous place, a gem not to be missed if you're ever in this part of Scotland; I'd been before but never at high tide, which was why I was determined to tackle the steps again today despite the weather. Tourist info suggests the steps can be slippery in wet weather but they are very well-maintained & perfectly safe if you're careful!

Whaligoe - imagine 20 fishing boats here.... or a loading schooner!

I was lucky to meet & chat to David Nicolson who 'looks after' the steps & he was able to tell me stuff about Whaligoe that I didn't know. He made a kind donation to the BHF & then raced me to the pub (he was in a car!) where he bought the manager & me a drink! Met his cousin who announced that they have relatives in Braintree! Another cousin, called Danny Watson, who is a teacher.... this seemed to come as a surprise to David!

Beer of the Day: 'Goliath' from Wychwood - a very English beer! An amber, malty bitter - good, like most of Wychwood's beers..... though I still haven't quite got over that 'Hot Chocolate' on Day 61!

David: thanks for your generosity & kind hospitality - your donation will be added as soon as I can get the JustGiving page to work! Internet a bit tired tonight!

Julia: if the weather allows I still have a couple of superb beaches to go &, if I can finish over the Duncansby Stacks cliffs, there are usually seals about there.... but I doubt they'll be as obliging!

Ann: checked the weather again on Monday morning & the update looks a bit brighter - must have heard I'm on my way!

3 days to go!
Things we're looking forward to doing when we get home (manager): cooking 'real' meals in a big kitchen!

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Day 100 - Berriedale to Lybster

A momentous day - 100 days of walking, 100 travelling days, 100 days living in the van.

The weather was beautiful this morning and, as I gazed out of the van window, drinking my morning coffee, it made me think of things that I shall miss. One of the best things about camping or caravanning is the walk to the loo first thing in the morning when the ground is so fresh and the whole world is bright and sparkly. Today I could see a great expanse of shimmering blue sea and the majestic Dunbeath Castle in  amongst the green cliffs.  It can also be one of the worst things, when it's cold and pouring down with rain. Luckily the van has its own loo for those occasions!

Dunbeath Castle from the Harbour

After dropping The Walker at Berriedale I drove back to Dunbeath and had time to wander along a bit of the Heritage trail, watch fish (couldn't tell if they were salmon or not) leaping in the sea and  river and also pop into the Spar shop for lunch.

Later I went to the Clan Gunn museum. It was more interesting than I'd expected (not being a member - I used to know a Sue Gunn many years ago, but I don't think that counts!). Anyway, it's in an old chapel and graveyard, alone on the cliffs- very atmospheric. Apparently a lot of Americans, Australians and New Zealanders come here to visit to try to find their roots.The defeat at Culloden was the major break up of the Clans and, of course, it was the Clearances which led to so many emigrating.

I could have bought The Walker a Clan Gunn polo shirt to make up for the lack of whisky ones!

From Bernie:
Today's walk  13.7 miles     :     Cumulative  1254.9 miles

Learned from yesterday's lesson & only took to the cliff-tops where I'd walked before.... but that meant rather more of the A9 than I would have liked &, familiar story, the only hotel/pub en route now just does B&B!
Not quite free from yesterday's legacy - when stopping for lunch, climbing into the van & leaving the fresh air & cooling breeze, my legs burned & tingled from the thousands of nettle-stings & bramble scratches! Almost a relief to be walking again!

No pubs but plenty of llamas - how useful is that?!

Highlight of the Day: Tooters, Wavers, Stoppers & Gossipers!
I experienced the beginning of this phenomenon yesterday & today it just escalated amazingly! I suppose that's what comes of walking along a road, in good weather & at the weekend when lots of people are busy gardening! Several locals stopped me & wanted to talk about LeJog, a couple with a caravan pulled into a lay-by to ask if I was doing LeJog & I walked up the final bit of Berriedale Braes with a couple of cyclists, women in their thirties, who'd been going 2 weeks & were due to finish about 3.00 this afternoon!

Looking back into Berriedale

Add to this the tooting horns & waves - it made me feel like a celebrity, even though all the stopping & starting..... & all the talking, is quite tiring!
Of course, there are loonies in cars who seem not to see a walker at all & insist on overtaking whatever is in front of them: when the traffic is coming towards you it's easy enough to take evasive action, if a little painful at times, but when they're coming from behind it feels like the end of the world.
Parted company with the re-designated A9 at Latheron & it was significantly quieter afterwards - there's not much up the old A9 other than Wick & John O'Groats!

Lunched with the manager in the van at Dunbeath harbour, close to this fine memorial to Neil Gunn, the popular Scottish novelist who was born in the village. (Hence the Clan Gunn museum visited by the manager this afternoon)

The sculpture is called 'Kenn & the Salmon' & is based on a character & event in his novel 'Highland River' which won him the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction in 1937, enabling him to give up his job & become a full-time writer.

North-East Caithness & all the mountains have gone - still some good cliffs, though!

Finished the day approaching Lybster's large harbour along my 'safe' cliff-top route, passing the Caithness oil-well. Established in 2008, it is Scotland's first onshore drilling site & certainly took me by surprise; a quarter of a mile away is the restored 'Brethren Well', believed to have been opened by 6th century monks & used on these hilltops for fresh water for almost 1500 years!

Lybster Harbour

Beer of the Day: I've been trying to avoid this but Scotland seems to have run out of beer! Had a pint of 'Deuchars IPA' today from the 'Caledonian' brewery - hugely popular, it seems to be on draught in at least half of the bars I've visited. I find it rather tasteless & non-descript - not a knee-jerk reaction but sadly based on several rather dull experiences!

Supreme irony: having just about absorbed the day I've had in hand for weeks, I've just looked at Sunday's weather forecast - heavy rain all day! Doesn't seem fair, really!

4 days to go!
Things we're looking forward to doing when we get home (Walker): laying on the sofa with a good bottle of red wine & watching the start of the Premiership season. I did, after all, miss the end of last season...

Di: deserted beaches & cliff-tops are the norm here.... everybody's on the A9!

Karen & Ann: good to hear from you, the manager is looking forward to a 'girly' night & having somebody to talk to other than me!

Ann: as you can see I've been extra-careful today but I'm hoping that, weather-permitting, most of the last 30 miles will be along beaches & cliffs.... most of which I've walked before & I survived last time! The sculptures, especially those that I've stumbled across in unusual & unexpected places, have been a real feature of the 'Scottish' stretch.

Pam: strange how I seem to have encountered far more females on this trek than males!
The sea-eagle spent some time in Inverness with a camera mounted in its eye - I thought it might provide a useful update to Alec's CCTV system..... 'eagle-eyed'!

Day 99 - Helmsdale to Berriedale

Today was an "in-and-out-of-van" day. It began accompanying The Walker along the shore from Helmsdale for about a mile before going back to the van and driving to the designated lay-by with refreshments. After that I drove to the next meeting place (the Clearances Memorial layby), walked to said memorial and finally drove  to pick him up.These type of days are very bitty and I never really feel that I have done much, especially as I spend a lot of the time wondering if I am in the correct place and looking out for The Walker, especially if he is a bit later than anticipated.

'Silver Darlings' Herring sculpture, Helmsdale Harbour

The weather was good for walking - sunny intervals and fairly breezy. At the Memorial it was easy to see why the villagers had to tether their animals (and children!)  to the mountain, it was easy to be blown away! I met a lovely couple in the car park; they had seen The Walker earlier and as he hobbled off on the last leg of today's walk they asked if he was a Lejogger. Mr and Mrs Colin McRae then very kindly donated towards the BHF as Mrs MacRae's mother has recently had a triple by-pass ( at 82) and is brilliant now.

From Bernie:
Today's walk  10.3 miles     :     Cumulative  1241.2 miles

Well, I've walked in some pretty stupid places but today probably takes the biscuit!

As the manager has noted we set off from Helmsdale along a track above the beach, a ploy designed to cut out a chunk of A9 walking; I'd checked in a local walking book & there is a designated circular walk using a route up from the pebbles, through Navidale Farm & back to the town. We reached the stream which splashes down through dense undergrowth, blocking any approach to the farm, & the manager turned back to pick up the van. I continued my rock-hopping quest along the shore, certain that, at some point, I would find somewhere to scramble up the low sandy bank to reach the track above, quite clearly shown on the OS map.

Shoreline north-east of Helmsdale

Needless to say, I ran out of beach before finding any escape route & the low sandy bank had now become an overgrown cliff! If I'd had any sense I'd have turned around, returned to Helmsdale & used the A9 - but no! Instead I climbed a waterfall into a jungle of head-high bracken, nettles, gorse & brambles.... after all, there is a marked track at the top! Foolish! This is a Scottish track & doesn't exist!
About half-way up it did occur to me that if I slipped I could end up breaking something quite important & that would be a slightly ignominious end to LeJog.... & so close to the finish! It took me about an hour & a half to hack my way to the main road & I've spent the rest of the evening removing sheep ticks!

Route of my ascent!

Highlight of the Day: another Clearances story!
The ogre this time was Sir John Sinclair of Ulbster who 'cleared' the nearby glens of Ousdale & Berriedale, giving the crofters a precipitous stretch of sea-facing moorland on which to live. They built their new homes from loose stone they uncovered as they tried to cultivate this barren land. At one point 80 people lived at Badbea but the number gradually declined as families emigrated; the last straw came towards the end of the 19th century when the laird discontinued herring fishing in favour of salmon & took away any possibility of employment for the villagers.
This huge monument is not a modern apology: it was erected in 1911, shortly after the last villagers left, by David Sutherland - he was the son of one of the first emigrants to New Zealand & he used the stones of his father's house.

Beyond Badbea I was surprised when an approaching car slowed down, tooted & the 2 young lads inside gave me a thumbs-up sign - something of a change from the rude gestures that are more usual when road-walking! Shortly afterwards 2 young women did much the same but they waved frantically as they passed. Descending Berridale Braes a cyclist yelled "Go for it!" as he sped past & it suddenly occurred to me, who else but a LeJogger would be walking along this stretch of the A9? Made me feel quite good!

River mouth at Berriedale

Finished the day at Berriedale; in the news a few years ago when a huge storm caused a landslip which carried away one of the hairpins on the notoriously steep road & closed the A9 for some considerable time.

Berridale Braes - the new retaining wall can be seen on the far side of the valley

Beer of the Day: struggling again! Had a bottle of 'Isle of Arran' Blonde which I've always liked. While it could easily be mistaken for a lager, it is a healthy 5% & has a quite distinctive flavour, not unlike Lowenbrau, an all-time favourite!

5 days to go!
Things we're looking forward to doing when we get home (manager): not having to work out how a different shower works every day!