Route

I hope to be able to share my progress in real time during the walk itself.

How I planned the Route

When I started musing on walking the length of England and Scotland, Lands End and John o’Groats were never really in with a shout. I live more-or-less in the bottom right-hand corner of England, so why start or finish in the bottom left-hand one; home is so much more compelling. As to the northern end, I only had to gaze longingly at the wilderness which lies to the north of Fort William to know that that was where I needed to be.

Long-Distance Paths

Having settled on my starting and finishing points (I still hadn’t decided which direction to walk in) I had no hesitation in fixing the route around five long-distance footpaths: The Cape Wrath Trail, The West Highland Way, The Pennine Way, The Cotswold Way, and The South Downs Way. Having got a framework, my next concern was to add in some variety. I longed to revive my teenage-hood passion for disused railway lines, and so I’ve included parts of the Cromford and High Peak Railway and the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway on my itinerary; I also plan to walk along 65 miles of canal towpath either side of Birmingham. After that, it was really just a case of joining the dots. Several regional ‘recreational footpaths’ did most of that, so there can’t be more than about 50 miles of the route I planned from scratch.

Which Direction?

Deciding whether to go south-to-north or north to south was the hardest. In the end that was just practical. I had unavoidable commitments during May, and I just had to avoid the worst of the midges in Scotland.

Thanks

My particular thanks to Paul and Rebecca Whitewick, whose advice and YouTube channel inspired my choice of disused railways, and to Jon Monks of GPS Training, who went to great lengths to make sure I got the GPS device and software I needed, and on which this route has been planned.

The Route in Detail

The planned route divides into ten roughly equally-weighted stages, which are delineated by the markers in the map above and the description below. The mileages given are to the nearest mile, and are as measured in the route on the map. The actual route taken may differ somewhat, and the mileages walked are likely to be greater than those planned by 6% – 12%.

Stage 1

Cape Wrath – Cape Wrath Trail ( – Sandwood Bay – Rhiconich – Inchnadamph – Oykel Bridge) – Ullapool (91 miles, 2 pubs, no shops, eta 30th May)

Stage 2

Ullapool – Inverael – Cape Wrath Trail ( – Kinlochewe – Shiel Bridge – Knoydart Peninsula – Glenfinnan) – Druim Fada – Fort William (147 miles, 4 pubs, 2 shops, eta 10th June +/- 1 day)

Stage 3

Fort William – West Highland Way ( – Ben Nevis – Kinlochmore – Bridge of Orchy – Grampian Mountains – Tyndrum – Crianlarich – Loch Lomond – ) Milngavie – Kelvin Walkway ( – Maryhill – North Kelvin – ) Glasgow (101 miles, eta 22nd June +/- 2 days)

Stage 4

Glasgow – Clyde Walkway ( – Motherwell – Clydesdale – ) Lanark – Carstairs – Pentland Hills – Cross Borders Drove Road ( – West Linton – Peebles – ) Traquair – Southern Upland Way ( – Galashiels – ) Melrose – St Cuthbert’s Way ( – Newtown St Boswell’s – Jedburgh – ) Kirk Yetholm (138 miles, eta 29th June +/- 2 days)

Stage 5

Kirk Yetholm – Pennine Way ( – The Cheviot – Cheviot Hills – Byrness – Bellingham – Hadrian’s Wall – Alston – Alston Moor – Milburn Forest – Dufton – Tees Valley – Middleton in Teesdale – ) Bowes – Barnard Castle (132 miles, eta 6th July +/- 3 days)

Stage 6

Barnard Castle – Bowes – Pennine Way ( – Stainmore Forest – Stonesdale Moor – Thwaite – Hawes – Dodd Fell – Horton in Ribblesdale – Pen-y-Ghent – Malham – Gargrave – Earby – Oakworth Moor – Wadsworth Moor – Hebden Bridge – Langfield Common – Moss Moor – Wessenden Moor – Longdendale – Bleaklow – High Peak – ) Edale – Limestone Way – Wye Dale – Buxton (147 miles, eta 14th July +/- 3 days)

Stage 7

Buxton – Midshires Way – Cromford & High Peak Railway – Ashbourne – Bonnie Prince Charlie Walk – Etwall – Repton – Burton upon Trent – Trent & Mersey Canal – Coventry Canal – Birmingham & Fazeley Canal – Birmingham – Grand Union Canal – Stratford-upon-Avon Canal – Stratford-upon-Avon (111 miles, eta 19th July +/- 4 days)

Stage 8

Stratford-upon-Avon – Monarch’s Way ( – Long Marsden – ) Chipping Campden – Cotswold Way ( – Broadway – Winchcombe – Cheltenham – Painswick – Harefield Hill – Dursely – Wooton-under-Edge – Old Sodbury – Cold Ashton – ) Bath Spa (116 miles, eta 26th July +/- 5 days)

Stage 9

Bath Spa – Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway ( – Radstock – Midsomer Norton – ) Shepton Mallet – East Mendip Way – Nunney – Macmillan Way – Mere – Monarch’s Way again ( – Fonthill Bishop – ) Barford St Martin – Bishopstone – Fordingbridge – New Forest – Michelmersh – Monarch’s Way yet again ( – Hursley – ) Winchester (112 miles, eta 31st July +/- 5 days)

Stage 10

Winchester – South Downs Way ( – Exton – Buriton – Beacon Hill – Amberley – Chanconbury Ring – Truleigh Hill – Devil’s Dyke – Ditchling Beacon – Southease – Firle Beacon – Alfriston – ) Eastbourne – Pevensey – 1066 Country Path ( – Windmill Hill – Battle – Westfield – Three Oaks – Guestling Woods– Hastings Country Park – Hastings (135 miles, eta 6th August +/- 6 days)