A Short Walk Along The Length Of The UK...

Sometimes quite ordinary people do extraordinary things. This is OM member Bryan Crick's own accound of his epic three-month walk from Land's End to John o'Groats. Even more impressively, Bryan is 64 and his companon Ron a sprightly 70.

In Bryan's own words, he's 'no journalist', but we liked his story.

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It all started with my birthday, my 64th birthday at the end of July 2002 and it ended about a year later at John o'Groats...

One of my birthday presents was the Lands End to John o'Groats Walk by Andrew McCloy, a guide to planning the ultimate footpath walking adventure, his words not mine.

You'd better get on with it then...

And sure enough, as I read it I started to think then actually said, "I could do this". To which my lovely wife replied, 'Well you better get on with it then, because you are not getting any younger!'

Bryan and Ron at John o'Groats impressive stuff and they raised £2500 for charity too

That was it, of course, from then on I was going! What followed was a great deal of looking at maps and re-reading the book. Then around Christmas Joan asked: 'Are you really going?' "Oh yes", I replied. "Well don't you think you should start doing something then?" she said. Which was quite right, I had in fact done nothing much at all.

Between 1st January and 3rd March 2003 I acquired all the maps and marked them up with the route. Just about then, a fellow member of the N/East backpackers club approached me and asked if I would like a travelling companion to which I readily agreed. Next I dehydrated enough food for the whole trip for us both, finally sitting down and making up list after list and filling and addressing boxes.

Lists, Lots of Lists

List A: the proposed route, with a column for day, date, place, map and map ref, Campsite and phone number. Plus type of meal (pub/dehydrated/cook in hostel).

List B: contents of food parcels for our reference en route.

List C: addresses for food parcels for Joan and Ron's daughter.

In February I phoned all the numbers I had for campsites, farms etc only to find most of them were not open until Easter!! However I was able to talk most people into letting us camp anyway, with minimum facilities. So all I had to do was purchase the train tickets and we were all set.

And They're Off

We started from Lands End on the 4th March and walked back to the hostel we had left that morning in Penzance. The idea was to keep to footpaths and bye-ways, but there had been a lot of rain and they were all knee-deep in effluent so it was road walking. We came around a corner and just ahead a bit was a huge expanse of water. "Ron," I said, "time to panic, that water is not on the map."

"Let's see." he said, before observing that we were either totally lost or the water was new. Just then we realised it was not moving at all in the fairly stiff wind. It was plastic sheet!

We found a pub just down the road from the hostel where, having had a beer festival the previous weekend they were selling beer at £1 a pint.

What a good start!

Saved By The Belle

The next day we set off and would not see the sea again until we got to Scotland. That night we ccamped in a waterlogged field but the plan seemed to be working. But at the end of the next day we were stood in a lane with map, compass and GPS but no sign of a campsite.

Now remember I had phoned and spoken to somebody at all the places listed. This was where we found out just how good people could and would be for the whole journey. We went into a local farm and the farmer gave us somewhere to camp then his wife gave us tea and Kit-Kats, they then drove us to the local pub so we could get dinner. Collected us afterwards and insisted we went into the house for coffee and cake and a chat.

The next morning called us into the house where they had put towels in the spare room and we had a shower and shave then as we came down put breakfast in front of us!! After that the plan seemed to work, but my feet were already beginning to play up so we were running late and it was raining and getting dark. (Remember at that time of year you have to be pitched by 4 pm to do it in daylight.).

Aga Saga...

So again we knocked on the door of a farmhouse to get permission to camp in their field. Well no, you can have a bed though, was the reply, and the lady took us in gave us a room and put towels in the spare bathroom and would have cooked for us I think but we had rehydrated our evening meal so she just gave us some red wine and let us do it on the Aga. The next morning she was just leaving when I got up and I was so embarrassed I said, oh sorry we will leave immediately. She said no bother, just slam the door on your way out!

Needless to say, breakfast was waiting for us on the kitchen table. After that we encountered something we had not foreseen in this country, a lack of water. We were supposed to wild camp on Bodmin moor but had almost given up when we finally found a pitch with some water. Then everything was going well when we left Bridestowe and walked straight into a gale blowing east to west, so straight at us. Even with our 40lb packs we were blown about so we cut that day short and headed for Oakhampton YHA. Unfortunately this meant an 18 mile day next day.

'Where did you come from?'

Apart from the first two or three days when we had some rain we had very sunny weather for the next six weeks, which means freezing cold nights. But it means there were lots of people about and many of them stopped us asked where we were going, it is great fun to watch peoples faces as you say John o'Groats because they automatically say and where did you come from? Lands End you reply and they sort of do a double take and say WHAT!

Still many of them gave us money for our charity so that was nice. We found the way marking on lots of these paths left much to be desired but that was why we took the GPS to sort things out if we needed it. There was one occasion where I was using an old map from 1974, the route showed us going onto the A30 for about half a mile and then onto country lanes. Well we stepped onto the road that has, I am glad to say a nice wide green verge to it, and off we went.

After a bit Ron says look they always put up a sign about a mile before a turnoff and I cannot see one. Well I said look here it is on the map! So we continued, actually once you ignore the traffic noise it is quite pleasant walking. Finally I stopped and got out the GPS, this gave us a map reference somewhere in the middle of a field about a mile north and east of where we thought we were! However it was as I said easy walking and did in fact go very near to where we wanted to be so we continued.

You're Early You Know...

To be honest there was no other path or road off, so it was Hobson's choice. We continued to travel east because the first 250 miles from Lands End to Bath are more or less easterly. We travelled along the old Grand Western Canal for a bit and when we got to Bath YHA (remember I'd booked everything), they said, Oh you're not coming until tomorrow! So having climbed up that very steep hill we had to go down again to a hostel in the town, which as my pal's hip was playing up was not funny, so we called a cab.

The next day was strange. We could not find the start of the Cotswold Way! You would think something so popular would be well signposted, well it isn't; actually we stumbled on it following another path out of the city. We went from the Cotswold Way onto the Severn River way, then onto the Staffs way. At one of the farm sites we stayed at I had eaten a banana and put the skin down in my porch to dispose of in the morning when suddenly a horse pushed its nose under and whipped it away and ate it.

This was in the Stroud area which is very steep indeed. At one point we came around a corner and Ron's voice behind me said, bloody hell the last time I saw a climb like that it had a ladder up it. We went along the canal path to Brewood and walked into a pub and asked for a possible camp site as we were doing a charity walk. Well we don't have one they replied. A chap at the bar said wait a minute, and got on his mobile phone. Right he said that's ok you will camp at the local fire station, someone will come and take you around there now.

Onto The Pennine Way

We went from the Staffs way to the Limestone way and then onto the Pennine Way. Again this was difficult because of the lack of water for wild camping. We thought we would be fine as this is our normal stamping ground but no. When we got to Edale we were amazed to discover that they stop serving food at 7pm and that they had Bronco loo paper in the campsite loos.

Despair And Gloom

When we got to Cow Green on the Pennine way we had arranged to be picked up to go home for a short Easter break. This is when I should have stopped to sort out my feet, but didn't. We started back and I got as far as Bellingham before they went septic. That night the pain was intense and as it poured with rain, my tent leaked and went straight through my inner and wet my down sleeping bag, I decided it was time to go home.

It is very difficult to explain to people just how awful that was and the despair and gloom it caused. Ron said that there was no way he would go on without me and that we should start again soon.

I went to the foot doctor - sports podiatrist Andrew at the Rebound Clinic in Settle and bought a new tent. Then waited impatiently for my feet to heal. This took nearly a month and finally, after a couple of ten-mile trials and when I couldn't wait any longer, we set off again.

As if the trip had not thrown up enough problems on the first night we got a phone call from Joan to say a very good friend of ours had just died in his tent on the hill in the Isle of Arran. We continued on the Pennine way then onto Deer Street to Melrose then onto the Southern Upland Way to Broadmeadows SYHA which we learnt the day we started for it had just been closed down due to a severe flash flood! All their water tanks, which were set at the top of the hill were now at the bottom with a couple of thousand tons of rubble. Was this walk cursed!!!?

In The Borders

However when we got there we were allowed to stay as they were just packing up to leave the next morning. God was still looking after us. We went up through Peebles to Carlops and West Clifton to the Forth Bridge and managed to cross it and camp at the scouts HQ. From there we went via Kinross, South Arditte, through Glen Shee to Ballachraggan then on to Aberfeldy.

The next day we walked through StrathTay up steeply to Ballechin Wood and on to Pitlochry it was a very hot day and as we walked into the outskirts we encountered an ice cream stall. So we bought one explaining what we were doing and the man insisted we go to his restaurant that night for a free meal.

Storm 'Gorm

This was followed by the site owners refusing any payment, which was rather nice. The camp site at Blair Atholl had all mod cons and as with the last couple of sites heated loos/showers. Next it was up Glen Tilt to the white bridge which would have been fine if Geldie Burn had not been in full spat! I got across the stones but the wind pushed Ron off and he copped a boot full. The Lairig Ghru was next and as we approached it so a storm brewed up and lashed us with rain and wind which made for very heavy going.

When we got to the pools of Dee, where we thought we were going to camp, it turned out to be a boulder field. We managed to camp at the old Sinclair hut ruin. Onto Boat of Garten, Findhorn Bridge where we were allowed to camp in a front garden and then Inverness. Where we stayed in the most appalling hostel. Dingwall, Alness, Dornoch and Brora all unfortunately following the A9.

The End... Absolutely Wonderful

Now we turn off and go up the Strath of Kildonan through Kinbrace,Forsinard, Achiemore and right onto the A836 to Reay. Next was Thurso our first big town for ages with an all singing all dancing campsite. So like the man who drinks Black Label we got ALL our washing done and dried and hit the town. No! we had our Paramos on, but I forgot to do up my leg zips and Ron the swine didn't tell me! We did Dunnet Head, the farthest North, Duncansby Head the farthest N/East and walked into John o'Groats at noon on the 3rd July feeling absolutely wonderful.

On our return we were met by a piper and the local press, we had raised around £2500 for Assoc. Spina Bifida and Hydracaphalus (ASBAH).

© Bryan Crick 2003