WHY - Day 7

Mission accomplished!! Finished the Way @ 15.00 today. All OK, all tired, all wet, all cold.

WHW - Day 6

Been a long day - the walk was short, but did have a 1000 foot climb!! Great day, and some great views... Evening in Kinlochleven - food & pool with Tom & Alex (we won!!) - just tomorrow to go - so we've already done 80 or so miles...

WHW - Day 5

We did it!! Walked 20 miles, Tyndrum to Kingshouse over Ranoch Moor! Took 8.5 hours including stops - not too bad! More than 70 miles done now - looking good. Couple of hours rain today, other than that, pretty sunny again - love it!

WHW - Day 4

Good day's walking - v scenic. Not too difficult either! Well beyond half way on the walk. Some trepidation about tomorrow - just the 20 miles! Probably in the rain... Had a great evening in Tyndrum - Scottish buffet in hotel, then whiskies in the bar next door...

WHW - Day 3

Long old day - all 4 v tired. Caught back up with schedule - c. 18 mile day. 5 miles round Inversnaid hardest walking I've ever done. Avoid Inversnaid Hotel like the plague - as welcoming as an open wound! J says I have to be sure to say how bad my feet smelt after walk - grim! Now washed, along with socks... Can't wait for tomorrow!

WHW - Day 2

Tremendous weather today - slightly sunburnt. Early walking from Drymen not too inspiring, but slogging up & down 1000 feet of Conic Hill gave amazing views of Loch Lomond, and it just got better & better all day... We finished 3 miles early, so will need to add that on tomorrow which will make it a bit of a slog...

WHW Day 1

Cracking day - 12 miles covered. Fairly easy walking up from Milngavie. Decent weather, good company - what more could you ask for?

WHW Day 1

Cracking day - 12 miles covered. Milngavie - Drymen. Fairly easy walking up from Milngavie. Decent weather, good company - what more could you ask for??

WHW Day Minus 1

Have survived Letchworth - Fort William in car, & bus back to glasgow. Just. 13 hours travelling. Weather & scenery in Highlands was fantastic - hopefully won't change!

Training Update - August 2009

Don't ask!!

Family holiday was in the way, and have only done 12 miles walking and 8 cycling!!

WHW now only 9 days away - starting to worry!!

Training Update - July 2009

Things were marginally, but only marginally better in July - 32 miles walking, and 25 miles cycling - still rubbish - too much work, and time away with work to get enough done... Not good enough...

Training Update - June 2009

It's got to be said, I had a shocker in June... 31 miles walking, and a whole 15 miles cycling!!

No excuses - think I was away some with work, and some weather was too hot to want to do anything, but it ain't good enough - 15 of those walking miles were on 1 day!!

July is looking better, but need to stick to things, or it'll all go to rats...

Stuff...

So, what am I taking??

Well, I've got some Raichle Sierra boots, which I'm starting to like a lot...

I've blagged a Berghaus FreeFlow 30+6 rucksack from my mate, Ben, which I need to start actually walking with to get used to it...

Have bought several pairs of Bridgedale socks from Specialist Socks, who seem like a good company...

Have picked up a couple of rather nice aluminium water bottles from Outdoor Scotland, and have some isotonic power on order to drop in 1 of 'em...

Training Update - May 2009

Well, good bits & bad bits - went past the April walking total - 53 miles, but didn't get anywhere near it in cycling - only 30 miles...

Walking's certainly getting easier - 10 mile walks no real problem, but I think I need to find time for a couple longer - 14 - 16 mile maybe - each month.

Cycling's not a problem, just weather and working patterns meaning I didn't get to do much - when I have free time, the walking seems more important.

Dates Are Set!!

We've decided on the dates when we'll be walking the West Highland Way - driving up from Gloucester on Monday 14th September (just the 450 miles!!), starting the walk on Tuesday 15th and finishing in Fort William on Monday 21st September...

Training Update - April 2009

Well, I achieved the aim for April - did more than March - managed 47.5 miles walking and 49 cycling... Included in that was 1 mammoth 20 mile day, which was hard work, but at least I managed it!!

Brilliant News - We Got Company!!

At an intensive planning session last weekend, we managed to get all the logistics sorted, and Tom & Alex, Andy's sons, will be making the walk with us...

I really couldn't be happier about this - not only are they great blokes, who Andy thought the absolute total world of, but they'll obviously be carrying our bags for the week!!

They've set up another JustGiving page - give it a look...

Training Update - March 2009

Well, I'm probably not going to get too much done in the next couple of days, so the scores on the doors for March are overall 40 miles walking, 40 miles cycling - more cycling than I've done in a few months, and more 'proper' walking than I've ever done, I should think...

Key thing - to build on this, and make sure, month on month, the numbers go up...

First Joint Training Session

Cranham to Stonehouse - Cotswold Way

Well, I picked up some decent boots a couple of weeks ago, from the very nice people at Cotswold Outdoor, and had done a little walking round Longlevens to break 'em in, as well as a trip up Chosen Hill last Sunday morning in some rather bracing hail, but yesterday was the Full Monty - a day of walking with J, who'd come over from Herts for the occasion...

We looked round a bit for a route, and chose a slab of the Cotswold Way - south of Cheltenham, so no hassles with race traffic, and of a suitably 'introductory' length - 12 miles, Cranham - Stonehouse - we could have walked south - north, rather than north - south, but my limited understanding of the topography suggested this might be more 'up hill' - facts seem to bear this out - we climbed 1500' and dropped 2000' rather than the other way round, which at this stage I view as 'a good thing'...

So, what did we learn??

• This kind of length walk is very achievable in a day - 12 miles took us less than 5 hours


• Without more training, further (and there's a 20 mile day on the WHW!!) will be a struggle - we need more miles in our legs, over a prolonged period


• J needs some footwear which doesn't damage something on his plates of meat


• Whatever nightlife the Highlands has to offer is not under threat - bed by 9.30!!


• A portage service to move our kit from A - B - C looks like a sensible investment - life's hard enough with a day bag full of fresh air!!


• If at all possible, a sensible pace, and regular breaks help a heck of a lot...


• Sausage & onion sandwiches make a big difference


• It's fun - reasonable distance A-B walking is great, and the peace & quiet and the views are brilliant


• A hot bath / shower after walking is worth selling your soul for...

Slabs of the Cotswold Way look like representative, local, attractive training prospects - found a great site with relevant info, so will hopefully be doing more...

Proposed Itinerary

Well, we had an intensive planning session at the start of last week, and we think we're probably looking at something like this (certainly makes you aware of the scope of the task):

• Day 1 - Milngavie - Drymen - 12 miles
• Day 2 - Drymen - Rowardennan - 14 miles
• Day 3 - Rowardennan - Inverarnan - 13.5 miles
• Day 4 - Inverarnan - Tyndrum - 12.5 miles
• Day 5 - Tyndrum - Kingshouse - 20 miles
• Day 6 - Kingshouse - Kinlochleven - 8.5 miles
• Day 7 - Kinlochleven - Fort William - 14.5 miles

Good News & Bad News

The good news is that, as you can hopefully see, we're past half way on the £2K target - though, of course, if we wildly exceed it, no-one will be complaining, least of all St Leonards...

The bad news is that I can't seem to get the £$%& JustGiving site to change the photo of the 3 of us - so I think we might be stuck with the 70s look for the duration!!

It Could Be Worse...

We could be up there at the moment!!

The Route - Oh My God!!

The overall route is, we think, just over 100 miles, running from near Glasgow to Fort William - looks something like this... Disturbingly it seems to go quite close to something referred to as 'Alps'...

Photo Update

If you've visited the JustGiving page, you'll have seen this rather dubious picture of the three of us, from something like 1978 or so... Less than ideal...










Well, you'll be pleased to know that we've tracked down something a little more current - from more like 2005, when the three of us, along with a few of the kids to do the lifting and carrying, got together for a few days to bring Mum's garden up to spec - as you can see, it got rather muddy, but a great time...

And, perhaps most importantly, the garden didn't turn out too bad either...

First Post - Link To JustGiving Page

This is the blog which will, hopefully, inform people of the progress on the walk which me and my brother, Jon, will be taking on the 100-mile West Highland Way later this year, in memory of our elder brother, Andy, who died on the 1st of January, in St Leonard's Hospice, York...

We've created a JustGiving page for this walk, to enable people to join with us in supporting St Leonard's...