After another evening of swim, sauna and dinner at the Mercure Norton Grange in Rochdale we awoke to news that the fire on Saddleworth Moor had worsened. All of the walkers received messages from friends and families asking if we were close by and were we OK. As it turns out we were close by,…
Yesterday, once we had finished, we were whisked away by Van Man to Temple Sowerby and the Kings Head Inn. This morning, after a tearful goodbye to my wife and kids (thank you so much for coming to see us – it was a real morale boost), we were transferred to Little Ashby on the…
Day 12A, the longest day of the year, started inauspiciously. After a good breakfast at the Mansfield House Hotel, Hawick, and with the team in good spirits and looking forward to their second day on the Line as a threesome, we got in to the van to find that the battery was flat. We had…
We had a very pleasant evening in the MacDonald Cardrona Hotel outside Innerleithen. Very well-appointed rooms, awesome shower, good full Scottish breakfast. The only problem was that it rained most of the night and we awoke to a steady drizzle that continued as we parked at our allotted start point. Suitably attired in waterproofs we…
Did I mention yesterday that we have completed one third of our challenge? Yes, that is correct, 1/3, 33.3333*%, a slice of pie split equally between three people, and so on. This walk will be full of landmarks: quarter of the way, half way, one week completed, 100 miles done, etc and we will celebrate…
We left the Inversnaid Bunkhouse after a good breakfast feeling a little nervous about re-joining the West Highland Way after our chastening experience at the end of Day 9. And for a short while we were justified as we started out climbing up and down rocks that littered the pathway. At least this time they…
We started our day after a refreshing night in the Ben Muthu hotel in Tyndrum. An interesting hotel. Most other guests appeared to have arrived on two German coaches so we drank and ate in the company of roughly 80 Germans. This was fine until I settled into the Quiet Lounge which was not quiet…
Our briefing last night included a wet weather warning and a detailed explanation that, as well as dealing with a copious amount of water, we would be undertaking three stiff climbs on the West Highland Way. Fortunately, a couple of us had made use of the Glencoe Hotel’s pool, sauna and jacuzzi, a welcome relief…
We woke in different places. Half the group (all couples) had a wonderful stay at the comfortable Inch Hotel just outside Fort Augustus. The three remaining walkers enjoyed Morag’s Lodge, a youth hostel. That was an experience. Bunk rooms, tourists and an interesting breakfast whilst the other half lived it up in relative luxury. We…
Hector. Enough said. Warnings arrived overnight from friends and family. On BBC Breakfast telly the second top news story was how Storm Hector was going to rip through the UK; airports and bridges were already closing. We awoke to an almost perfect rainbow; an arc of colour in the sky neatly crossing the valley our…