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I planned the walk as the Americans would call a section hike - a bit at a time, a day or two here, a weekend there, not necessarily in sequence, gradually linking the long series of day walks into one continguous whole. I though that the Pennine Way would take me five years but it took just three, and by the spring of 1990 I was already wondering how to follow it up. The West Highland Way was an ideal choice for scenic beauty, but on the other hand the Cotswold Way looked like an easier option. It was while researching the choice of footpaths that I discovered others that were linked together - where the Cotswold Way ended, the Heart of England Way began, and that in turn connected to the Staffordshire Way at Cannock Chase. I realised that the Staffordshire Way ended not far short of the Pennine Way, and I wondered if there was a route that would connect the Pennine Way in turn to the West Highland Way Before I knew it I'd hatched a plan to walk from Land's End to John O'Groats, one extremity of Britain to the other. It would be done mainly on recognised long-distance paths, but where these didn't exist I'd make up a route of local footpaths or (in Scotland) forest tracks and estate roads. I made one or two wild dog-legs and diversions, mainly in the south west to include Dartmoor, Exmoor, the Quantocks and the Mendips in the route. Altogether the distance came to around 1378 miles (since revised.)
My chosen route keeps as far as possible to the best of Britain's scenery; mountains, moors, hills, forests, pastures and clifftops, and nowhere is it technically difficult. Maybe I'll inspire you to try it yourself. I don't expect that anyone will follow the same route - the sequence of paths described here is full of my own preferences and quirks and you'll no doubt have your own. Many people have waked from Land's End to John O'Groats, for many reasons and by many different routes. Few accounts have been published but it does seem that most went by road. I did it the hard way and took my time, but after all it was a labour of love.
Other walkers have inspired me and I have based parts of my route on theirs; particularly Hamish Brown (whose Pennine to Highland route forms most of my South of Scotland Way) and Laurence Main (on whose Somerset Way I based my own).
| South Cornwall Coast Path | Land's End to Plymouth | 15 days | 154.03 miles |
| Devon Coast to Coast | Plymouth to Minehead | 10 days | 112.17 miles |
| A Somerset Way | Minehead to Bath | 9 days | 123 miles |
| The Cotswold Way | Bath to Chipping Campden | 9 days | 103 miles |
| Heart of England Way | Chipping Campden to Rugeley | 6 days | 88 miles |
| Staffordshire Link | Rugeley to Thorpe |
3 days | 27 miles |
| A White Peak Way | Thorpe to Edale | 4 days | 34.9 miles |
| The Pennine Way | Edale to Kirk Yetholm | 23 days | 253.2 miles |
| A South of Scotland Way | Kirk Yetholm to Milngavie | 13 days | 143 miles |
| The West Highland Way | Milngavie to Fort William | 8 days | 95.7 miles |
| A Great Glen Way | Fort William to Cannich | 5 days | 54½ miles |
| North of Scotland Way | Cannich to John O'Groats |
14 days | 184½ miles |
News Update, 25th
November 2007:
The completion of the walk isn't the end
of
the story. Route revisions are being made, work on the
website itself continues, and I want to rewalk
sections
of the route - as weather and opportunity allows - to bring the patchy
photographic record up to a consistent high standard. 2007 has not been
a good year and I've been able to get out on the trail only once, to
rewalk a section of the Heart of England Way between Alcester and
Henley-in-Arden. The combination of acute family illness and rotten
weather has kept me indoors for most of the year. I'm hoping to do
better in 2008.
Another route change is in the offing.
I've discovered the existance of the Macmillan Way, the Samaritans Way
and the West Deane Way, a combination of which will almost certainly
provide a superior route on the Dunster - Bicknoller and Bicknoller -
Taunton sections of the Somerset Way. In many places these trails are
either coincident with or run close to my present route. It's unlikely
that I will be able to explore these alternatives in the short term but
once matters are resolved I hope to be out on the trail again.
| Sept 3rd |
Wells to Cheddar |
Repeat walk, new photos |
I am currently adding images as quickly as possible, and am no longer constrained by webspace limitations. I have to admit that when I started to build this site I didn't really appreciate what I was taking on; its construction is proving far more time-consuming than I'd like. Please bear with me - it'll continue to grow.
In the meantime, enjoy the walks!
John A Butler, Biggleswade, Bedford, England.
Nov 25th: Heart
of England Way walk 2 updated with
104 new images
Walking
in Britain - the Great Outdoors Recreation Page
The
Ramblers' Association
The
Long
Distance Walkers' Association
Council
for the National Parks Thomas
Keijzer's Walking
In Britain site
The UK
Walking Routes website
Pierre
Lavaurs's walking diaries and links to other sectional walks Landscape
photography by Byron E. Crowley David Cotton's Land's
End - John O'Groats walk Phil and
Marylin Slater's John
O'Groats to Land's End experience; an enjoyable and comprehensive
account. Judith Sharrock's
JOG to LE journey on horseback 63 year old
American Daryl May's Land's End to
John O'Groats Walk, a most interesting narrative Chris Thompson's upcoming solo record attempt
from JoG to LEAll images on this site are the copyright of the author. You may download and archive them; you may use them as wallpaper or backdrops; you may alter and manipulate them for your own amusement.
You may not use them for commercial gain. You may not pass them off as your own. If you wish to include any of these images on your own website, or otherwise place them on the internet in any way, you are required to contact the author first for permission. Original credit and a copyright notice will be a manditory condition before such a request is granted. If you derive any new image wholly or partially from them such as a manipulation or composite, and you wish to publish any resulting image or use it for commercial gain, you are similarly required to contact the author for permission, and to give original credit, and to append a copyright notice to any such image.
This page last updated 11th September 2008
