Graham and John help me celebrate walking the length of England and into Scotland.
A lot of today's walk was along a new road right next to the M6 motorway.
Father and son on the Eden Bridge, Carlisle over the river Eden.
Today's squad - John, Keith,Graham and driver Des.After 37 days on the road I have at last reached Gretna Green in Scotland after 557 miles. Reaching the border was certainly the highlight of the walk today as we walked through Carlisle and then next to the M6 for about 9 miles. There was almost a queue to have photos taken by the "Welcome to Scotland" sign - there was a German tourist and 4 motor bikers in front of us, and as we were taking our photos a cyclist from Australia arrived for his turn! He took the photo of the 3 of us.
We were joined today by John Wellman who used to play in the same Sunday football team as me (Padmore Rovers). This led to us reliving our youth and our exploits - perhaps through rose tinted glasses!
Graham was again invaluable with his ability to spot animals. This time the highlight was a roe deer which was about 200 yards away. However the wildlife was not as numerous today because of the terrain that we were walking through.
Thanks to Bob for the info re Gretna Green, especially that it is in Dumfries and Galloway. Which makes a total of 15 counties. Talking of which the latest stats of the walk are:-
31 - Days walked
6 - Rest days
557 - Miles walked
388 - Miles to go (yes it is less than 400 now!)
17 - Average miles per walking day
17 - Beds slept in
1515 - Miles in our car
4837 - Money raised for BHF
19 - People who have walked with me (plus 2 dogs)
12 - Support drivers
85 - Bird species
6 - Mammal species
The KBW's for today;-
Graham - Walking (he has now walked the furthest of any support walkers - 50 miles, and animal charming)
John - Services to walking and reminiscing
Des - Even more support driving services
Bob - Services to research
"Of all exercises walking is the best." - Thomas Jefferson
Cheers
Keith
