Days 40 and 41 - 600 miles and a coincidence

An attractive view over the Clyde valley from the B7078 this afternoon.

The river Clyde near to the village of Crawford - which was the 600 mile mark of the walk.

The intrepid walker celebrates reaching a total of 600 miles, with Lindsay Tower in the background.

The statue of the Ram at Moffat which signifies the role that the town had in the wool trade in the 1870's.

I had a very good day today. The roads were good, the weather was sunny but not too hot, and the views especially in the afternoon were lovely. Even better the ankle that I twisted on Saturday did not cause me any problem, which was a very pleasant surprise as I had expected some trouble from it. I chalked up a new county as well - Lanarkshire.

I reached the 600 mile mark near to the village of Crawford. By an amazing coincidence this village contains the remains of Lindsay Tower.This was inherited by the Lindsay family in 1215 as a result of a marriage. It was occupied by English forces led by Edward 1 until it was relieved when William Wallace led a force which stormed the castle in the winter of 1296/1297. As you can see from the photo it is no longer in very good repair so I won't be looking to stake my claim to a part of it!

You may remember that I reached the 300 mile mark at Norton Lindsey (sic) - lets wait and see where the 900 mile mark is!

I have now walked 610 miles which leaves 335 to go. I have reached a place on the B7078 about 4 miles north of Abington. Tomorrow I continue along the B7078 and hope to reach Hamilton on the outskirts of Glasgow. Steve Twigger (remember him from Cornwall and Devon) is presently cycling from JOG to LE - I met the organiser of their ride today and I learnt that they will be cycling south along the B7078! I will try to speak to Steve tonight to see if our paths will actually cross. It is possible that they will not as they leave East Kilbride at 6.30 and so may have already passed before I have had my breakfast!

Yesterday was a rest day and for the second week running it rained for most of the day. Jean and I therefore did a circular car trip to Peebles visiting several lochs and reservoirs as well as the Grey Mares Tail waterfall. We are staying at a hotel just outside Lanark for the next 2 nights.

Thanks for all of the messages of support - comments on the blog, emails and phone calls. They really do boost my determination to succeed knowing that so many of you are supporting me. I look forward to receiving more comments from you.

To celebrate the fact that I am in Rabbie Burns country the quote today comes from the world famous poet, and will ensure that I do not become complacent about the next 335 miles.. It is amazing how his name gets used in marketing - at the Italian restaurant last night they had a "Rabbie Burns Pizza" which included haggis amongst its ingredients.

"There is no such uncertainty as a sure thing." - Rabbie Burns

Cheers

Keith

Day 39 - KBW's and MBE's

The gentle rolling hills of the border country.

Walking down the B7076 north of Lockerbie. I made sure that I did not break the speed limit!

The mounted riders set off to patrol the Marches of Lockerbie.

The Queen's Birthday Honours list has obviously been paying attention to the KBW awards and has made Mario (he is the one with the Playgirls!) an MBE for his services to the Care sector. Congratulations Mario! I cannot promise that all KBW holders will be similarly honoured - but I am sure that your KBW is reward enough.

Today started with me witnessing the start of the Lockerbie Gala. This consisted of over 100 riders setting of from the town hall at 8.30 to patrol the Marches (boundaries) of Lockerbie to ensure that they are safe. Our waiter at the hotel told me that they were looking for any Englishmen. A Scot at the opening ceremony confirmed this and said that it was a pity that they could no longer shoot them! They were both joking - I think!

Jean and Graham visited the Garden of Remembrance to commemorate the Pan Am crash in 1988. They said that it was was very moving.

Adrian Moore (remember him as my excellent support driver in the South West) rang me today to say that he was back from his holiday in Spain. He had lost touch with my progress and was surprised when he learnt that I was now in Scotland. The last he had heard was that I was suffering with my shins. A belated Happy Birthday to Heather for a few days ago.

The walk today was entirely along the B7076. This road is very good for walking as it has paths or cycle lanes for the whole length. I walked about 19 miles to 5 miles north of Moffat (where we are staying for 2 nights). The 2 photos above show the contrasting views from the road. The first shows the gentle rolling hills of the borders - I am told that these are "trainer" hills in preparation for the mountains that I will face on my stroll through Scotland. The afternoon walk was not as attractive and, as can be seen from the second photo, it was often through a tunnel of trees which restricted the views of the countryside.

After having company for the last few days it seemed strange not to have anyone to talk to. I even resorted to singing to myself at one point - much to the puzzlement of the local cows! I also had a quieter wild life spotting day without Graham's excellent eyesight. I did however spot a shrew.

There were a lot of cyclists on the road today - more than on any previous day. Several of these were endtoenders - and because they were travelling south I could feel superior as I had covered more ground than they had. However the one I spoke to expects to reach Lands End next Saturday, about 3 weeks before I finish.

For some reason I haven't seen any St George flags on cars today. Any ideas why?

Tomorrow is a rest day so that there will not be a blog. Walking north again on Monday!

Today's KBW's are:-

Des - Services as support driver and sandwich buyer for the last 5 days. He returns home tomorrow.

Mario - For bringing even more prestige to the KBW award system.

"All walking is discovery. On foot we take time to see things whole." - Hal Borland

Cheers

Keith

Day 38 - Gretna to Lockerbie

When you are at Gretna Green you have got to have a photo outside the Blacksmith's shop - at least that was what I was told!

I just love that name!

The Thomas Carlyle statue in Ecclefechan - the only notable thing to come from the village.

Another good day walking 16 miles from Gretna to Lockerbie again in the company of Graham and John. Although the road shadowed the A46(M) the whole way the scenery was very pleasant and the motorway was not too obtrusive - as it was yesterday. There was also a cycle lane for most of the way. This bodes well as the route for the next 3/4 days also runs parallel to the motorway. I hope to reach Beattock, or just a little further, tomorrow - having decided to delay my rest day until Sunday.

Graham walked with me for the fourth day running, clocking up a total of 66 miles. He is returning home tomorrow to have a rest. He is pleased that he currently holds the support walker long distance record. I think however that he realises that walking LEJOG is actually quite a challenge. John walked with me for the second day and said that he has enjoyed the walking and memories. He has now returned to his caravan in the Lake District for the rest of his holiday. Tomorrow will therefore feel a little strange when I set out on my own.

The weather today was good and I needed to use sun cream this afternoon for the first time for a week.

Although I love the name of Ecclefechan it is in fact a fairly run down place. It has had the heart ripped out of it by the motorway being built next to it which means that it no longer benefits from any through traffic. I was told that it once had 50 shops but there are know only a handful.

Whilst talking to the owner of last night's B&B I said that this must be the most popular time of year for LEJOG'ers. She confirmed that it was and said that she called it the "silly season"- I guess that this put me in my place!

The walk nearly came to an unexpected end tonight. Whilst having a shower I managed to knock the glass soap dish into the bath, where it shattered into pieces. Luckily I managed to suffer only a small nick on my foot - it could have been much worse.

The KBW's for today are:-

Graham - Long service and distance award.

John - Walking and best hat winner

Linda (John's wife) - Services to the retail sector in Carlisle and Gretna, and allowing John to walk with me.

Today's thought for the day is not the usual quote about walking. I thought that it would be appropriate to use a quote from Thomas Carlyle in celebration of my visit to his birthplace in Ecclefechan. As I am sure that you know he lived 1795-1881 and was a historian, essayist and thinker!

"A man without a goal is like a ship without a rudder." - Thomas Carlyle (from Ecclefechan)

Cheers

Keith

Day 37 - Scotland!

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

Day 36 - Approaching Scotland

Cumbria is red squirrel territory, although I haven't seen any yet. I have however seen a squirrel ranger!

The strangely named village of Unthank - see below for an explanation.

An unusual sign outside the University of Cumbria at Newton Rigg. I think that it was marking the coast to coast to cycle route which passes north of Penrith.

Today I was nearly fooled by the BBC weather forecast (not for the first time!) which was for a dry warm day. Armed with this information I was prepared to walk in shorts with my fleece instead of my waterproofs. As can be seen by the photos I luckily changed my plans because it started to rain just before Graham and I set off from Penrith town centre. The weather in fact turned out to be cold with occasional drizzle. One of these showers started just as we reached the village of Newton Reigny which we thought should be renamed Newton Rainy!

We wondered where the village of Unthank got its name from. Not only is it an unusual use of English it is a strange name. Our curiosity was aroused even further when we noticed that there are 3 villages called Unthank on the same OS map. I have researched this and the thought is that the name comes from the Old English "unthances" which means "without leave" so that the villages were founded by squatters. I have not been able to find out where the squatters are thought to be from and why all 3 of the Unthanks in England are so close together. There is apparently another Unthank in Lanarkshire.

We reached the village of Durdar which is 3 miles south of Carlisle. I have dusted down my passport ready to cross the border tomorrow afternoon. We are staying at Gretna Green tomorrow night. I need to research what county that it is in.

The walk today was interrupted for 10 - 15 minutes when I was interviewed over the phone by the Coventry Telegraph who are planning to include an article about the walk. I understand that thanks are due to Gill and Mario who arranged for their PR man to send a pres release to the Telegraph.

Graham displayed his Dr Doolittle talents when he had sheep, horses, cows and a donkey all running towards us as we walked past. We haven't yet worked out a way of making money out of this skill! He also is invaluable in helping me spot birds, with his keen eyesight - he found one tree which contained chaffinch, house sparrow, goldfinch and yellowhammer!

I am delighted that the blog has now had just over 2000 hits in the 3 weeks since the counter was put on to it. This averages almost 100 a day. There must be a lot of you who are interested in my exploits! I will update the stats of the walk in tomorrow's blog.

Today's KBW's are -

Des - Further transport services and keeping Jean from visiting too many craft shops.

Graham - Walking and bird watching services.

"The best remedy for a short temper is a long walk." - Jacqueline Schiff

Cheers

Keith

Day 35 - Clouds, but not too much rain

Just visible in the clouds on Shap are today's squad - Support driver Des with walkers Graham and myself.

In desperation for a photo opportunity we resorted to one of me with Penrith in the distance.

One of the heavy showers that we managed to avoid today - certainly not by judgement!

We started today at the top of the Shap incline which was covered in cloud. There was a slight drizzle which fortunately never became any heavier. We later found out that for the second day running that Penrith had had torrential rain which flooded some buildings and was lifting man hole covers.

We avoided the A6 as much as possible and found some very good footpaths. We rejoined the A6 just short of the village of Shap after passing through a quarry. At the quarry we met a worker and expected the usual "good morning" - instead he said in a jocular manner "watch out the lunatics are about" - considering the weather at the time he may well have had a point!

We reached our target of Penrith (17.5 miles) after a pleasant walk mainly on quiet country lanes or footpaths. It was quite a good birdwatching day in terms of the number of species seen rather than seeing lots of new species. I did however see a first for the trip - lesser whitethroat. Finding this took Graham and I some time as it is a secretive bird hiding away in the vegetation.

Tomorrow Graham and I hope to reach the outskirts of Carlisle - ready to cross the border on Wednesday. Graham is planning to walk for a total of 4 days with me. This was originally supposed to be along the West Highland Way, but due to my change in schedule he has joined me for a few days where the scenery will not be quite as attractive. I perhaps should not pre-judge this issue and certainly today the countryside was very attractive.

To answer Adrian's question my feet are still in excellent condition. My shins are still holding up but I am ensuring that I do not do too much. I am however optimistic that I will be able to nurse them to JOG. More questions and comments are welcome!

Today's KBW's are :-

Graham - Services to walking in the cloud and rain

Des - Support driver and wife minding

"If you want to forget all your other troubles - wear too tight shoes" - The Houghton Line

Cheers

Keith

Day 34 - The Proclaimers were right

Quietly celebrating reaching a total of 500 miles .

A view over Kendal from the hills to the east.

Bob Barnes and grandchildren Libby and Jacob. Sue was camera shy!

Yes, I can do 500 miles and I can do 500 more. In fact I have now done 514 and have only 431 more to do. Today I reached 5 miles short of the village of Shap - having got to the top of the Shap incline. Tomorrow I hope to reach Penrith. From there it is only about 30 miles to Scotland! I expect that I will see fewer England flags from then on.

Yeaterday with Des (do not call me uncle) and Margaret we had a car trip around the Lake District trying to avoid the rain and waiting until it was time to eat or drink.

The last 2 nights we stayed with Sue and Bob Barnes in their lovely house in Whinfell. Sue joined me for part of the walk today - about 5 miles near to their house. We were joined by their 2 border terriers Kelso and Tweed. This led to some interesting confrontations with livestock as we found that cows and horses are not overly fond of lively dogs. They also wanted to play as sheepdogs when we met a farmer herding some sheep down a lane.

Without wishing to set a precedent I did some work today when I spoke to a client on the phone whilst working through the hills near Kendal. This was OK until I tried to walk up hills when the difficulty in breathing made it hard to speak.

My son Graham joined us today and plans to walk with me for the next 4 days.

Today's KBW go to my fellow walkers Sue, Kelso and Tweed for making it such an exciting day.

"My grandmother started walking 5 miles a day when she was 60. She's 93 today and we don't know where the hell she is." - Ellen DeGeneres

Cheers

Keith