Roy's walk from Lands End to Cape Wrath

Well, home for a short while, so I’ve been given the job of writing my own blog – life can be very hard!

Looking back over the last couple of months, I feel almost overdosed in beauty. From sumptuous, soft green rolling low hills to the harsh and wild remoteness of our high moors and white peaks.... white? Did I say white??

Now there was a sneaky double cross by the weather department! Having had a ‘no show’ winter until the end of Feb, I was lulled into feeling that a nice warm spring was next up. Well that little dream soon went out of the window with the 80mph gale which greeted us when we arrived at Lands End!

One of my favourite photos is the one of Helen decked out in full winter gear and including ski mask. Lucky the forecast came in time to warn us so she took the mask, Helen is not good with high wind in the eyeballs. But the sea-scapes along the north Cornish coast in those conditions really were breathtaking.

The walking has never been easy with a pack weight of nearly 40lbs, and sometimes has been hard – very hard. But never (except below) outside the realms of enjoyable, after all, if you go after the easy life you don’t take up walking of any description, let alone hill walking with a full pack.

The only time when I didn’t enjoy it was after Nick went home with Caz and the girls on a day visit, having accompanied me for the best part of a week from mid to north Wales.


I don’t know for certain, but I think the combination of being so close to home, sudden loss of the company of my family, frustration at impeded footpaths and sheer exhaustion led to what I can only imagine was an emotional breakdown. I had battled on for two days after they left and suddenly found myself feeling unable to carry on. On the western edge of the Clocaenog Forest I sat down in an untidy heap and resolved that this was it, as far as I go, finish, done. But the problem of how to get home? That could wait until I’d had something to eat.

During lunch of biltong, nuts and raisins, a bar of chocolate and swallow of water I morphed into a version of Gollum in Mordor. The setting was just perfect for it too, dark pine forest stretching over the horizon, dark brooding sky, and homely comforts a long way off. And there were the two voices in my head –the voice of doom and darkness, ‘give it up, what the hell’; the voice of hope and light ‘no, another push, keep on’.... back and forth.

Even at the time I thought of the Gollum story, but was too far gone to smile at the ridiculousness of the situation. In the end the voice of hope and reason proposed a compromise. A thumbed lift into Denbigh then a bus ride to Ruthin skipped over the Forest, leaving a short walk down to Graig-fechan and a camp for the night.
It was a close run thing, and makes me realise that I am not the fiercely independent type I may have thought.

I subsequently re-learned the lesson that you cannot drop off jogging for 3 years and take it up again as if you never stopped. Even handing over my rucksack for Helen to bring back didn’t make me fly along the Cheshire canals, I was soon reduced to running 200 paces, walking 200 etc. I had to get Helen to pick me up near Congleton, and go back a couple of days later to finish off, but the weather was kind and the walk peaceful – until I came to the collapsed wall just before Macc.

So looking back, it was good preparation for the next phase, starting Monday. A major problem has been ironed out (I’ve now got a tent which will actually support life, not snuff it out!), and some minor tweaks carried out (eg, taking a cut down pot brush).
Since I’ve fought my way past polar bears and stone trolls, forest goblins and the odd dragon (plus a week old black lamb with a particularly mean look in its eye), I have no fears for the next two thirds of the journey. Except home sickness, which is what I have feared from the very start. I’m sure I’ll grow out of it.

Stay well everybody
Roy.

Roy's son Nick met him in Machynlleth to keep him company for a few days. They walked to a farm site just below Cader Idris and camped for the first night, but Nick was even less impressed with the tent than Roy! Don't anybody buy a North Face Particle 13.
The next day they went over Cader Idris and stayed in Penrhos bothy, which, according to Nick, was an improvement on the tent. Then a very long trek to Talsarnau, near Portmeirion. By the end of that day, Nick was having problems with his knees, so they stayed bed and breakfast and then had a couple of shorter days to Bryn Gwynant Youth Hostel followed by Pen -y- Pass Youth Hostel. Caroline (Roy's daughter, for those of you who don't know) then met them at Pont Pen-y-Glenglog with her two year old twins and spent a few hours with them before taking Nick back home to Leeds. It was great for Roy, catching up with the family again.

Since being left on his own again, Roy has walked over the tops to a campsite at Llanwrst and is today (24 April) speeding towards Ruthin. He's had one of his "brainwaves"! When he gets to Chester, he wants me to meet him very early in the morning with his running shoes and a daysack of sandwiches etc. I am to bring the tent and the heavy rucksack back to Macclesfield and he will jog home! Whether he'll manage it all in one day I don't know. He's not even going by the direct route, because he hates running on tarmac so he's making use of the canal system down towards Nantwich, then looping over the top of Crewe to Kidsgrove, then up to Congleton and so back to good old Macc. I did tell you at the beginning of this blog that he's crazy, didn't I? I think the plan is that he will then have a few days rest before continuing, so he can write his own entry next week. H

Well, I've got some photos now, but no notes, so I'll do my best to get you up to date.
In the last post, I told you how Roy had ended up in a river when he decided to play stepping stones. What I didn't know at the time was that he had hurt his leg, and the pain got steadily worse over the next couple of days. He stayed one night at Dolgoch bunkhouse (in the middle of nowhere), then managed to get to a bothy, Moel Prysgau (also in the middle of nowhere, see photo).

At this point, he realised he needed a long rest, but had no signal and was worried that I might call out the emergency services if I had no contact for a couple more days. So he dragged himself back to Dolgoch to use their landline to tell me the plan, then back to the bothy where he holed up for a couple of nights with his leg propped up. Luckily, it did more or less recover, so he was then able to get to Pontrhydfendigaid and stay bed and breakfast to have a comfortable rest. From there he was back on track to another bothy (much preferred to his draughty tent) followed by a farm site just below Machynlleth. Yesterday he met up with Nick (son) in Machynlleth, so the plan is to do Snowdonia together. Caroline (daughter) is planning to meet up with them on Tuesday with Lily and Daisy, her two year old twins, so Roy and Nick have to have reached "somewhere sensible" by then!
Here are a few photos, but I can't tell you anything about them. Can anybody identify the bird of prey?

As you can see, it's still snowy in the mountains, and Roy keeps demanding to know when spring will arrive.

Roy has had a few adventures since Monmouth. With about four miles to go to Abergavenny, he followed a really squishy track down to a wide stream, with no bridge of any sort or stepping stones, about 18" deep by 5 feet across. Nothing for it but to take off boots and socks, put on crocs and get wading. That part was OK, but the path on the other side of the stream was itself a stream come mud slide. Clad in shorts and crocs, he had to scramble through mud, water and nettles until he finally hit a road. He normally hates tarmac, but on this occasion it was quite a relief! The locals gave him a few strange looks in the town, bare legged and covered in mud and scratches. Luckily he was booked in to the Backpackers Hostel in Abergavenny, where he made straight for the showers!

The next day was a long one. Roy arrived at the supposed campsite by Talybont reservoir, only to find a building site in its place! Totally exhausted, he had to plod on for another two miles to a site at Talybont-on-Usk. After discovering that they had a pub and a cafe there serving good hot meals, he decided to have a "rest day" the next day to prepare himself for the Brecon Beacons. At this point, snow and low night-time temperatures were forecast, but never mind.

After his day's rest, Roy did really well - 4.5 hours from the campsite to the top of Pen-y-Fan. Now, plan A was that he would stay one night at the Llwyn-y-Celyn youth hostel half way along the Beacons, so I had rung the YHA but been told there was no availability. On hearing this, Roy had decided that, if he turned up at about 5 pm on a very cold night, they would let him sleep on the floor. So this was plan B. In the event, he had to resort to plan C: a very cold night in the ice and snow camped in a draughty tent in the garden of the youth hostel which was completely closed!

Luckily I earned lots of brownie points the next day by finding him a bed at Dulwich College Adventure Centre at Craig-y-nos, a day's walk from the youth hostel. I got the impression that they don't normally offer bed and breakfast to lone walkers, but they made an exception for Roy. He never saw a soul all the time he was there, but let himself in to a lovely warm en-suite room for £13, with quiche and sandwiches left out for him and cereal and bread for the morning - luxury!

The next day a refreshed Roy set off for a glorious walk over the hills until, about five miles from his destination, he came to a river, about four or five paces wide, with big rocks scattered about in likely looking places - bound to be a place to skip across. Unfortunately he must have misjudged the slipperyness of one of the rocks - result, a damp Roy, in fact, wet up to his waist. At that point the rain and hail started, but he was wet anyway. Luckily, as the forecast was again for a wintry night, I had booked him into a b and b in Myddfai, just south of Llandovery. Maybe the owners wished they hadn't accepted the booking when they saw him standing bedraggled on their doorstep, but they were very good about confiscating his wet clothes and producing them next morning in a rather drier state.

From Llandovery it was a question of restocking with food because the next few days will involve travelling through remote areas - no more shops for three days. The mobile phone has also gone very quiet, out of signal area, so he'll have to manage without backup for a while.

Roy had a brilliant rough camp on the Quantocks, with the deer for company.

By the way, in case any of you are wondering why the photos keep disappearing, it's because I'm only allowed 10 Mb of photos at any one time, so when I put new ones on I have to delete old ones.
The next day he made rapid progress into Bridgwater - once on the ridge he stayed on the ridge, unlike the coastal path with its constant ups and downs. He's just beginning to think he might be getting a little bit fitter, and the 37 lb backpack doesn't feel quite so heavy.
Roy got to Cheddar campsite for last Friday night (28/3), and Max, (nephew for those who don't know), collected him on Saturday, took him to his place in Bradford on Avon for the weekend, then delivered him back to Cheddar on Monday morning. So Roy had a luxurious weekend off, being waited on hand and foot. (He won't get that treatment when he gets home!)

From Cheddar, the route took Roy to the area around Bristol International airport, but there was absolutely no campsite or reasonably priced accommodation round there so he had to detour to the youth hostel in the centre of Bristol, where he made a new friend.

From there, it was a windy walk over the Severn Road Bridge and so into Wales. Sorry, I can't find a way of turning this round!

After an overnight camp, it was a stroll along the Wye valley on the Offa's Dyke path, to meet me in Monmouth. It's a relatively easy drive to Monmouth from Macclesfield, so we met up at lunchtime to explore the town and then stayed the night in a lovely b and b. This morning I drove back home and Roy continued on to Abergavenny. It was lovely to see him again, although difficult saying goodbye. He is enjoying the experience, with the highlight being all the dawn choruses!
The merino wool mid-layer From Divide and Conker is absolutely brilliant - Roy took a photo of himself wearing it, but unfortunately it came out blurred so you'll have to wait a bit longer to see it! H

Hi folks
Roy is plodding on, just booked into Minehead Youth Hostel for the night. Unfortunately the parcel he sent me a week ago first class has not arrived, so it looks likely that his diary notes and SD card (as well as his dirty washing) are lost forever. So no new photos.

The weather is still not good - bitterly cold down there, with very strong winds which have affected him in his very well ventilated North Face Particle 13 tent. In all the reviews it came out as the best one man lightweight tent, but..... brrrr! I have been in touch with a company called "Divide & Conker", and they have very kindly volunteered to supply him with a merino wool base layer free of charge. So.... please give them your custom, they're on the net! We'll let you know how he gets on with it later, and maybe post a picture of him wearing it.

Accommodation has continued to be a mixture of camping, youth hostels and bed and breakfasts when very cold and no hostels around! From Boscastle he continued round the coast: Widemounth Bay, Bude, Elmscott Youth Hostel (near Hartland Point), Clovelly, Bideford, past Barnstaple as quickly as possible (didn't like), Mortehoe, Coombe Martin, Lynton, Portlock and on to Minehead Youth Hostel. Tomorrow he follows the coast a bit further then swings inland to cross the Quantock Hills.

Thanks for all your messages of support - Roy does appreciate them.

Now 26 March (next day) and two packages from Roy have arrived together, along with a wind-up phone charger so here are a few photos:

As you can see, Roy was living dangerously on this occasion. He assures me that he did consider very carefully whether to direct the opening of the tent towards or away from the sheer cliff face!

David Bailey?

Is this sunrise or sunset?

A bit damp?

This section of Roy's walk has been dominated by the weather. On Monday 10 March, the day the storms hit Cornwall, here is an extract from his diary:

"After waving Helen off to drive back up north, set off in the hyped up storm. It almost lived up to the hype. Could tell it was a good breeze when, anchored on top of Trevelgue Head for photo across Newquay Bay, I found it difficult to draw breath unless I turned the back of my head to the wind.
Anyway, knowing there was a good breeze out, and heeding all warnings (well most anyway) from the various authorities about keeping clear of harbour walls and cliff tops etc, I decided to stay well away from the edge as I walked. But the cliff decided to sidle closer to me. I could see that about ten paces in front, the path would be within half a yard of the edge, and a bit of avoidance action would be needed. Just then, this stiff breeze, maybe a bit miffed because it was blowing onto my back and therefore not affecting my breathing, decided to give me a mighty shove from behind. Quick thinking saved the day. After two involuntary steps, the cliff edge was closing rapidly from the left. I threw myself down and to my right. A smart piece of thinking this, since my first sky dive was awaiting from the left and I didn't have a parachute handy. But the force of the wind and the inertia of the rucksack caused me to bounce off my right shoulder, roll face down and come to rest on my left shoulder with my face to the wind and the rucksack downslope, pinning me in place and running out of breath. There was a moment, just a moment, when I didn't know if I was going to stop rolling. I was able to loosen the rucksack, turn over and breathe, but I must have been a good few minutes before I could move again. At that point I decided it would have to be a road walk for a while."

Further adventures the next day, when Roy reluctantly decided to abandon the coast in the continuing gale and head inland for Padstow along footpaths. But he hadn't bargained for the fact that Cornish footpaths are almost completely overgrown with brambles, thorn and broom.

Armed with his trusty multi-tool he struggled through, shredding his hands in the process and instructing me to complain to the Cornish Footpath Preservation Society!

Roy has had to continue bed and breakfasting, partly because of the atrocious weather and partly because most of the youth hostels and camp sites don't open till Easter. But he's now collected a parcel of a bivvy bag I've sent him "poste restante", so he'll have more flexibility from now on. Not many good photos this week because of the mist, but the route has been through Padstow, Port Isaac, Tintagel and Boscastle (14 March).

Hi folks
Just got back from my week with Roy in Cornwall, walking from Lands End to Newquay. It was a great week, but I'm very glad I've escaped just as the biggest storm of the year was starting to hit the south west! More of that next week when I get the next chunk of information from Roy. He's writing a day-by-day diary, hoping to publish at the end of the walk, so you'll have to wait a while before you get to read that.

We both found the week strenuous because we hadn't had time to get fit before we set off and the coastal path in some areas consists of a short walk along the cliffs, killer-steps or steep path down to sea level, killer-steps back up to the cliff, repeat, repeat, repeat.... Roy had to keep reminding himself that this is the cushy part of the walk. Scenery was wild and magnificent - angry white foamy seas crashing on rugged rocks - and that was before the storm! I can only upload a few photos at a time so have a look at them. I'll have to overwrite them to make room for others each time Roy sends me the SD card from the camera.

Little acts of kindness mean so much on this kind of trip, like the hotelier who felt sorry for us and let us in for a coffee even though they were really closed. The bed and breakfast stops varied from excellent to absolutely dire, all adding to the fun. One was so bad that we didn't like putting our belongings on the carpet in case they got dirty! The plan is for Roy to camp and youth hostel from now on, but there are only two problems with that - the 80mph winds and the fact that most of the youth hostels and campsites don't open till Easter. More next time!

During the week we saw plenty of wild-life. Kestrels, buzzards, sanderling, oyster-catcher, skylarks, a giant furry caterpillar, a newt/lizard (don't know the difference), about forty basking seals, and a robin that ate out of Roy's hand (honestly). The scenery really was incredible, food for the soul. And the feeling of satisfaction is enormous as you watch the bit of coast you walked a couple of days ago disappearing from the distant horizon. I'm just beginning to understand why Roy needs to do this trip all in one go, not in lots of disjointed bits.

Next instalment when I have more news. H

Roy (my 59 year old hubbie) is a bit crazy.  From the beginning of March, he's about to embark on his lifetime ambition - to walk (or traipse, as he calls it) the length of the country over as many mountains as possible, avoiding roads, carrying his tent and his little cooking stove on his back.  The trip is likely to take five or six months, so the idea of this blog is to keep you all up to date with his adventures. 
Preparations are well under way.  I am going to walk with him for the first week, so that will be a gentle introduction to the trip for him, having to travel at my pace!  It will also be more comfortable for that week, staying in bed and breakfast establishments - I don't do tents!
For those of you who don't know, Roy is walking to support two very worthwhile charities:

East Cheshire Hospice

Friends for Leisure (a small charity which helps children with disabilities to join in with mainstream leisure activities)

If you would like to support this venture, please either contact East Cheshire Hospice (various methods on their website:
http://www.eastcheshirehospice.org.uk )
or pledge some dosh via a message on this blog.  If you send a cheque, please make it payable to East Cheshire Hospice and mark it "Roy's Walk" so that the money will be split between the two charities - thanks.

All for now, but when I work out how to post photos I'll add a few - I'm new to blogging!