The Journey North

Day 0 – Saturday 9 May: Val’s father took us to the station for the 1140, complaining about the fact that everyone coming the other way was driving in the middle of the road. For the West Coast Line you have to change at Blackburn and Preston: a shadow of its former self, Blackburn Station has now been reduced to two tiny platforms exposed to the elements, with connections to Clitheroe, Preston, Colne and York. But it doesn’t take long to get to Preston (although Val still can’t understand that from Blackburn, the station is approached from the south – she always wants to leave in the wrong direction). On to the Pendolino (luxury at last) and a quiet journey with few fellow passengers, to Glasgow Central.

The last time I was here was August 1964 on the way to Scout Camp at Taynuilt, near Oban – great excitement, with proper trains spewing fire, steam and smoke in the black middle of the night, before setting off on that superb route through Glen Ogle towards Oban. Shame the following few days were ruined by desperate homesickness, but like the song (Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah, Here I am at Camp Granada – oh well, if you’re not old enough you won’t get it…)

Today Glasgow Central is playing host to dozens of young students. There are several electronic information boards but on none of them is the name of Milngavie (pronounced ‘Mull guy’ by the way), so I go and ask at the Information office to find that one has to go to the ‘lower platform’ i.e. the Glasgow Underground – where someone has either been taking his lunchtime drinking very seriously indeed or perhaps he hasn’t stopped imbibing since last night. Steer clear. The underground soon emerges above ground to pass through stations including Partick and Boarsden before terminating at Milngavie. Foolishly I reject the idea of a taxi and then go the wrong way to the ‘Best Foot Forward’ B&B, but eventually we get there and find that from the road to the front door is comparable to reaching Everest Base Camp. Out of breath, we are greeted by the pleasant and efficient Mrs Morag McNeill and ushered to a vast room with four beds and a huge en-suite bathroom.

Formalities concluded, shower tested, teeth cleaned, we set off towards Morag’s recommended evening venue, The Cross Keys, to be greeted with little ceremony by two bouncers, and, once inside, a full house watching the (English) football. We do a U-turn and find La Toscana, a quiet Italian Restaurant serving reasonable food without a hint of any Italian proprietorship. Fuelled up on pasta, we return to the B&B only to learn that we haven’t won the lottery, so retire to bed.

A Bit of Background

We’ve been meaning to walk the West Highland Way for years. Probably the most popular long distance walk in Great Britain, it runs for 95 miles (152 km) from Milngavie in the central lowlands just north-east of Glasgow, to Fort William in the Highlands, through the spectacular scenery of Loch Lomond, Rannoch Moor and Glencoe. Every October we visit the Isle of Mull: many’s the time we’ve seen walkers on the WHW as we’ve driven through Crianlarich, Tyndrum and Glencoe in the Scottish Highlands and thought we should do the same some day.

Last October we decided we would definitely walk The Way in Spring 2009. Then our friends Gerry and Linda Bindless told us they were doing the same thing, so I hatched a cunning plan – we would set off a day later, catch them up at Kings House in Glencoe and do the final two days together. We spent some time looking at the maps and guide books and booked our accommodation, mainly in B&Bs.

We decided May was the best month – the Scottish weather is often at its very best, there’s plenty of daylight, and the midges are still fast asleep. When I planned the Wainwright Challenge I had to be as sure as possible that I would be finished before 9 May, and with the reasonably good weather we had there were fortunately no problems with timing. I even had a week to spare between the two walks!

Val had hurt her knee gardening during the previous autumn and it had taken a long time to heal. Worried that it might still be delicate, we used the services of a luggage transfer firm for the first time ever, although I wouldn’t say we’ve finally consigned back-packing to history. But for the WHW we would have the luxury of light packs every day.

Train tickets were booked a month in advance – to and from Clitheroe Station, so there were no worries about car parking. Our only challenge would be getting the two miles from home to Clitheroe Station with our heavy packs. So on Saturday 9 May we were finally packed and ready to go…


Photos: 1. Loch Lomond; 2. The impressive War Memorial at Rowardennan; 3. Ben Laoigh (Ben Lui) near Tyndrum; 4. Sron na Creise from Kings House.

Wot, anuvver Blog??

During the 'Wainwright Challenge' walk I did my best to maintain a blog so that friends and supporters could keep track of progress. Many of you said you enjoyed reading it (perhaps you were just being nice...) so I thought I'd repeat the exercise when, after a break of one whole week(!!), Val and I walked the West Highland Way. So, as time permits, I'll add a few pages and pictures. But if it takes a long time, please be patient: after nine weeks away from home I've a lot of catching up to do!!