Roger steps out to walk countrywide for charity

An intrepid Chapelhall adventurer has spent nearly a decade stepping out on a unique challenge – to walk the length and breadth of Great Britain.

Roger Barr has undertaken a long-distance walk each summer, devising an unusual north- west to south-east route which saw him trek a combined total of 1650 kilometres ( 1025 miles).

The 64- year-old completed his route across the mainland map last month with a 200-kilometre hike along the Wessex Ridgeway, from the world’s largest prehistoric stone circle at Avebury to the coastal town of Lyme Regis in west Dorset.

His latest exploration saw him raise £1200 for St Andrew’s Hospice; with that figure then boosted by a further £500 donation to the Airdrie charity from Carluke Highlanders, of which he is a committee member.

Roger devised the idea of the long-distance challenge after he and friend Richard Adlington had completed the challenge of bagging all 282 of Scotland’s Munros – peaks higher than 3000 feet – back in 2006.

He said: “We finished the Munros at Knoydart and said, ‘what are we going to do now?’ I started to look for another challenge and walking the length and breadth of Great Britain seemed to be a good idea at the time!

“Most people who walk or cycle its length seem to do John O’Groats to Land’s End, but that didn’t appeal to me as a long-distance walking route as I wanted to use the open country as much as possible.

“The next obvious choice was to walk from the cliffs and lighthouse at Cape Wrath, the north-westerly point of Scotland, to those at the south easterly end of England, Beachy Head, later extended to Lyme Regis.

“It was completed over a number of years; planning wasn’t as straightforward as I’d originally thought as possible routes changed and changed again, but each journey was worked out bit by bit.”

Over the years, Roger has walked 725km through Scotland, from Cape Wrath to Ullapool, down through the Highlands, central belt and Borders, to Kirk Yetholm at the northern end of the Pennine Way.

He completed that route – encompassing 430km through Northumberland, the Yorkshire dales and Peak District – and later added the miles to Leighton Buzzard, Ivinghoe Beacon and Watford, around London and then finally the last instalment to Beachy Head.

Roger told the Advertiser: “Every leg of the journey was different and each was good in its own way.

“Each was worked out bit by bit, broken down into distances that could be covered in a day’s walk between accommodation; and I experienced all weathers, climbed mountains and passed through some magnificent countryside, villages, towns and cities.

“I haven’t always been sponsored each time I’ve done a part of the journey, but this is the third time I’ve done a fundraiser for the hospice as it’s a good cause close to my heart.”

In additional to his annual long- distance walk each May, Roger has also tackled a number of other long- distance adventures, including the 125km Antonine trail from Dumbarton to Cramond Kirk, the 115km St Andrews Way, and the cross-England 309km Wainwright’s coast to coast.

After successfully completing his final leg of the Great Britain walk last month, he presented a cheque to St Andrew’s represent ative Kat i e Williamson, centre, for the £1200 collected.

The presentation took place at the monthly Carluke Highlanders ceilidh, which raises funds for a variety of good causes and which supplemented Roger’s efforts with an additional £ 500 boost for the Airdrie hospice. Also pictured (left) is Tommy Wilson of Carluke Highlanders.