End to end

Your article, ’Go Long’, discussed ‘walking your own walk’, which nicely sums up our most recent adventure – Land’s End to John o’Groats. 1,028 miles in 69 days of walking. Having ruled out camping – too much equipment – we stayed with family, friends, B&Bs, budget hotels, pubs and hostels. We set off in May and our route used a combination of footpaths, tracks, towpaths, road and two National Trails; the West Highland Way and Great Glen Way.

We encountered angry cows and disappearing paths, as well as spectacular views and glorious isolation, and had our finish delayed by 15 days while we isolated with Covid. But as we walked to the famous John o’Groats signpost (behind a short queue of people who’d walked only as far as from their car!) none of that mattered. We’ve walked end to end waking up every morning wanting to do it again, met wonderful people and were joined by many kind friends and family members on the way. What next? We don’t know yet but we do know we’ll be walking our own walk!

Kevin & Janet McCann, by email