Pennine Way

Monday 29 August: Ribblehead to Malham (20 miles). Changeable. Breakfast is at a greasy spoon burger van where I get into a conversation with a long-distance cyclist . . .
Cyclist: "The best way to get from John o'Groats is to cycle, you should have cycled."
Me: "What I usually say to cyclists at a time like this is I really wouldn't like to spend all that time on a child's toy."
Cyclist: Silence.
Me: 'I've said this to cyclists a few times and no one has ever given me a clever answer."
Cyclist: "Fuck off."
After lunch at Helwith Bridge I take country lanes to join the Pennine Way at the pretty expanse of Malham Tarn. Above the tarn is the curious limestone pavement of Malham Cove where slightly acidic rain has dissolved the rock along cracks and faults to form deep grykes. In Malham I have Hill Top Farm Bunk Barn all to myself and enjoy an evening in the Lister's Arms.

Tuesday 30: Malham to Earby (13 miles). Cold and cloudy with some rain. Today I cross the Leeds and Liverpool Canal at Gargrave before calling it a day at the dry haven of the YHA hostel at Earby.

Wednesday 31: Earby to Haworth (16 miles). Cloudy. It's a tough climb out of Earby and a few hills later I sidetrack to the splendid YHA hostel in Haworth.

Thursday 1 September: Haworth to Todmorden (16 miles). Sunny. Another hilly moorland day, lunch at the Pack Horse Inn and a rest day at Mankinholes YHA hostel, the Top Brink Inn and the nearby town of Todmorden.
Saturday 3: Todmorden to Crowden (26 miles). Dull and warm with afternoon showers. A steep start up Stoodley Pike, over the busy M62, along Standedge and I reach my first trig point atop the murky bog of Black Hill. The scenery improves on the long haul down to Dendale and a nice single room in Crowden YHA.

Sunday 4: Crowden to Castletown (16 miles). Cloudy. After a fairly easy morning I drop down to the Snake Pass Inn for lunch before struggling up the long tough climb to Kinder Scout and the High Peak. I'm nearly as relieved to reach the trig point now as I was when I first saw it through the mist in 1977. Dropping down to The Old Nag's Head in Edale I continue past Booth campsite and over Hollins Cross to reach Castleton YHA for the evening.
Photos along the Pennine Way. I've now walked 701 miles.

Dales Way

Friday 26 August: Bowness-on-Windermere to Staveley (7 miles). Drizzly afternoon. Across Lake Windermere and it's a short afternoon hop to Staveley, the site of Hawkesbury Brewery with it's comfortable bar and nearby campsite.

Saturday 27: Staveley to Sedburgh (16 miles). Sunny then heavy rain and a little thunder & lightning. Skirting north of Kendal I'm heading east now and cross over the M5 to follow the Lune valley with pretty bridges over the river. Just past Beck Foot viaduct (pictured above) the skies open and I get soaked to the skin. So when I approach Staveley "I'm singing in the rain, just singing in the rain . . ." but I'm happy, that is, until the Dalesman Country Inn charges me twice the single rate for a tiny double room. Yes, I can have two breakfasts if I wish. I shouldn't have asked as my breakfast only has half a black pudding. Poor value.
Sunday 28: Sedburgh to Ribblehead (17 miles). Cloudy. Out of Sedburgh, Millthrop is a pretty village and along Dentdale the scenery opens up before I reach Ribblehead viaduct and the great value bunkhouse and fine food at the Station Inn.

Photos along the Dales Way. I've now walked 594 miles.

Cumbria Way

Monday 22 August: Carlisle to Skiddaw (27 miles). Cloudy with sunny spells. Glad to escape Carlisle I make it to Caldbeck as the Odfellows Arms ends lunch service but the shop sells snacks. When I had my walking boots resoled thirty-years ago at the clog makers here the cobbler assured me the new soles would outlast the boots. They did, I left these worn out boots in Caithness in July. Good job. It's a great climb across Caldbeck Fells to the slopes of Skiddaw and the wonderfully welcoming and remote hostel in Skiddaw House, a former hunting lodge run by a former Yorkshire coal-miner and his spouse.
Tuesday 23: Skiddaw to Borrowdale (15 miles). Dull and cloudy. A steep descent into Keswick for lunch then south along Borrowdale for two nights at the smart wine-bar style YHA hostel at Longthwaite and an open-top double-decker bus (87th mode of transport) into Keswick for a day.

Thursday 25: Borrowdale to Hawkeshead (19 miles). Sunny and cloudy. This is a great day. A long haul up beautiful Langstrath and a tough ascent to Stake Pass leads down to the fairy-tale landscape of Great Langdale and one of my old-time haunts, the Hiker's bar of The Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel for lunch, where, in thirty-years, only the prices have changed. I spend the evening in the splendid YHA hostel at Hawkshead.

Friday 26: Hawkeshead to Bowness-on-Windermere (6 miles). Sunny morning and a short stroll takes me to Bowness and the start of the Dales Way.

Photos along the Cumbria Way. I've now walked 554 miles.

Cumbria Coastal Way

Saturday 20 August: Gretna to Carlisle (13 miles). Cloudy and rainy evening. Lunch at the Gretna Inn then the old road over Metal Bridge and on to Rockcliff's English style church spire before arriving at Carlisle's stumpy castle and a restful weekend in the city.
Photos along the Cumbria Coastal Way. I've now walked 487 miles.

Annandale Way

Thursday 18 August: Moffat to Lochmaben (17 miles). Sunny with cloudy spells. The long climb up Beattock Hill is a fine way to get rid of a hangover and, once again, I'm into my stride and, following hilly woodland tracks, I soon arrive in Lochmaben for a late lunch.
Friday 19: Lochmaben to Annan (21 miles). Cloudy with sunny spells and a cold wind. Today is my first real sight of the river Annan as the path hugs it's banks all the way to Annan.
Saturday 20: Annan to Gretna (13 miles). Sunny morning. Continuing along the north shore of the Solway Firth I'm glad it's low tide as, at Eastriggs, the path turns into a tussocky bog for a couple of miles before joining a minor road to Gretna and the border. Goodbye Scotland, hello England.
Photos along the Annadale Way. So far I've walked 474 miles.

Southern Upland Way

Wednesday 17 August: Leadhills to Moffat (25 miles). Cloudy but dry. From Wanlockhead, Scotland's highest village, it a tough climb to the summit of Lowther Hill but the scenery is a just reward. Sweetshaw and Hods Hill in the afternoon are long tough jaunts but soon I drop down Beattock Hill and continue on to the comfort of the Bonnington Hotel in Moffat to celebrate my birthday.
Photos along the Southern Upland Way. Total so far 423 miles.

Clyde Walkway

Friday 12 August: Glasgow to Hamilton (20 miles). Cloudy drizzle and light showers. From the tall ship Glenlee, opposite the new transport museum, it's an enjoyable stroll along Glasgow's once bustling harbour. Finnieston cantilever crane build to load heavy locomotives bound for all corners of the empire now stands motionless looking over Clyde Arc Bridge, a newer city icon. The carpet factory has closed but the magnificent brick facade of Templeton's remains, now a business centre. The People's Palace museum built in 1893 "for the entertainment and improvement of East End families" still serves it's original purpose well as I speed past Glasgow Green. Most people walking "End-to-End" avoid Glasgow and walk south from Edinburgh to the Pennines, but I spit in the eye of danger, fascinated by the names on my map - Broomielaw, The Gorbals, Shawfield, Dalmarnock, Parkhead, Rutherglen. I just hope danger's other eye doesn't spit back.
Happily it's a pleasant enough walk through city suburbs in light morning rain with lunch at old Cambusland or 'Orion' bridge and on to the remains of medieval Bothwell Castle to Hamilton Mausoleum and a night at my cousin's home nearby, sedated by a few pints of 'heavy' in the Cosy Corner.
Saturday 13: Hamilton to Lanark (24 Miles). Cloudy with sunny and drizzly spells. Now the Clyde is fast-flowing with green fields all around it, this is horse country. Soon I arrive at Lanark and, still feeling good, I head north to another cousin's home at their stables not too far away. Within a couple of miles the skies open and I arrive looking, and feeling, like a drowned rodent. But it's a warm welcome and I'm sad to leave but need to make the most of the sunny weather forecast.
Sunday 14: Lanark to Douglas (15 miles). Sunny with cool breeze and cloudy spells. A sad goodbye to family and soon I'm in New Lanark, a former mill village now an UNESCO World Heritage Site and a little later I pass the Falls of Clyde then head south to overnight in Douglas. Bad news, the campsite has closed down and the only hotel is being refurbished so I pitch my tent under the slightly scary castle walls and sleep like a log only disturbed by bleating sheep.
Monday 15: Douglas to Leadhills (16 miles). Cloudy with sunny spells and a cool breeze. A well-mapped path over saddle-back hill turns into a boggy mire and I'm relieved to arrive in Crawfordjohn. Bad news, the pub is closed on Mondays so it's a long hungry afternoon's walk over grouse moors to Leadhills and a late lunch next to a log fire at the wonderful Hopetoun Arms where I stay for a couple of nights to avoid rainy weather.
Photos along the Clyde Walkway. I've now walked 398 miles.

Glasgow

Wednesday 10 August: Two days of heavy rain forecast so time to explore the city - Glasgow School of Art, Mackintosh House (no photos) and the Huntarian Museum's art collection. Some Scottish Colourist's works are on show together with an important range of Whistler's portraits. I know Glasgow Museum of Transport well but it has moved to a new state-of-the art building on the banks of the Clyde. Great looking outside but, I'm told, less hands-on inside than it's predecessor, I give it a miss.
Thursday 11: Kelvingrove Art Gallery is also a delight showing works from the Glasgow Boys, the Scottish Colourists, Mackintosh and an enigmatic Salvadore Dali peice, Christ of St John on the Cross.
Pictures of Glasgow.