John O'Groats to Lands End - Day 47 Lunchtime

13.05 arrive at Lands End. I'll tell you all about it later. Running
well and feeling fantastic.

Thanks for support everyone, texts, emails, blog comments, phone
calls, all kinds of help. Many thanks.

John O'Groats to Lands End - Day 46 Evening

In my tent 18.5 miles short of Lands End. Very tired. 34.5 miles today.

Breakfast from Angie at the Mega Bites Snack Van someplace on the A39. Lovely woman - gave me free fruit and cakes.

Atlantic Highway did my head in and eventually I had to get on some quieter roads. Got lost a bit in Redruth and Camborne. Camborne looked a bit dodgy.

Got to Hayle very late and paid 24 quid for camping - would have walked away but didn't have the energy.

All cosy now. Eating. Sleep soon.

G'night.

John O'Groats to Lands End - Day 45 Evening

Funny old chat this morning with the geezer who runs the snack kiosk just outside the campsite. While I ate a sausage sandwich and had a coffee that is.

"What you doin' then?'

"I'm on a journey. From John O'Groats to Lands End."

"Oh. Another one."

He was priceless. Told me a story about visiting Bulgaria on a package tour when it was still under communism with a ... Anyway, this is a family blog.

I had got up late again. Listening to the rain patter on the tent had not got me bouncing up I'm afraid. By the time I finished breakfast it was almost eleven again.

Anyway I kept banging on down the A39 running when it felt right. Although now my left shin had a tender swelling I really do not like.

Passed through Camelford where I bought chocolate and Irn Bru for lunch.

Eventually had a lovely supper of chilli and rice and salad at the Halfway House Inn just before St Columb. Then had another good old chat with Rebecca who works there and a chap at the bar. Very pleasant.

I'm in a campsite 53 miles from Lands End by Googlemaps. Which means I've only covered 24 miles today. Must get on the road earlier tomorrow.

Cheerio!

John O'Groats to Lands End - Day 44 Evening

I could not get up out of bed this morning. The sea view came with a gusting Atlantic wind and sporadic rain. I could hear the rain battering down on the tent as I lay there. This time I wasn't trying to wait it out I was just knackered. Maybe I had stayed up too late reading the night before. Yeah, the campsite had a book borrowing service so I found a copy of an old favourite, The Thirty Nine Steps, and read a chunk of that. Story about a Scottish chap who is fed up
with London and ends up running around the countryside.

I eventually got going just before eleven. And I found myself walking in some of the worst rain I have met so far. The wind from the west I have been fighting with on and off since leaving Bristol was driving the rain so hard it stung my face and blinded me so I was having difficulty seeing the oncoming traffic. Yikes.

I stopped for traditional Sunday Lunch at the West Country Inn, the last pub in Devon as you leave for Cornwall. Roast lamb with everything followed by a beautifully presented but ultimately uninspiring cheesecake.

After lunch the rain never really got going again and I plugged away till about four thirty when I stopped for a pot of tea and a battery charge at a pub in Kilkhampton.

So I'm in Cornwall now and by the way the A39 is called the Atlantic Highway. I love that, I really do, the Atlantic Highway.

As the evening warmed up I got out of my waterproofs and managed to get some jogging done. At about eight I spotted a campsite and decided to call it a day.

I'm lying in my tent camped in the Cornish Coasts Campsite just beyond Bude and 11 miles short of Camelford eating breakfast-in-a-can for supper.

GoogleMaps has just told me that it is 77 miles to Lands End. I can't imagine what could stop me being finished by Wednesday (today Sunday 19 July). Anyway, I feel disinclined to count chickens. My right foot feels well dodgy - I haven't mentioned it because I've had so much other good stuff to whinge about but I have a recurring pain in my big toe joint and along the upper arch which comes on sometimes seemingly randomly and sometimes while doing hard running. Anyway, I'll be able to give it a good long rest in a few days.

Hope to see some of you real soon. I'll probably head over to London for a couple of days when I'm done and then back to Motherwell by way of York.

John O'Groats to Lands End - Day 43 Evening

The A39 towards Barnstaple (from Kentisbury Grange) twists and turns in and out and up and down through a rolling landscape of patchwork fields and ancient hedgerows. The traffic is light so the road feels safe enough.

I left Kentisbury Grange and it's free-roaming peacocks (honest) at just before ten (slept in) so it was about one thirty when I arrived in Barnstaple and bumped into the Pilton Festival. I turned into the park where it was all happening (juggler, one-man-band, food stalls, craft stalls, people strolling around in character and period costume) and queued up at the hog roast for a hog roll with crackling and stuffing. Then I had a bit of cake and a coffee and got going again.

Between Barnstaple and Bideford the A39 is more of a normal road with a proper white line at the edge and a hard shoulder so I got some speed up and did some hard sustained running. Going over the bridge into Bideford over the river there was pretty cool.

I found a Morrison's on the outskirts of town and had a really nice Lamb curry in the caff there followed by some kind of chocolate cake. I had a second pot of tea while I surreptitiously recharged my iPhone off their electricity.

Then I got on the road again. The road was all narrow and twisty again so I was hoping for a campsite before it got dark and then I saw the sign for the Steart Farm Touring Park. This is definitely the best organised site I've been on in the whole country. There's also a stunning view of the sea and I was only charged four quid for the night. Result. www.steartfarmtouringpark.co.uk

I'm getting closer and closer to Land's End. In fact tomorrow I'll be in Cornwall. It seems like a long time since Caithness.

John O'Groats to Lands End - Day 42 Evening

Left Minehead yesterday at 4pm for the start of the South West Coastal Path in the pouring rain.

The Coast Path is great, feels really wild. Bracken covered hills, purple and yellow flowered, or forest right down to the sea's edge. Well signposted to so it has been really difficult to get lost.

The rain didn't let up at all and about nine I pitched my tent by a river in a wood seven miles short of Lynmouth. My sleeping bag, my matress, a pair of leggings and a pair of socks were dry and that was it. Everything else was wet. And it rained all night. And it was still raining this morning. I tried to wait out the rain but it just wouldn't stop so I got up and got packed in the rain and everything just got wetter, including my last pair of socks.

I got going about 11am this morning. It took me till almost 2pm to do the seven miles into Lynmouth. Once out of the woods there was a fierce wind coming off the sea which sucked the energy right out of me.

In Lynmouth paid six quid for an all day breakfast which was a bit on the light side. Had to supplement it with two Mars Bars, a chip butty and some kind of Thornton's ice cream on a stick product which was very expensive but very nice, like a Magnum but better.

All this took time because all Lynmouth really wants to sell is fudge and pasties at fudgtastic prices. It really is a tedious little place. Quite the Melrose of the South West. So it was about four in the afternoon when I left only having done about seven or eight miles all day.

I abandoned the Coast Path for the moment and headed across country with the intention of taking a more direct route and making faster mileage. I took the A39 towards Barnstaple.

I fancied some comfort after last night's soaking so when I saw a nice campsite at about 7.20 I decided on an early night. I'm at the very well appointed Kentisbury Grange. It's lovely. The nice friendly young woman who signed me in sold me some very posh cookies and crisps which I am having for supper. I've already had a shower and even washed and tumble dried my socks. Whadayathinkuvthat?

I'm eight miles outside Barnstaple but the weather looks as if it's clearing so I should be able to get an early start tomorrow and knock a whole bunch of miles off.

John O'Groats to Lands End - Day 41 Breakfast

Very strange barking noise last night after lights out. I thought I was being stalked by a badger but managed to get to sleep anyway.

This morning I was up early. I was on the road by 6.30 to face more near death experiences on the A39. It hasn't got any better since yesterday. Found an off-road path for a bit but it didn't last. Walked quite a few miles before stopping for breakfast.

Everywhere are signs proclaiming "The Quantock Hills - An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty". Reminds me of my buddy Glenn's reaction to the South Downs. "Nah! The Grand Canyon - that's outstanding. The Great Barrier Reef - that's outstanding. This... is a coupla horses in a field"

I've just had the full english breakfast in the Royal Huntsman in Williton still eight miles from Minehead. Should be there by lunchtime but after this breakfast I won't need to stop for food.

I'm feeling fantastic so I'm going to relax over a second pot of tea.

John O'Groats to Lands End - Day 40 Evening

Quick update before iPhone battery goes.

Up and away early this morning (8.15) and back on the A38. Breakfast and coffee from snack van and just kept plugging away with some good running in the afternoon. Got the 18 miles to Bridgwater done. Some extremely tattooed people in Bridgwater. I know you shouldn't judge a
town on two roundabouts and the Sainsbury's caff but seriously guys Bridgwater looked grim.

Left the place by the A39 in the direction of Minehead. Now I had fun on the A38, road running is fine as long as there is some kind of footpath which there was even if it was often busted or weedchoked or both. The A39 is a whole different game. There's no footpath so you're running at the edge of the road with the traffic coming at you. And for miles it has been up and down and twisty with endless blind corners. And there's usually not even a grass verge to throw myself onto if think I'm close to being hit. I keep having to take a break out of sheer nervous exhaustion.

When I saw the signs for Coleridge's Cottage and for Porlock I distracted myself by reciting Kubla Khan. 'Caverns measureless to man' and all that.

As it was getting darker I decided it was just plain stupid to stay on the road so I'm camped in a little wood just outside the village of Holford still about 15 miles short of Minehead and the start of the Coastal Path. Should get there late tomorrow morning.

Nice warm day today by the way.

John O'Groats to Lands End - Day 39 Evening

Had great fun this morning. Got up early and had a long hot shower and a shave to make sure I got as much mileage out of my eight quid camping fee as possible.

Got off just after seven. I had broken my rules last night by both backtracking and going off route in order to get to the campsite (I thought the rain was going to dump but it never really did) so the first mile or so was spent getting back to where I had left off the night before some 18 miles north of Bristol.

I was excited about getting to Bristol so I started banging down the A38 at a fair old power walk. I was wondering where I was going to find breakfast when I spotted one of those snack vans. Fantastic. Sausage sandwich and a black coffee, please. The lady who ran the van had an England's Glory tracksuit on, 'two world wars and one world cup!' but she changed my Scottish £20 note with the minimum of grumbling.

I don't know what made me order coffee instead of tea but it certainly charged me up. I got another coffee at the next snack van and a Tango at the next from a very cheery Turkish bloke who offered to sell me Stella Artois. Not sure if he was serious.

I really enjoyed the road into Bristol. Nearing the city I spotted the old bridge over on the left and once, through a space in the houses, the old bridge and the new with the Bristol Channel a grey ribbon of water and Wales beyond. Outstanding!

I walked down the Gloucester Road through the north side of the city with all the funky shops and was in the city centre by two in the afternoon.

I bought a waterproof map of the South West from Waterstones for £4.99 and had lunch in the park. Bristol is the first place since York I have actually been before.

My knowledge of the city doesn't extend to the southwest side though so on my way out I got lost in a pretty dodgy looking area. I had to resort to using my compass to get back on track.

The A38 going southwest to Bridgwater is also the road for Bristol International so it was a busy and uncomfortable trek until beyond the airport.

The landscape changed as the Mendip Hills became obvious ahead of me.

It was hard going in the afternoon and soon after seven I saw a sign for camping just south of Redhill. I decided I would stop if the price was right.

Brook Lodge Farm is a dream of a place and the chap who runs it is a prince. And considering the prices in this area so far £6.50 seems fine. We had a lovely chat about this and that and he told me about a French bloke who stopped at the farm a few years ago pulling an organ
from Lands End to John O'Groats. Apparantly this French bloke had organised himself a proper tour and was playing theatres as he went. Now that, I have to google.

There's even a little TV room here in the camping field. I can't seem to get the box to work but I'm sure someone would fix it if I asked. I'm not really bothered.

I've had supper of an all-day-breakfast-in-a-can but I'm still hungry so I'm sure my two remaining Mars Bars will get scoffed shortly.

I figure there's roughly 300 miles between here and Lands End. If I could manage 30 miles a day for the next ten days I would be finished by a week on Saturday.

Now there's a thought.

John O'Groats to Lands - Day 38 Evening

Yesterday (Day 37 Sun 12 July) I just got the tent packed up in the morning when it started to rain. I hid in the manky wash/toilet block for a while (had my second shave since York) but eventually you have to get going whether it's dry or not.

I continued to hack my way along the Severn Way for a while (am I the first person to use this path?) but eventually got lost. My own fault I readily admit. I refused to believe a sign saying 'no entry - no right of way' all that sort of thing, and started climbing over fences and padlocked gates and committing all sorts of outrages against private property. At last I got my comeupance when I was stopped by a tributary flowing into the river right in my path. Oops!

I couldn't get across the water in an undrowned state so I had to backtrack along this new river arm looking for a bridge. Nothing doing and I was soon good and lost. Now the route has been pretty civilised for the last couple of days. No lack of shops and things since Kidderminster. So I just stood still and listened for the traffic. When I heard the cars and trucks I walked in that direction and pretty soon I was on a road which took me the last few miles into Worcester. And in the meantime the rain had cleared and the sun had come out.

Spotted on the outskirts of Worcester: an Edward VIII pillar box. You don't see many of those around.

Nearer the centre I stopped for lunch at a Poppins restaurant. Being Sunday most other places were closed.

I had one of those moments while I sat there looking out of the window when, despite my still soggy and stinking feet, everything was just perfect. And everything was, including the lasagne and baked potato and the chocolate fudge cake and ice cream.

On the way out of Worcester to the south I bumped into the Severn Way again and decided to give it another go. I had some more scrappy fun with it without making much mileage. At one point there was a diversion because of a collapsed river bank. Now I'm not actually sure I took the diversion but I survived anyway, although the bank did feel a bit insecure at times.

Then there was another big diversion around a wood where there was no right of way. I took their word for it this time.

Hours and hours later though, I had only reached Upton upon Severn, about seven miles further on. I stopped by the riverbank there at about 6.30 and had supper of a tin of sausage and beans with some wholemeal rolls.

Just outside Upton I lost my way again and found myself in some kind of quarry with danger signs all around. So I scarpered out of there sharpish and took to the road once more.

About nine o'clock I was still two miles short of Tewkesbury (and fourteen short of Gloucester) when I saw the sign for the Sunset View Caravan Site and decided to pitch up for the night.

The Sunset View charged me ten quid to pitch my little one man tent. Jeepers. I remember being outraged at a fiver for the night back in Bellingham. Remember Bellingham? One day into the Pennine Way?

Anyway, the Sunset View had the builders in and by the time they were starting up their engines at about eight this morning I was already packing up.

Then Paul arrived from a nearby caravan with the offer of 'a brew before you get off'. This act of kindness was a cracking start to the day. By the time I was all packed my mug of tea was ready. We chatted outside Paul's caravan. He's from Skelmersdale but is working down here at the moment. He had just done a nightshift on the M5 organising lane closures in support of maintenance/repair work. We had a good old chat before I had to get going.

I jogged the two miles down to Tewkesbury. Tewkesbury is one of those mediaeval timewarp towns and cute enough in a timberframed kind of a way. There were lots of references to King John as well. When I asked the woman in Tourist Information if King John had thrown the
Great Seal of England in the river she didn't know what I was talking about. And then I remembered, AESK (As Every Schoolboy Knows), King John threw the Great Seal in the Wash. I think that's right.

Anyway, Tewkesbury looked like the perfect place to have breakfast. In fact I spotted the perfect cafe, then decided I could do better, then I had walked all the way through Tewkesbury.

So I just kept going. I ignored the sign for the Severn Way (I was all done with that) and kept on the A38.

And that's what I've been doing all day. I've done about 30 miles jogging and walking with a break in Gloucester.

I had sausages and mash in a pub for supper and now I'm at a campsite about 18 miles north of Bristol. I'm very excited at being so close to Bristol. It means I'm really in the South West and just about on the home straight.

There was a bit of rain on and off today and it looked as if it was going to erupt just before I got camped. So far it hasn't though.

I'm tired and I just want to get my head down so I'll sign off for now.

By the way, this campsite was eight quid. I'm gonna have to go illegal again.

John O'Groats to Lands End - Day 37 Morning

Yesterdy afternoon (day 36) after tea and cake in the Old Smithy just
north of Kidderminster I trekked on down through Kidderminster towards
Stourport-on-Severn. Here I left the Staffordshire and Worcestershire
Canal and continued south on the river Severn.

Ok the Severn is a real river so there is no canal towpath as such.
Fortunately, I soon found the Severn Way which follows the course of
the river to Worcester and beyond.

The path was a bit up and down and in and out after the towpath.
There was a lot of crossing of tussocky fields with a stile every
couple of minutes. Then it started to rain. Straight down and heavy
and in half a minute my feet were cold and wet. And it kept going.
And to be fair so did I. For a while. My goal was Worcester but when
I saw the campsite seven miles from home I pitched my tent, got out of
the rain and my soggy clothes and into a warm sleeping bag. I'm glad
I did. That was about seven thirty in the evening and the rain went
on forever.

I'm up now after twelve hours sleep (mostly). It's dry and I should be
on the road soon after nine making up for lost time.

See ya!

John O'Groats to Lands End - Day 36 Afternoon

It's just before 2.30 and after a couple of hours plodding through
threatening rain I arrive in the sunshine at the Old Smithy Tea
Rooms. My arrival coincides with a rush. A couple of dozen women in
a variety of pink outfits are queueing up for ice cream or consuming
ice cream already acquired. Cancer Awarenes charity walkers calorie
loading for the road ahead. Any one of them has more energy than I
have.

It's a hard slog today. I must have run myself out yesterday. Maybe
this tea and carrot cake will gee me up.

By the way, the back of my right hand has been swollen up for two or
three days now. It seems to have spread from four little insect
bites. Insects want to eat us. They want to poison us and consume
our flesh. And there's another bite on my forehead. It's gone up in
a big lump. And I heard a mole trying to burrow up into the tent last
night. And this morning the tent was covered in slugs.

Right. Better get going.

John O'Groats to Lands End - Day 36 Morning

Yesterday (day 35) after my canalside breakfast at Market Drayton I
trekked on down past Tyrley Locks and Woodseaves Cutting. The cutting
is just that, a cutting right through a hill to let the canal through,
kind of like a tunnel with the top off. The towpath is muddy because
the sunlight doesn't get down to dry it out. It's a bit like a man-
made canyon and kind of spooky in an Indiana Jones kind of way. Pity
I lost my fedora on the bus up to Thurso.

At midday I reached a little place called Goldstone and crossed the
river to the Wharf Tavern to fill up my water bag and iPhone battery.

It had only just openned and I had a chat with Alex behind the bar who
had recently done a mammoth tour of the english waterways by kayak.
He outlined his journey and I realised that two weeks ago I wouldn't
have known what he was talking about but now I could visualise his
route pretty clearly. Anyway Alex was able to give me navigational
advice for my own ongoing tour. So thanks for that, Alex, and for the
good strong tea.

The Wharf seems a popular lunchtime spot and Alex got busier with the
older ladies and couples ordering food so I got going again.

And then it happened. At about 1pm JRT (Joe Running Time) I got my
mojo back. That's mojo as on Mo' Joe! And I was running strong
again. I ran some good miles that afternoon. Not flying miles,
digging miles. I mean it was hard work but I was back in the running
game.

By 8.30 I was at Wolverhampton with 30 miles done for the day. But I
kept going, walking again, and by the time I stopped for the night
just north of Wombourne I was another six miles down the road.

I couldn't find a decent place to camp. I did find a wood but there
were old campfires and empty bottles and cans around and I didn't want
a party arriving while I was asleep for the night so I gave it a
miss. Eventually I just pitched my tent by the towpath. In the dark
I misjudged how much of a slope I was on and when I lay down in the
tent I rolled downhill. After a pretty uncomfortable few hours I got
up at about 5.30 and got going.

Pretty soon it started to drizzle and gradually the drizzle turned to
rain. I was plodding along, weary and footsore. My feet have started
to blister. I think my shoes are beginning to disintegrate and rub
them up the wrong way. I had no food and I was out of water but it
was too early to find breakfast.

At one point I sat on a bench and fell asleep in the rain. I felt a
bit better when I woke up.

About 10am I found the little village of Kinver, thatched timber
framed buildings (at least some of them). A coffee shop was open (no
caffs in Kinver) and I had a big breakfast and some coffee cake.

At 11 I crossed the road to the pub to fill my water bag (there's a
whole story about the old bag who owns the coffee shop but never mind
that now).

It's almost noon and I'm about to get going again. It's overcast but
not raining at the moment. Worcester is 25 miles down the road. I
plan to get beyond that today.

More later.

John O'Groats to Lands End - Day 35 Morning

Up and packed and on the move by 8 this morning. Then three miles on
the sunshine along a surprisingly muddy towpath to Market Drayton,
home of ginger bread, for breakfast.

It was a bit of a walk from the canal into town where I find, rather
disappointingly, that Market Drayton is not home to ginger bread men.
So I stock up with supplies from Netto supermarket and head back to
the canalside to eat out of cans. Beans and sausage followed by peach
slices. Yum yum.

The lady at the Netto checkout was a Wolves supporter and I am
definitely hearing vaguely Brummie accents so I reckon I must be well
into the Midlands. Roll on the South West.

Gotta run. More later.

John O'Groats to Lands End - Day 34 Evening

I'm becoming a real canal traveller. I started on the Leeds Liverpool
Canal then switched to the Bridgewater Canal then at some point I
managed to get onto the Trent and Mersey Canal. Today I turned on to
the Middlewich Branch (at Middlewich) and that took me over to the
Shropshire Union Canal which will take me south to Wolverhampton where
I can change to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire which I'm pretty
sure takes me all the way to Gloucester.

I'm camped in some scrub just off the towpath nine miles south of
Nantwitch, beyond Audlem Locks. In fact looking at the map I'm camped
at the Adderley Locks just north of Market Drayton.

I couldn't find a good wood to camp in. It's all trimmed and proper
fields around here with proper black and white cows.

Amyway, Gloucester is about 105 miles to the south. Three good days
would take me there and Bristol is just one day further and then
you're really in the South West. Despite a really tired day with very
little running I covered 27 miles. I feel as if I'm really getting
there. I'm sure my running mojo's just about to make a comeback too.

A bit earlier I was getting tired and hungry and dehydrated when I
came across a canalside pub at Audlem. This was about nine fifteen.
I stopped to see if they sold chocolate. They didn't so I had a pint
of fresh orange and soda and three packets of plain crisps. I found a
power point for recharging my phone and sat down. The table hadn't
been cleared from an earlier meal and there were four of the biggest
fattest chips I had ever seen just sitting there going to waste. So I
ate them myself. Lovely.

There were a lot of younger people in the pub busy turning lager into
stupidity. I do not miss drinking at all.

I walked till really late and pitched my tent in the dark. It looked
like another cloudless night tonight so I'll wear all my clothes
inside my sleeping bag. No cloud cover makes for a chilly night.

See ya!

John O'Groats to Lands End - Day 33 Evening

I'm camped in a wood 7 miles south of Preston Brook on the Trent and
Mersey Canal. At some point today I bought a map of the inland
waterways of Britain. And I reckon I can be as far south as
Wolverhampton in a couple of days. Another couple of days, Gloucester
and then I'm almost on the home run down the Lands End peninsula.

Very tired today but managed a good twenty odd miles. Get up earlier
and push harder tomorrow now I know where I am going.

Stay happy, everybody.

John O'Groats to Lands End - Day 33 Lunchtime

Yesterday (Day 32) was tough. Another day when I tried to resolve
what I thoght was a calorie deficit by having the big breakfast. This
time at a place called the Roadside Cafe somewhere outside Wigan a
couple of miles beyond my camping spot.

I sat at a tiny table a few yards from the traffic. My breakfast came
in a styrofoam box and my tea in a styrofoam cup. And both were
perfect. Add in two Mars Bars and a Tango to take away and there was
still change out of a fiver.

But my energy wouldn't come back. And then the rain started. I mean
it started. Straight down, heavy, relentless. An it went on like
that till four in the afternoon.

At some point I decided to give Liverpool a body swerve and head down
to Manchester on the Leigh branch of the Bridgewater Canal on the
grounds that Manchester was a) closer and b) further south.

On the way to Manchester I stopped off at Leigh (never again) and
Bridgewater (drank tea in a posh pub while the rain ripped down
oitside).

I planned to take the branch off to Warrington/Runcorn at Manchester
but made the mistake of going all the way into Manchester instead of
taking the fork two miles out of town. So that was four extra miles
plus I was in a big city I didn't know and it was getting dark. It
was quite scary for a while until I found a place to camp which felt
relatively safe round about one in the morning.

By that time I had covered well over thirty miles and I was wiped out.

So a late start this morning (Day 33) and I've only covered a few
miles before stopping at the cute village of Lymm for lunch. Why is
it cute to have the old stocks on display in the middle of the
village? Anyway I've had lunch of a half chicken with chips and veg
followed by chocolate fudge cake and ice cream and I'm still hungry.
Is it the food that's slowing me down? But I need it!

Have to get going soon. More later.

John O'Groats to Lands End - Day 31 Evening

Another great day along the towpath. Although, to be truthful, My
energy was pretty low all day.

I woke up feeling calorie deprived and a weary walk along the canal
brought me to a little place called Clayton-le-Moors. I couldn't
resist the Big Breakfast for £3.50 in Nancy's Cafe. It was the real
deal and I washed it down with a couple of mugs of tea. Lovely.

Clayton-le-Moors has a Co-op and a Spar so I was able to get a good
deal on a pack of Mars Bars and a can of All Day Breakfast. I got a
tin of Irn Bru just for the sugar rush and I was good to go.

I popped into the public library for some info on the Leeds Liverpool
canal and had a lovely chat with the two charming, helpful and
enthusiastic ladies who work there.

In the end I didn't really get going until noon. And all day I was
fighting weariness. I kept pushing though, walking and jogging, and
eventually covered just short of 30 miles I think.

I'm camped in a wood not far outside Wigan.

Despite my lethargy I enjoyed the day. It was a day for chatting.
First the library ladies, of course. Then an old chap who used to
drive trains to Ravenscraig to pick up steel. He gave me some local
history. And later a young student of English literature who was
reading Isaac Asimov and loved Alexandre Dumas. A canal towpath can
be quite a sociable place.

At some point yesterday I passed a sign which said, Welcome to
Lancashire, and since then the run has been something of a tour of old
mill towns, Blackburn, Burnley, even Accrington got a close miss.

Anyway, tomorrow I breakfast in Wigan.

Nighty night, folks.

John O'Groats to Lands End - Day 30 Evening

While my Mizuno Wave Riders were going through their second wash cycle
yesterday I formulated a plan for getting to Lands End. About time, I
know.

Anyway, this is it. Skipton, where I took my break, is on the Leeds
Liverpool Canal. If I run the canal towpath along to Liverpool (98
miles) Prestatyn is just around the corner (35 miles) and Prestatyn is
the north end of Offa's Dyke. Take Offa's Dyke all the way down to
the south end, bridge over the Bristol Channel, round to Minehead (the
start of the South West Coastal Path) and then bang out the last few
miles down to Lands End.

Sounds easy of you say it fast but it works out at another 660 miles.
I really want to finish in no more than another 20 days. That would
be a total of seven weeks. It's doable but I need to boost the effort
a couple of notches.

So I made a start today. By the time I took the train from York to
Skipton it was midday but now, as I type this in my tent under a tree
by the canal, I'm 30 miles nearer to Liverpool.

Fantastic.

John O'Groats to Lands End - Day 29 Morning

It's now Saturday morning 4 July, Day 29 of the Big Run, four weeks since starting out from John O'Groats on Saturday 6 June.

I haven't posted for a few days (iPhone battery needing charged) so here's an update.

I managed to get 27 miles done on Wednesday (Day 26) by pushing on from Hawes to Horton-in-Ribblesdale. It was still hot though and by the time I was approaching Horton I was running on empty and the place just seemed to keep receding into the distance. I was beginning to feel quite tearful with fatigue when some local fell runners began to approach me from behind. I managed to work up to a jog and was making a feeble attempt at hanging tough by the time they caught up. When I let it be known that I was running from JOG to LE one of them slowed down and accompanied my pathetic trot all the way to the Crown Pub which, thankfully, was still doing food.

After steak and mushroom pie and a couple of pints of orange I dragged my weary, footsore self to the local campsite. It's a big campsite for a little place but I learnt in the morning that Horton is the setting off point for Pen Y Ghent and the famous Three Peaks so that made sense.

The site manager, quite a character, had country music blaring from his tent office when I arrived. The midgies were biting when I was putting up my tent and I was glad of the Jungle Formula which I hadn't used since Loch Lomond. Despite a loudly and endlessly bleating sheep I slept soundly for about ten hours.

Thursday 2 July - Day 27

The big campsite in Horton-in-Ribblesdale was almost deserted by the time I got going. I was still feeling a bit weary when I sat down for breakfast in the Pen y Ghent Cafe. They serve tea in pints there and the chap behind the counter knows how to make a brew. I had beans on toast in an attempt to have a healthy start and bought some Kendal Mint Cake (an experiment for me) to keep me going through the day.

The tea and the beans was just the start I needed and it wasn't long before I was jogging up the slopes towards Pen Y Ghent. It was a great climb on another hot day. Going down the other side was a fun scramble and I kept pushing on towards Fountains Fell. I made a couple of short stops and munched on the Mint Cake for quick energy. This Kendal Mint Cake is a local product and a favourite with climbers. Early Everest attempts were made on it. It's a bit like a hard tablet and good on this hot day because it wasn't all melted and sticky like a chocolate bar would have been.

I was flagging a bit by the time I reached Malham Tarn, a bit of a lake, so I had a lie down by the water for a few minutes and some more Mint Cake.

Malham Cove is an awesome natural limestone sculpture. A completely stunning accidental work of art.

I was dragging my heels along the short walk from the Cove to Malham the village.

It was hot and I was cranky. It was five in the afternoon and the cafe was just closing. The nearest pub wasn't doing food until, I think, six. The village shop didn't have any tinned food. The proprieter told me he hadn't stocked food for years. "We just cater for the day visitor now." Who, apparantly has an insatiable appetite for sweets, water pistols and larcenously priced soft drinks.

I couldn't tell if the other pub was doing food because the only entrance I could find was blocked by two empty child's high chairs. Why? Their menu I did find and it was another highwayman's charter.

I decided to add Malham to my hit list (see Melrose) and stormed off along the road to Gargrave in something between high dudgeon and a right old huff.

This should have been a pleasant five mile riverside walk but I was tired, hot, annoyed. Then I tried to just let it go. Malham wasn't out to get me any more than Melrose had been. But it was still hot, I was still hungry, the insects were still bothersome and I still couldn't read a map.

But Gargrave had a chip shop and a co-op. I bought take out sausage and chips. (I wish I hadn't seen her test the gravy by sticking her finger in it then sucking it). And I bought some Mars Bars and a tin of peach slices at the co-op.

I ate the whole tin of peach slices after I found the campsite and put my tent up. That's the nearest thing to fresh fruit I've eaten since the half dozen plums I bought in Melrose.

Friday 3 July - Day 28

Another ten solid hours. I'm finding that the tent has become like home. The field I was camped in was right by a busy road with plenty of lorry traffic but it hadn't bothered me all night.

It started raining just as I finished packing my tent. And then it rained all morning. Relentless, straight down, seeping, soggy, wet, nasty, uncomfortable rain. And it was a wet, soggy walk over boggy fields. And soggy, boggy, cold water squelched in my poor Mizuno Wave Riders. Running shoes were never meant to endure this.

Approaching Lothersdale I decided it was time for a break. After an indifferent but imaginatively priced lunch in the surly, parochial atmosphere of the Hare and Hounds pub I walked in the wakening sunshine the three and a half miles to Skipton where I got a train to my brother William's place in York.

Today I'm having a day off and lazing around in the company of William and Angelina and nieces and nephews Julia, Rebekah, Matthew and Steven. And the sun is shining again.

John O'Groats to Lands End - Day 26 Afternoon

I got lost for a bit just after leaving Thwaite but when I eventually got on to the flagged path up to Great Shunner Fell the way was clear and I got a good pace going. Coming down the other side was even better. Flagged path or stony track all the way down as clear as the Edgware Road. I flew most of the five miles down to Hardraw.

Nearer the bottom I was able to do a good deed. An elderly scandanavian lady had become separated from two of her friends and by the time I had finished running up and down they were all together again.

I sat on a bench by the river and had breakfast in a can and a Mars Bar. Then I headed over the fields to Hawes. It was only just over a mile but now I feel wiped out. The heat is incredible. I'm sitting in a pub with a pint of Coke and a pot of tea trying to rehydrate.

It's only three twenty so plenty of hours left once I get going again.

I saw a sign for the Wensleydale Cheese Visitors Centre. I mean I like cheese. But do I want to visit?

Saw another sign, a handmade one, for, "Logs, sticks and potatoes".
That one I loved.

John O'Groats to Lands End - Day 26 Morning

I got up and left Keld early, without breakfast, detemined to get good mileage done today. It's now ten o'clock and I've done the three miles to Thwaite already so I've stopped for tea and a bacon roll at the Kearton Country Hotel which is very nice, big pretentions for a little place, but why not.

The bacon roll has just arrived, delivered by a chef in whites. Oooh er! I just sent him off for some English mustard.

I better make the most of it. After this it's nine miles across the fells, including Great Shunner Fell which the guide book expects me to be very excited about.

More later.