Why John O' Groats to Land's End?

Last summer I read a book called End to End by Steve Blease. It was a humorous account of his walk from Land’s End to John O’ Groats, capturing the highs and the lows of this gruelling journey undertaken by a man who hadn’t done any serious walking in his life. What I didn’t appreciate at the time of reading was that Steve was taking a career break at the age of 50, having worked behind a desk for over 30 years – you’ve probably spotted the parallels already!

However, End to End was probably the most recent of a number of long distance walking challenge books that I have read over the years. The first was John Hillaby’s Journey Through Britain, also from Land’s End to John O’ Groats.  John (who was also 50 when he undertook the walk!) was a veteran of long distance walking and his circuitous journey was completed almost entirely on tracks and bridleways. My original copy of the book was borrowed by a work colleague and never returned, but I’ve just re-purchased it!

Some years later I came to read Two Degrees West by Nicholas Crane, who is more familiar to many as a presenter of the television series Coast.  Crane walks along the line of the Central Meridian (to be precise, within a one mile wide band of the line) from Northumberland to Dorset. He encounters a cross-section of diverse landscapes and people, perhaps unsurprising as the route bisects both remote areas of rural England and the industrial West Midlands.

The final read was a variation on a theme. Peter Mortimer’s Broke Through Britain recounts the author’s walk from Plymouth to Edinburgh. Not an incomplete Land’s End to John O’ Groats, but a journey made without money, relying instead on the kindness of complete strangers for food and accommodation. Probably the most political of books on my reading list, he encounters life on the fringes and observes the widening gulf between rich and poor.

The cumulative effect of these apparently innocuous holiday reads is now evident; their themes have been etched into my psyche.  On one level, the books share a similar plot – a long distance walking challenge in Britain – but at a more subtle level, they all draw on the wide variety of landscapes and cultures encountered on their cross-sectional routes. This is Britain characterised in a single journey, from imposing mountains to remote beaches, from rundown estates to quaint chocolate box villages, from the industrial heartlands to sparsely populated farming communities. There is another common theme – each author encounters a diverse range of people en route, most of them complete strangers. Their observations of interactions with such people reveal yet another dimension of their respective journeys.

So it seemed like a natural outcome. Inspired by Messrs Hillaby, Crane, Mortimer and Blease, I would set out to walk my own cross-sectional journey through Britain. John O’ Groats to Land’s End. Top to bottom. End to End.

 

In my next blog, I'll explain why I opted for this direction of travel.

 
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