Hullo. How are you? I hope you are having a good day. I’m Mark and I’m walking from Land’s End to John O’Groats…
I started out early this morning after a great night at The Old Stables in Beattock. Such a friendly and welcoming place with very tasty food. I can highly recommend it.
The temperature was around freezing for the first couple of hours walking along the B-Road at the side of the M74 motorway on a steady climb up to Beattock Summit over the course of the first 10 miles or so.
From the summit, the walk gently flowed downhill, surrounded by windfarms and running close to the source of the river Clyde, which forms near Beattock Summit where Potrail Water and Daer Water combine.
As I dropped down towards Evanfoot Bridge, the sun started breaking through the clouds and the temperature quickly rose bringing glorious weather for the rest of the day.
I have driven across Evanfoot Bridge countless times, but walking across it today gave me the chance to visit the Navvies Graveyard.
This is why I so very much enjoy walking. The world is a different scale and one sees things one would never notice speeding by in a car.
The graveyard sits silently and solemnly on the banks of the Clyde and is a lovely acknowledgement to the 37 men who died here.
With the sun beaming, I carried on along the road perusing my Ordnance Survey map. I noticed the site of Crawford Castle was near by and decided to change my planned route and head there.
It’s been years since I’ve been to Crawford, so it was nice to walk along the single village road again. I crossed the Clyde one more and basked in the unseasonal Lanarkshire weather – everybody I spoke to said the same thing; it’s like summer!
I had a potter around the castle for a while chatted to a sheep farmer about this and that before heading off along tracks for the final section of the walk.
Walking around the beautiful Castle Hill and along the banks of the Clyde was simply perfect. Such a gorgeous walk to have all to myself.
Approaching Abington, I passed a small holiday park, which thronged will caravan owners tending to their gardens, repairing fences, laying gravel and generally sprucing the place up ready for the season.
I crossed the West Coast Mainline once more and arrived into Abington after an amazing 22 mile walk.
The Day 42 Vlog
Fundraising for MacMillan Cancer Support
As I walk from Land’s End to John O’Groats, I am hoping to raise £10,000 for MacMillan Cancer Support, who do such a wonderful job of supporting families through the most difficult times. If you are able to spare any amount and would like to donate to MacMillan, please do so through my Just Giving Page.
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