Walking home ahead of the Beast from the East

Saturday 24th February 2018

Early this year easterly winds brought Siberian weather to Great Britain in a cold wave that was nicknamed by the media as the “Beast from the East”. Ahead of the snow were a few days of bitterly cold weather, but also clear blue skies and lovely sunshine so I jumped at the opportunity to do a walk through the great Leicestershire countryside. Since, I reasoned, my car was going to be inches thick of ice I caught a train instead to the market town of Loughborough and then walked all the way back home. This is something that I have done several times before and the most recent, two years ago, was described on this blog. On that occasion I walked along the Grand Union Canal all the way through Leicester, but the first time I did the endeavour I diverted via the hill of Old John in Bradgate Park which made an already long walk even longer and harder. That was the inspiration for this walk but now as I made the attempt again I would make it even tougher, so first thing in the morning I caught the train to Loughborough and set off through the town passing the market that was already being set up. I carried on through Loughborough until I reached the Forest Road roundabout where I branched off onto a cyclepath that follows the Wood Brook initially passing through a lovely spot that even at this early time of the year already had some daffodils in bloom along with snowdrops and crocuses.

The cyclepath follows the Wood Brook through a housing estate until eventually it parts company at the edge of the estate with the Outwoods on the horizon ahead of me. Even though it was very cold and the ground was frozen solid I was already working up a sweat and needed to take off several layers. This would be a curious day of very cold temperatures but with warm sunshine so that underfoot I found the sun soon started melting the mud and making the walking a little tougher. Following the path out of Loughborough I headed up to the Outwoods and upon entering these fabulous bluebell woods I climbed up onto a prominent top on its northern edge. At this point I started following the route of my oft-walked Charnwood Forest Round passing Jubilee Wood on a permissive path that climbs to the narrow top of Buck Hill before descending into the Wood Brook valley. After a walk through the fields at the bottom of the valley I climbed all the way up to the top of Beacon Hill and there broke off from my Charnwood Forest Round route to descend the eastern slopes, cross the road and enter the Broombriggs Farm Country Park.

I was now following the route of the Leicestershire Round that took me straight through the middle of Lingdale Golf Club. I do not like taking this route through the golf course as I feel as if I’m intruding and consequently I have not taken it in a long time, but eventually I did manage to safely cross to the other side and passing through the muddy Rough Hill woodland I came onto a road that is a short distance from the Hunt's Hill car park for Bradgate Park. After passing through Hunt’s Hill wood the iconic view of Old John Hill appeared ahead of me with the beer mug shaped tower at the top. This was the route that I always took as a child up Old John, but these days I usually enter the park from a completely different direction on my Charnwood Forest Round. While descending the long slopes of the hill under gorgeous blue skies, behind me the two peaks of Old John were looking splendid in the sunshine, while ahead of me was a herd of red deer with two males headbutting each other for supremacy. On reaching Bradgate House, known locally as Lady Jane Grey’s House, I crossed the River Lin and followed a path out of the park.

Stopping on the edge of the park I turned around and surveyed the tremendous scene before me of Bradgate House with Old John behind and the war memorial and tower on top. With this view before me I had my lunch while I reflected that the best bit of the walk was now over. I had taken a much more strenuous route from Loughborough up to this point than I had taken years before and I was still only half way home with a long way to go. Leaving Bradgate Park behind I crossed some horribly muddy fields that had been warmed by the sunshine and entered the outskirts of the village of Anstey. When I reached Anstey Cemetery I found that the path I needed to reach Rothley Brook was temporarily closed due to construction work. With no alternative I managed to bypass the barriers and walk along the partially constructed path over the stream and under the A46 Western Bypass to reach the outskirts of Glenfield. After walking beside the road through Glenfield I crossed the busy New Parks Way and entered Western Park where the walking could once again be more pleasing in more natural surroundings. Unfortunately I have no idea how to cross Western Park and I had no map, so it was interesting trying to find my way across and in the process I found some good paths through some lovely woodland.

At the southern tip of Western Park I crossed a main road and entered Braunstone Park which has less woodland to enjoy, but I was able to follow a good path that effortlessly took me across the park. On leaving the park I walked along Braunstone Road until I reached Aylestone Playing Fields and upon crossing an old packhorse bridge over the River Soar I reached the Great Central Way, which is familiar territory for me and close enough to home to enable to confidently follow the old railway line all the back home. This mammoth walk must have been about twenty miles long and involved a lot of hills in the first half, so by the time I got home my legs were really tired, but it felt really good to do such a long, strenuous walk especially in such good, though cold, weather. The first half of the walk was an enjoyable crossing of the hills in the Charnwood Forest while the second, though initially muddy, involved crossing as many of the city parks as I could link together. The weather was fabulous all day with gorgeous sunshine, but Siberian winds would soon bring extreme conditions as the Beast from the East began to bite. I am just glad I was able to take advantage of the calm before the storm to do a great walk.

Messing around on trains with my Dad

Wednesday 5th to Saturday 8th September 2018

After a week spent in the fabulous Isles of Orkney I finally caught the ferry back to John O’Groats and waited for the bus to Thurso. The bus was due at 11.35, but when this time came and went there was still no sign of the bus, so as the minutes passed I became increasingly concerned that I would miss my connection with the train in Thurso back to Inverness. At twelve o’clock I could wait no longer and started putting my thumb out for a lift, but after no more than three cars had passed me by I couldn’t believe my eyes when the bus appeared in the distance. Rushing back to the bus stop I caught the bus and sat impatiently as it diverted to every little village between John O’Groats and Thurso so that a thirty minute journey by car took an hour leaving me with just five minutes to catch the train and no idea where to find the station in Thurso. Fortunately, when I asked the bus driver he offered to take me to the station, and at the moment that I ran off the bus and into the station the train was just pulling into the platform. Giving a thumbs up to the bus driver in thanks I got onto the train and was finally able to relax for the four hour journey along the Far North Line all the way to Inverness.

Waiting for me at the station was my Father who had just arrived in Inverness having travelled all day to meet me there. Earlier in the year my Dad had said he wanted to travel on the North Highland railway lines, especially the line that I had just travelled on between Inverness and Wick/Thurso, so I suggested he join me in Scotland to do them. Back in the eighties my Dad and I would often go out on train trips to many places all over the country, but we’d never gone as far north as Inverness as we’d always had to be back home by the end of the day. Now I would get a chance to relive my childhood and mess around on trains with my Dad while exploring the scenic lines of the North Highlands. The following day we set off on our first train trip together in decades as we caught the train heading west over the Scottish watershed, past the mountains of Achnashellach and the Coulin Forest and eventually reached the west coast of Scotland at Kyle of Lochalsh. Dark clouds and rain accompanied us as we passed the mountains, but by the time we reached Kyle the sun was out and there was a stunning view across the channel to Skye, and beyond the bridge to Beinn na Caillich and the other Red Cuillin mountains, who were basking in the sun.

After half an hour in Kyle we got back on the train and headed over the mountains again where the dark clouds and rain lingered before descending once more into the gentler terrain of the east coast until finally returning to Inverness. Since it was still quite early in the afternoon I suggested we hop onto the train towards Aberdeen getting off half way at the town of Keith. The contrast with the mountainous terrain around Achnashellach and the west coast was now even more marked with low hills filling the horizon and farmland covering the landscape. I had never taken this train through Morayshire before and at first appearance there is little that would draw me, although I’m sure if I looked closer I would find some good walking. Actually, two years ago I spent a couple of days walking through the County of Moray on the Speyside Trail, and on that occasion I caught the train from Keith to Aberdeen. Now, my Father and I got off the train at Keith and waited just ten minutes for the train coming the other way to take us all the way back to Inverness.

The following day we got up extra early, too early to get any breakfast at the youth hostel, and caught the train up the Far North Line all the way to Wick. This was the line that my Father had expressed the desire to travel on and now he was finally getting his desire fulfilled. Unfortunately the weather was pretty miserable. While I was in Orkney I had enjoyed glorious sunshine almost every day, but the weather had started to deteriorate the day I left and now we had low cloud and mist for almost the whole of the journey north. I was particularly taken with the terrain around the Kyle of Sutherland, not far from Carbisdale Castle that until recently was a youth hostel. The area is heavily forested so would lend itself to some good woodland walking even though they are mostly conifer plantations. The terrain becomes particularly bleak as the train continues north and enters the blanket bogs of the Flow Country. If a relatively dry route can be found through this amazing area it would be worth my while doing some walking in this bleak, though appealing landscape. Eventually we reached the coastal town of Wick at the end of the line, and once again after a wander around we got back onto the train and headed all the way back along the line to Inverness.

After our third night in Inverness my Father and I finally prepared to head home, but rather than taking the direct route through Perth I thought it would be a good idea to take the scenic route. We got onto a coach in Inverness that took us along the Great Glen beside Loch Ness and Loch Lochy to Fort William where, under the shadow of Ben Nevis, we caught the train along the West Highland Line through spectacular scenery that puts to shame anything that we had seen during the last two days. I have travelled on this line many times and I had no hesitation in taking my Dad along this fabulous stretch of railway. In Glasgow we crossed the city between Queen Street and Central station before continuing our journey home and I left Scotland behind for another year. This was a wonderful way to end my fortnight in Scotland, and a chance to spend some quality time with my Father. When I was a child we spent many days on train trips together and I always look back on them with affection. It was fabulous to be able to share with my Dad the great scenic railways of the Highlands of Scotland where he had never travelled before, and where I have spent many days walking through this awesome scenery and up so many great mountains.

Hunda Island and Hoxa Head

Tuesday 4th September 2018

Having done most of my walking in the Orkney Isles on the mainland, I thought I’d spend my last day in the southern islands of Burray and South Ronaldsay. Catching the bus south from Kirkwall I couldn’t resist stopping off at the popular tourist attraction of the Italian Chapel on the uninhabited island of Lamb Holm. This was built by Italian prisoners of war during the Second World War while they were constructing the causeways now known as the Churchill Barriers that link these southern islands with the mainland. The chapel is an amazing testament to the spirit of the POW's to prosper in adversity by adapting their makeshift homes to make living in this exposed location more agreeable. It must be really difficult to preserve these buildings as they were supposed to be temporary structures built with scrap metal and concrete. I visited the Italian Chapel in 2000 during my previous visit to Orkney, and it is interesting to see the efforts since then to preserve it and control access for the many tourists who visit the islands. It is an amazing place and well deserved of the popularity and the efforts to preserve it. I had only intended on a brief stopover between buses, but I spent so long looking around I had to wait for the next bus only for that to be ten minutes late.

Fortunately I was once again blessed with gorgeous sunshine, so as I waited for the bus I had great views out towards the Scapa Flow and back across Churchill Barrier Number One to the Orkney mainland. When the bus finally came I caught it as far as Burray Village on the island of Burray where I headed along a road west that soon turned into a track as I followed the directions from the walkhighlands.co.uk website. Turning off the track I headed to the coast climbing over a fence to reach a rough path that was not easy to follow and required more fence climbing, so it was with some relief when I finally reached the track at the start of the causeway that is marked on my map as Hunda Reef. Crossing this causeway brought me to the uninhabited island of Hunda where I started my clockwise circumnavigation of the coastline. This was a lovely little walk under bright blue skies with a clear path underfoot and I was accompanied by loads of wildlife particularly seabirds, and seals who poked their heads above the water just off the coast watching me with interest. Slowly I made my way round the southern tip of the island, Cairn Head, and as I turned north the views opened out across the Scapa Flow, the vast body of water that is enclosed by the Orkney Isles.

Eventually I reached the eastern tip of the island, East Ayre, where I turned south and headed back to the causeway. After crossing the causeway I didn’t want to retrace my steps back along the coast due to the roughness of the path, despite being recommended to do so by walkhighlands.co.uk, but I soon encountered the reason why. A locked gate barred access past the farm buildings of Littlequoy with a notice proclaiming: “Private Property. No Public Right of Way.” I thought the Scottish laws of access meant notices such as these were not enforceable, so I ignored the notice and climbed over the gate walking past the fortunately unoccupied farm buildings, over another locked gate and along a farm track to reach a third locked gate and finally reach the public road. I have two guidebooks that recommend taking this track through Littlequoy, but it appears that since the property was sold in 2015 there have been access problems, so I must have been very fortunate to escape without encountering anyone or any problems.

With the possibly of catching the one-thirty bus I tried to hurry along the road, but soon I decided that this was a waste of effort so I turned off onto a track that climbs the hillside through heather towards the highest point on Burray, however, I missed the turning to the trig point and passed to the north on a straight line that took me all the way back onto a road. The one-thirty bus actually passed just as I was descending towards the main road and made me wonder if I could have caught it if I’d hurried. With another hour’s wait for the next bus I slowly walked along the road back to Burray Village where I bought a delicious Orkney Ice Cream and continued along the road until I reached Churchill Barrier Number Four. This causeway is unlike the others in that the eastern side has silted up creating a stunning network of sand dunes and a beach that was a pleasure to walk along under the clear blue skies. Eventually I tore myself away and reaching the southern end of the causeway on the island of South Ronaldsay I was able to catch a bus to the small fishing village of St. Margaret’s Hope and the start of my next walk.

Heading west and then north along quiet roads I made my way around what is marked on maps as Lowertown, even though there are hardly any buildings, but with stunning views over Hunda Island and towards the Scapa Flow. Passing the quaint little bay of Dam of Hoxa I came upon the promontory of Uppertown where more road walking eventually took me to the road end car park where a footpath lead me down to the coast. This is a lovely walk that was rather spoilt for me by a covering of cloud that ruined the views, but as I made my way along the coast it wasn’t the views out to sea that were drawing my attention, but the old gun emplacements and lookout posts that line the coast. They were fascinating places as I tried to imagine what they would have been like during World War Two, though now the concrete structures are disintegrating so care if required. Once again I had a thought of hurrying to catch a bus so I didn’t linger too long and continued along the coast on an increasingly sketchy path on precipitously steep terrain. Eventually I came to my senses and climbed up away from the coast, and after negotiating several barbed-wire fences successfully returned to Hoxa Battery where I was now able to spend as long as I wanted looking around this fascinating site.

Eventually I took the correct route out of Hoxa Battery back onto the road, through Uppertown and down to the Sand of Wright where I aimed to follow the road back to St. Margaret’s Hope and catch a bus to Kirkwall. However, I didn’t get as far as the bus as I eventually caught a lift with some people who I'd met while exploring Hoxa Battery, but this was still a very disjointed day with a lot of different bus journeys, and a lot of waiting for the bus. Although the walks on this day were very sketchy with a lot of it on roads the sunshine, great coastal scenery and fascinating World War Two buildings made for some enjoyable walking. The weather throughout my holiday on Orkney was sensational and enabled me to make the most of these fabulous islands. It had taken me eighteen years to return to Orkney after my first visit in 2000, but now that I know there is so much more to see of Orkney I hope it will not be too long before I make a return visit.

Cuilags and the Old Man of Hoy

Monday 3rd September 2018

This walk was always high in my plans for Orkney, but for various reasons I kept putting it off until eventually I decided I could delay no longer. What set this walk apart from all the previous ones I did in Orkney was that it was on a different island so it involved me catching a bus to Stromness where I caught a ferry across the channel, around Graemsay and to the island of Hoy, whose name means high. The hills on Hoy are significantly higher than anywhere else on Orkney and just off the coast of Hoy is a sea stack that is well-known across the whole of Britain. Coming off the ferry I had gorgeous sunshine yet again on this holiday as I headed straight up the road towards the gap between the two highest peaks in the whole of the Orkney Isles, Ward Hill and Cuilags. After crossing the dry Braebuster Burn just below the dam of Sandy Loch and under the shadow of these two hills, I reluctantly came off the good track that I was on and started climbing the steep, pathless slopes of Cuilags. This walk was taken from Cameron McNeish’s “Scotland’s 100 Best Walks” where this climb is described as easy, but it’s not. It’s phenomenally steep and there’s no path to help you on your way. Fortunately it’s short as the hills on Hoy are not particularly high so it didn’t take me too long to eventually reach the summit of the second highest hill on Hoy, Cuilags.

Dark clouds passed over during the climb and deposited a few drops of rain that thankfully cooled me down during my tiring climb to a summit that had blessedly been in sight for most of the way. Once I reached the top all my exertions were forgotten as I found a magnificently built conical shaped cairn standing guard over the western entrance to the Scapa Flow. From the gloriously stony summit of Cuilags I passed over the col above Back Saddles where mountain hares played amongst the stones and along a broad ridge until eventually I reached the trig point on Sui Fea. It was now fabulously sunny, I had stunning views all around me and I was enjoying every moment of the walk across on top of these hills despite Cuilags itself being only 433 metres above sea level. The scarcity of any higher hills in the whole of Orkney provided me with views across the whole length of the Orkney mainland far below and made these hills feel much higher and energised my walk across the tops aided by dry ground following the hot summer this year. After having my lunch at the trig point I made my way across to the actual summit of Sui Fea and as I headed south down the ridge the view opened out towards the sea and I made my first sighting of the Old Man of Hoy.

This tall, narrow sea stack was famously climbed on live television in 1967 just one year after it was first climbed and is still quite well-known. Slowly I made my way down the moorland while great skua birds skimmed low over my head until finally I reached the coast where a faint path follows the cliff edge around the spectacular scenery to reach the promontory of Tuaks of the Boy where the Old Man of Hoy sits a short distance beyond. As stunning a sight as this tall sea stack is I was more struck by the cliffs along the coast northwards that are twice as high as the Old Man and even more impressive. I didn’t linger on the promontory as a better photograph could be gained from the south towards Rora Head and when I reached Geo of the Light the view north was now superbly lit by the sun behind me that gave me not only a perfect shot of the Old Man, but also with the tall cliffs of the Carl and the Sow beyond. I took loads of pictures of this fabulous view, sometimes timing them so that a fulmar seabird was caught in the shot as it flew past, but these were simply a distraction to the stunning views along the coast.

Eventually I tore myself away and rather than continuing along the coast around Rora Head I tried to cut the corner making my way through thick heather to reach the tourist path that crosses the western slopes of Moor Fea until it drops down into the delightful bay of Rackwick. Coming off the road into the village I followed the Rackwick Burn through a fabulous valley that is overflowing with plants particularly purple flowering heather interspersed with small trees that may have come from the ancient woodland nearby at Berriedale Wood. The path unfortunately doesn’t go through the wood, but that didn’t spoil my enjoyment of this gloriously wild valley as I joyfully made my way along a well-made path up the valley all the way back to Sandy Loch and the road to the ferry. The good weather continued into the afternoon so that this walk under clear blue skies was a pleasure with every step as I skipped along the path overjoyed at the day's events and the views that I had seen on this walk. Considering I had almost been avoiding this walk it is astonishing that it eventually became the best of my whole holiday on Orkney

I had a great mountain walk over Cuilags even though this is only the second highest hill on Orkney and the highest hill, Ward Hill, is not much more than one and a half thousand feet high. My route at the end of this walk took me around the foot of that hill, but I did not feel the need to waste my effort in climbing to the top in order to bag it. Climbing to the top of Cuilags had served a purpose in providing me with a direct route to the Old Man of Hoy, but I didn’t need to waste time climbing Ward Hill. I really enjoyed the walk beside Rackwick Burn towards the end, while my walk across the pathless tops from Cuilags was immensely enjoyable in the sunshine on the firm ground, and I was spellbound by the tall cliffs along the coastline. Curiously the Old Man of Hoy did not seem particularly special to me despite being so famous and taller than any of the other sea stacks that I saw during this holiday. I have no idea why I was more impressed with the cliffs behind the Old Man than the sea stack itself.

Wideford Hill

Sunday 2nd September 2018

My original reason for coming to the Orkney Isles was to visit the Highland Park Distillery where I had previously paid a fleeting visit when I went to Orkney in 2000. The sample of their whisky that I tasted that day was the first whisky that I ever tasted and since then I have loved their delicious, peaty cup of golden joy that also introduced me to many other gorgeous scotch whiskies and prompted me to visit so many other distilleries. Now I would finally be returning to where my love affair with the water of life began, to the standard that all other whiskies have been compared, and very few have been able to stand against. On my previous visit, as part of a highlights tour of Orkney, I did not have time to take the full tour of the distillery so I decided that Sunday would be the day of my holiday in Orkney when I would fulfil my long held desire. Therefore under gorgeous blue skies I set off around the edge of Kirkwall to reach the Highland Park Distillery in time for the opening and the first tour.

I wasn’t disappointed, and it was great to see where the whisky drams that I have enjoyed for many years were born. It was interesting seeing the emphasis on traditional techniques even down to malting all the barley themselves, which is something that hardly any other distillery does now with Laphroaig being the only other place where I’ve see it done. After depositing my purchases back at the youth hostel I headed into the centre of Kirkwall where I had a look around the ruins of the medieval Bishop’s Palace and the adjacent Earl’s Palace before heading over to St Magnus Cathedral. These were fascinating places and I enjoyed looking around them in the warm sunshine, and then when I had finished doing that I returned to the youth hostel and watched the Italian Grand Prix. By the time I emerged from the youth hostel again it was quarter to four and since walking is supposed to be the point of this blog I had better start describing a walk. I headed down to the harbour where I took a walk around the inland Peerie Sea and the adjacent boating lake but this walk was far too short for me so I turned my eyes west to the hill that gazes over Kirkwall: Wideford Hill.

Passing the Pickaquoy Centre I walked through the lovely Muddisdale Woodland, whose small trees were a welcome sight, though looking back towards Kirkwall I was astonished to see so many trees scattered around the town, on an island that is famous for hardly having any trees. After passing Orkney Golf Course I emerged onto Sunnybank Road where a few steps to my left took me to a right turn up a track that led me to the busy top of Wideford Hill that is littered with telecommunications masts. Crossing the southern slopes of the hill I came off the road and onto a path that slowly descends the heather covered western slopes of the hill while before me were views towards the Bay of Firth. I was rather concerned that I had gone to all this effort to climb the hill only to start descending the other side before I’d reached the top. Halfway down the hill my destination was eventually revealed in Wideford Hill Chambered Cairn that seemed to me to be a simpler version of the majestic Maes Howe that I had visited two days before. On closer examination I found there was even less similarity between the two with a much smaller entrance that is now blocked off and a ladder from the top that now gives access.

I was struck by the rudimentary design compared with Maes Howe whereby I had to crawl along the floor to get to some of the cells, but all I achieved was getting covered in mud. A large torch is provided, but this wasn’t working, however most people these days carry a mobile multifunctional device that works very well as a torch and I was able to use mine (usually abbreviated in this country to mobile) to illuminate the dark and dingy cells of the chambered cairn. These chaotically arranged cells are nothing like the elegant and symmetrical arrangement of Maes Howe and made me think that if this chambered cairn is an example of a burial mound then Maes Howe is completely different. I’d have to agree with my guide around Maes Howe that it must be something else, and the chambered cairn on Wideford Hill is at best an amateur’s attempt at copying a professional masterpiece. After wiping myself down, I climbed back out of the chamber and putting the hatch back down I set off through the heather all the way up to the top of the hill.

During my climb up Wideford Hill the lovely blue skies that I had enjoyed all day had finally been replaced with overcast skies so the views from the top were not as good as I had hoped. However, there were still quite good views north across the Wide Firth, towards the northern isles of Orkney and south over the Scapa Flow. Since it was now after six o’clock in the evening and I wanted my dinner I ran down the hill to the lowest wireless station and onto the road retracing my steps all the way back to Kirkwall. This was a lovely little walk, and after spending most of the day sightseeing in Kirkwall it was great to be able to get in an enjoyable walk. Orkney was still delivering fabulous sights with walks that more than justified coming to the islands even without the lure of whisky.