The End of the 'End to End'

Setting off from Land's End

2020 has so far been a bit of a let down for many as far as hiking goes and my plans have certainly been disrupted. I started the year with good intentions, climbing some of the high mountains on the island LINK HERE as fitness training for my third, and hopefully final, section of my LEJOG hike that I started in the glorious summer of 2018. All of this was thrown into disarray however with the arrival of the pandemic as I was forced to abandon my plans. 

Cape Cornwall

When I set off from Lands End on that glorious July morning in 2018, my plan was to walk to John O'Groats in a single trip but circumstances dictated otherwise and I broke the walk at Hay-on-Wye in south Wales, returning the following year to complete the hike. 

Sugar Loaf, Black Mountains 

However, I was again the victim of some bad luck when my leg became infected and after two hospital visits, I was forced to stop walking for around nine days while the leg healed as the antibiotics did their work. 

Stoodley Pike on the Pennine Way

This meant that the walk was now split into three and my plans were in place to return to Carlisle, where I had finished section two, in the spring of this year. Then came Covid and all plans went out of the window. 

Offa's Dyke

Having had a number of months to reflect on the situation, I have decided that the integrity of the walk is now compromised along with my enthusiasm for it, so my LEJOG hike will become my 'England End to End' walk. The energy and enthusiasm for the hike that I had when setting off in July 2018 has dissipated and I think that even if I completed the walk, it won't feel, to me at least, that I have walked the UK from End to End. I am however happy that I have walked England End to End in two hikes totalling 788 miles in less than one year. 

Keswick from the Cumbria Way 

Looking back on my hike, despite all of the problems I encountered along the way, I enjoyed some fantastic walking and saw some beautiful scenery. I have included in this post a few of my favourite photos taken along the way.