Martin Hockey's End to End Walk

Land's End to John O'Groats


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What do you do if you leave work and want a new challenge, you like walking and have always been curious to see more of the country? Put that way, the answer is obvious.

I walked from Land's End to John O'Groats in the summer of 2004. It's not an original idea - on my journey I met ten other people walking from Land's End to John O'Groats or vice versa. For me the idea started when I picked up Andrew McCloy's book on the walk in a bookshop. In a moment of madness it occurred to me that I could do that. So I did.

I decided to go alone, to use B&Bs and youth hostels (at my age I could do without the extra weight and discomfort of camping), to use the National Trails as much as possible, and to walk continuously from end to end without using any transport but my own legs, even on rest days or to make return trips for food or accommodation (but I allowed myself short ferry rides across rivers - in the event I only used one).

The whole journey took me 82 days, including 6 rest days. The signposts at each end put the distance at 874 miles, but that's by road, and who wants to walk by road? By my calculations I clocked up 1,306 miles.

What do you need? You have to be physically fit (I went to the gym regularly for 6 months before). You need to be prepared to spend some money. And most of all you need determination - lots of it.

My walk from one end of the country to the other was one of the best things I have ever done. We live in an amazingly varied country, with scenery like no other and a network of footpaths to enjoy it to the full. If you get the chance, just do it.

If you have any questions on the walk, or comments on the website, please feel free to email me.

Good luck!

Martin Hockey

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Updated November 2004. Copyright © Martin Hockey 2004. Please contact me if you wish to use any of the content for commercial purposes.
email: mhockey29@gmail.com
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