Shona and Mike Take a Hike

  Week 9 With a spring in their step....! Having crossed the border before our last blog, this week, as we write another, we have finally after walking over 700 miles reached the "Falkirk Council welcomes you" sign. This photo was taken on Friday as we made our way from Armadale to Polmont Station. Although, we had actually driven into Larbert on Wednesday evening having walked from Abington to Lanark. We had worked out it was possible to return to Lanark by public transport and walk to Armadale before returning home from there and back on Friday to walk to Polmont. You might consider this a bit of a trek, oh what one will do to enjoy a BATH FOR THE FIRST TIME IN NINE WEEKS. Looking back over our previous week, (week 8) it is, I think, fair to say, we both felt a bit jaded and found the going slow and laborious.  This week however there seemed to be a renewed spring in our step  and on Saturday we were met at Polmont Station by Jack Watson who walked with us from there to...

  Week 8 Week 8 and we've made it over the border into Scotland. It's strange the weird things that go through my mind every time I cross the Scottish-English border. This time I was thinking about a song the "Corries" used to sing, now for those who don't know, Roy Williamson and Ronnie Brown, were the "Corries" and, in my opinion anyway, the best Scottish Folk duo ever. Sadly in 1990 Roy Williamson, passed away at the age of 54, due to a brain tumour. You may not know who he was, but you will certainly recognise, at least one of the songs he wrote, sung at all Scottish International events which is: "Flower of Scotland".  However, as we crossed the border, I wasn't singing this song, oh no, no, no., no.... I was thinking about another song they used to sing about "The Portree Kid" or as some might know it: "The Teuchter that cam fae Skye". The last verse of the song, although the song refers to the border on the east c...

Walking week 7 On Sunday we spent some time with Shona's Aunty Ann, as is usual, when we visit, we were amply fed and watered. It was lovely to see her and cousin Derek popped in to say hello. Our walking between Monday and Thursday was generally easy, mostly urban with pleasant weather.  Friday on the other hand was wet, and the hills were steep. The photo on the right is Shona walking towards the Ribblehead Viaduct, in the distance the hills are shrouded in mist. The Ribblehead Viaduct was built during the Victorian era just over the border from Cumbria into North Yorkshire and is undoubtedly the most impressive structure on the Settle-Carlisle Railway. Sadly, hundreds of railway builders (“navvies”) lost their lives building the line, this was due to a combination of accidents, fights, and smallpox outbreaks. In particular, building the Ribblehead (then Batty Moss) viaduct, with its 24 massive stone arches 104 feet (32 metres) above the moor, caused such loss of life that the ra...

  There is really only one way that we can begin the Shona and Mike Take a Hike blog this week and that is to say:  We have walked 500 miles and will attempt 500 more: Na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na and so on...... Cornwall no more (or should that be NO MOA),  Devon no more,  Somerset no more,  Monmouth no more, Staffordshire no more, And a few others.....NO MOA...... Now for those who know this song, tell me you don't have it in your head! I'm sure the ear worm will play on and on and on......... As you may guess, the walk has not always been easy, in fact when trying to negotiate some of the local paths we were inclined to think of the great Missionary David Livingston when he went to Africa. The photo on the left is just an example of how overgrown some of them are. I began to wonder if we should have brought a machete with us to hack down the vegetation. Once you get through onto the path, it is mud, mud, glorious mud, or grass, grass, very wet grass........ Of co...

  Sunday 26th May It was great to have two days away from walking over the weekend, it gave us some time to relax and reflect on how much encouragement we had received from so many family, friends and strangers.  We have met so many people along our route, who have donated to the Shona and Mike Take a Hike challenge, money received in cash from those we have met, or donated through our giving page, all of which are greatly appreciated. Of course, we must not forget to say a huge thank you to everyone who has donated through our Cancer Research giving page. We really do appreciate your generous giving, kindness and messages of support, through all the usual social media outlets. We do read them when we have suitable connectivity.  Sadly, our phone signals have sometimes been nothing short of useless, we did think about lighting a bar-b-que and sending smoke signals..........Then the rain scuppered that idea, lol. Thankfully though, we are never, ever, out of touch with our...