About this blog

The journey from John o'Groats to Land's End took place in 14 sections, starting in 1996 (a week or so each year). The idea came to me in 1995 and I completed the British JoGLE Watershed in June 2009.

I was joined by a number of relations and friends from time to time. Most notable among my walking companions were my son Tim (7 sections) and nephews Peter and Jonny.

After walking the first section in 1996 I discovered that Dave Hewitt had already pioneered the Scottish Watershed (to Cape Wrath) in 1987, and had published his excellent account Walking the Watershed in 1994. We have been in touch since then, and he has been a great encouragement.

A simple definition of the watershed is that any rain falling to the left of the path finishes in the North Sea or English Channel, and anything to the right flows into the Atlantic Ocean, the Irish Sea or the Bristol Channel.

I believe that this was the first walk along the full length of the British JoGLE Watershed. I became aware just after I completed the journey that the late Mike Allen walked a slightly different version (from Land's End to Cape Wrath) between 1988 and 1994, so he will have covered the same ground apart from the most north-easterly 220km.

There have subsequently been several walks and publications about parts of the JoGLE watershed, including Peter Wright's 2010 Ribbon of Wildness account of his Scottish section walked in 2005, which has brought the subject of watershed walking in the UK to a wider audience.

I hope you enjoy this blog. I'm planning to publish a full account in 2013/4. A summary of the walk appeared in The Angry Corrie volume 76 in 2009.

Malcolm Wylie.

Tuesday 25 July 2000

Day 57 - the great quote of Mosspaul

We were very low on water at this stage, and resorted to collecting dew from the grass seed-heads - time-consuming but tasty.

We eventually got out of the forest on White Hope Edge and followed the Watershed round to Ewes Doors, where Jonny dropped down to the stream for water. We saw 3 foxes in this area.

It then rained hard most of the way to the A7 and Mosspaul Hotel. I'd arranged with the landlady (Ann) to sell us some food for our last couple of days. She gave us a great welcome, and we had a fine meal. Our maps and clothing were spread out over every radiator to dry, and attracted quite a bit of attention from the other guests. Especially when Ann told them that we were "walking from John o'Groats to Lands End without passing water"!

After supper, we pressed on for a couple of hours and camped beyond Carlin Tooth at 421991.
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