The End to End Trail - Land’s End to John O’Groats

Outlines the 1935km (1200 mile) route from Land’s End to John O’Groats, concentrating on the 'missing links' between the main long-distance trails covered in other guides. The route is divided into 61 daily stages averaging just less than 32km (20 miles).

Where am I going? I don’t quite know
What does it matter where people go?
Down to the wood where the blue-bells grow –
Anywhere, anywhere. I don’t know.
‘Spring Morning’, AA Milne

Land’s End and John O’Groats are the two ends of the island of Great Britain – the two points that are the farthest apart from each other. As the crow flies they are 968km (602 miles) apart. Linking the two in a single, long off-road walk gives a magnificent expedition almost exactly twice that distance, and takes you through the very best that the British countryside can offer.

Such a walk is also a great challenge, one of the greatest that many walkers have the time to attempt, and unlike many great challenges, this one is also a great experience. As well as enjoying doing it, you will also enjoy looking back on it afterwards and thinking ‘I walked all the way from Land’s End to John O’Groats’. What more is there to say? Make your plans and go for it!

A lot of books have been written about getting from Land’s End to John O’Groats, but good reading, inspirational and useful as many of them are, none is a guidebook describing a route with the level of detail that walkers expect from a guide to a long-distance path. This book does just that, and sets out to solve that perennial walker’s problem: when walking in unfamiliar areas without a guide you are dependent on maps that can’t always tell you whether the way you are thinking of going is practical or pleasant. Is it boggy? Is that path visible on the ground? Is the path blocked by barbed wire? Is that stream fordable? Is there an insurmountable deer fence in the way? In practice, what often happens is that you end up making too many mistakes and doing too much road walking. When you are walking a long-distance route you don’t want to waste time trying to find the right way to go – it gets very frustrating. I’ve written this book because it’s what I needed to walk from Land’s End to John O’Groats the way I wanted to. I hope it will be of similar help to you.

The recommended 1941km (1206 mile) route is described using two resources. About 60% of the route is described in detail in this book, with accompanying strip maps at the end of each of the six sections. For the remainder you will be following established national trails, and will need guidebooks for the South West Coast Path, the Offa’s Dyke Path, the Pennine Way and the West Highland Way. A number of variations on the recommended route of the Trail are described at the beginning of each section, and details of other guides you will need if you choose to follow them are given at the appropriate points.

The six sections of the route are divided into 61 daily stages, averaging just less than 32km (20 miles), allowing the walker to complete the journey in two months. The days are generally rather longer than those described in the average long-distance walk guidebook, and it will of course be up to you, the walker, to decide where to stop each night and how far to walk each day – the daily stage breaks are just suggestions.

A three-month Alternative Schedule can be found in Appendix 1. This is for those who prefer shorter days and can afford to take longer over the journey.

The route described is mainly a high-level one, avoiding roads and keeping to the hills where practical, and is intended for experienced hill walkers. If you can navigate safely in poor weather in the mountains of the Lake District, Snowdonia or the Scottish Highlands, then you should be able to follow this Trail. But a word of warning – don’t assume that this means you will be safe whatever happens. The route takes you into some wild and remote areas, particularly in northern Scotland, and should not be undertaken lightly. In particular the section north of Fort William should not be attempted unless you know how to navigate and survive in remote mountain areas in rough conditions (see introduction to Section 6).

Romany Hint for Hikers
A few years ago anyone walking long distances by choice –
excepting the professional tramp – would have been
considered insane.

Scattered through the book are quotations from Romany Hints for Hikers by Gipsy Petulengro, first published in 1936. This must have been one of the first books written about lightweight backpacking. The author knew what he was talking about, although I’m not sure I share his views on the essential nature of pyjamas or the dangers of wearing plus-fours.

There are also quotations from some of the early books written about Land’s End to John O’Groats journeys. Some of these are classics, and many are more amateur affairs, but they nearly all provide insight into the challenge of an End to End journey, and make fascinating reading when you are planning your own trip. Details of all of them, and some more recent accounts, are found in the Bibliography in Appendix 2, and on the website www.longwalks.org.uk.

Finally, although the route is described from Land’s End to John O’Groats, this book can also be used for a north to south walk, although the route-finding information has not been written with that in mind.

How to Use This Guidebook

The guidebook is divided into an introduction, six Trail sections, each of which is further divided into day stages, and three appendices.
At the beginning of each section there is an information box describing distance in kilometres and miles, the proportion of route requiring road walking, number of days (for both two-month and three-month schedules), and a sketch map of the area covered by that section. A short summary of the general nature of each of the six sections is followed by details of recommended published maps and guidebooks, then information about accommodation and equipment shops, and alternative routes where relevant.

For each day stage of the walk the length of the route is given (for more details of each day stage see Appendix 1), and there is a description, including facilities and points of interest along the way. Where the day is covered by a published guidebook (e.g. the South West Coast Path), the description is usually brief, as all the information you need will be in your guidebook, and there is not much point in covering the same ground twice.

For the days not covered by published guidebooks, detailed annotated strip maps are included at the end of the section to make the route as easy as possible to follow. There are 163 of these maps altogether.
Appendix 1 consists of two route summary tables, one for the two-month Main Schedule, and a three-month Alternative Schedule. Day lengths and the facilities available at the end of each day are summarised here.
Appendix 2 is a bibliography listing some of the best books about Land’s End to John O’Groats, as well as other titles that are not essential but could be useful.
Appendix 3 has details of organisations that are useful sources of information.