Tramping the West Highland Way

“It will be a short and easy walk” the book says.

Woodend WandererLeave a comment

The sun shone in the hotel room window at 7am. Time to get up and get ready for our first day of walking. 

The road took us west along the busy well known Glasgow road called Sauchiehall Street (pronounced sucky hall) to the Kelvingrove park. The park was full of flowers. Joggers were out and mums with young kids on bikes and scooters were enjoying the morning sun. The entrance into the lovely park is a little non descript but once inside it is lovely.

Kelvingrove Park

Dominating the skyline in the centre of the park is the Stewart Memorial fountain. It is a beautifully ornate fountain dating back to late 1800’s. 

All around the fountain young kids played, dogs goofed about and people just walked and talked. It was a lovely and peaceful start to the day.

The temperature was around 17C. Pleasant. I wish it had stayed that way. The Kelvin Walkway leads north along the Kelvin river and it was hard to imagine that we were still in Glasgow City for it was green and lush and fairly quiet. The hustle and bustle was above us.

The guidebook talks about a well sign posted easy walk to gently get you ready for the walks to come. Utter horses**t. Whilst it may be true that the first few miles is well signed and easy, once you get north of Maryhill Park it turns into an unmarked tangled mess of weeds nettles and long grass with “not” a signpost in sight. 

This slowed us down considerably for fear of losing our footing as we could not actually see the footpath in places. The river lies close by and the last thing we wanted to do was end up in it. That was not part of the plan.

We arrived at the road that crosses Balmuildy Bridge. What a complete surprise to see an information board giving details of an old Roman Fort that lay here. It talks about the Antonine Wall. I knew nothing of this. My history of Romans in the UK ended with Hadrians Wall. Not a peep about what I think would be considered a mention in the guide book.

The book goes on to say and I quote “depending on the time of year, the Riverside Trail can be fairly overgrown. (Understatement number 1.) If this was the case between Maryhill and Balmuidy Bridge  you can be sure the next section will be more overgrown. (Understatement number 2.) It was impassable even hacking at it with walking poles.) If it’s also raining you may want to keep your boots and legs dry and take the shortcut along the A879 to join Allander Water which you follow almost all the way into Milngavie.”

The A879 is a main road with a footpath alongside it about a metre wide. It was scary, hot tarmac underfoot, very noisy with close traffic and energy sapping. It was at this juncture Debbie called into question my navigation skills. The look on her face gave me reason to suggest that I needed to get off this path Toute Suite. Finding the footpath that lead away from the road was no mean task in itself as it was overgrown with long grass and difficult to spot until we were upon it. 

The guidebook suggests that one can partake of a cold beer at the Tickled Trout Pub just off the path. The guidebook can go and take a flying leap. If I sat down to a cold pint of beer that would be the day over. We plodded on. I got stung on both hands by nettles towering over the path. I looked back to tell Debbie. She was flailing away at them with her walking sticks. I thought better of a witty repost and continued on.

We crossed the Prescott Bridge. I loved the calm tranquility around the little spot. We stopped for a while and I thought of my friends killed in the Falklands Campaign as was SSGT Jim Prescott in whose name the bridge was erected. 

We are now settled into the West Highland Way rooms. Our accommodation for the night. Our host Gerry came to introduce himself and show us around the apartment. Lovely chap. Debbie has been and stocked up with something for dinner and breakfast. She washed all our unmentionables that are draped around to dry. We dosed up with ibuprofen to stop the complaining legs and hips.

Would I do this day again instead of just hopping on the train from Glasgow Queen Street station to Milngavie station? A journey of 20 minutes. Instead of trudging 6 hours with a 10 KG back pack strapped to me. Nope. Once was enough. We did it in good weather. If it is wet underfoot forget it. I reckon it will be a bog after rain.

According to my Garmin we did 26000 steps today.

We walked around 10 miles, much of it tough going in warm weather.

Tomorrow we head out to Drymen some 12 miles to our north.

The road leads North.

Woodend Wanderer2 Comments

If the weather is the harbinger of what is to come it is looking pretty good so far. Today dawned bright and warm. The two grinning loons took the train from Worcester to Birmingham and on to Glasgow Central. I was going to drive and leave the car for two weeks in a Glasgow city car park. It would have cost me around £90 to do so. There would always be that niggling doubt whether I would return in two weeks time to find it in the same state I left it. So we will risk the fact that trains in the UK are prone to strikes at the moment and take the iron horse. When the trains are running there is no better mode of transport in my humble opinion. The weather was fabulous from South to North, the scenery of rural England through the Borders and into Scotland is simply stunning and we arrived in Glasgow moderately relaxed.

We chose to stay in the Premier Inn in the city centre. From here it is a 20 minute walk to Kelvingrove Park where we can pick up the Kelvin Walkway that runs north for the 10 miles, 16 kms to Milngavie. The park is a classic example of a Victorian city centre park designed by Sir Joseph Paxton and comes complete with a museum and old fashioned bandstand. Now Milngavie is technically where the West Highland Way begins. But the walk from Glasgow will be a good leg stretch on what is forecast to be a beautiful day.

We checked in and dumped the backpacks and whilst I put the kettle on Debbie settled into her role as navigator to check on the route for tomorrow. It is fairly straightforward.

Chief tea maker in full swing.

The hotel is OK I suppose as city centre hotels go. It was a 15 minute walk from Central station and I reckon the Premier Inn group of hotels is always reasonable for what you pay.

I am responsible for the accommodation choice along the Way and if ever you come this way yourself I hope to give you some idea of quality. We carried a tent and all the stuff that goes with camping the first couple of times that we attempted this. I am a lot older and a heck of a lot wiser. Can’t be faffing around with all that now so accommodation complete with hot showers, comfy beds and a kettle for tea it shall be.

Todays walk was Glasgow Central Station to the city centre Premier Inn.

Tomorrow we head for Milngavie.

West Highland Way Prelude

Woodend Wanderer4 Comments

September 5th 2023 rapidly approaches. So what you may ask. Well do read on…..

The West Highland Way is a footpath running from Milngavie (pronounced Mullguy) near Glasgow to Fort William in the Western Highlands of Scotland. At 96 miles or 154Kms from end to end it leaves the suburbs of Glasgow, runs up the eastern side of Loch Lomond taking in the magnificent views of the loch and surrounding hills, crosses the heather covered and bleak Rannoch moor, skirts around the towering peak of Ben Nevis the highest mountain in the UK before ending in Fort William.

If you have made it this far you will have gathered that Debbie and I will walk the walk. This bit is the talk the talk. This will not be the first time Debbie and I will have attempted the walk. In fact not even the second or indeed third for me. There is history here. The type that gnaws and chews at your very soul.

We first attempted it right after we got married in July of 1987. It was our honeymoon. I know. Should have gone to Majorca. We still have the original guidebook. That attempt was thwarted when we had a wholly inadequate tent which let in the dreaded Scottish Midge. This is no ordinary beast. Oh no. This minute flying insect is prone to suck the juices out of any bare flesh it can land on especially that attached to tourists and has a bite that itches like hell. For days. And nights. They decided to feast on my face as I slept in the aforementioned tent with the bright sign saying “midges welcome to Marks diner” on it. The next morning, I could hardly see such was the swelling from the bites of the little Bas****s. We abandoned the attempt at Balmaha on the southern shore of Loch Lomond. My father and my uncle came and picked us up in the car. They tittered and sniggered at the look of me. My visage resembled a chewed toffee. My pride was severely dented. I needed a week of antihistamine cream smeared on my face to get back some functionality in the sensory organs contained on it. I never forgot that.

The second attempt saw Debbie and I make it to Crianlarich at the Northern tip of Loch Lomond. That was after about 5 days walking. Debbie had suffered a back injury some time before we made attempt 2 but it returned to cause her too much pain and after some tears it was decided that it was best we abandon the attempt to recover and fight another day.

Attempt 3 was just myself and a friend of mine. We got as far as Tyndrum which is about 6 days in. This time I had to call off whilst my friend continued on and completed the walk himself. My boots caused me so much pain that I had to stop and return home. Then our family started and the West Highland Way was put on the back burner. To simmer and taunt from North of the border.

In 2014 Debbie and I walked the Camino from France to Santiago de Compostela in NW Spain. That was 42 days walking and around 850 kms. We learned so much about our fitness, clothing, feet and mental fortitude.

The West Highland Way is next. The old walking kit has been dug out of the loft, boxes, garage and every other nook and cranny it was found in. Dust was blown off. Cobwebs were removed along with their long deceased spinners. We will not be camping as we did some 35 years ago. Age, grown up family and a bit of cash in the pocket means we can take our time and afford a modicum of comfort. Nonetheless the walk still taunts us. Can we defeat it? What will happen this time? The body is not as young as it was…..

If you fancy, then come along for the ride…..well walk. You will get the day by day low down warts and all. As always I love to read your comments. That way I know that somebody reads this stuff other than me. 😁