At Ronald Duncan's Hut, Mead
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Progress to Date (March 2024)
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Ilfracombe
Welcome to the website of the Scottish Vagabond!
My name is Billy Dockery and over the next few years I hope to walk the mainland coast of Great Britain in stages, as family and other commitments allow. Within the constraints of fulltime employment, my wife Joanna will join me when she can. As of September 2023 we have walked clockwise from Montrose in Angus to John O' Groats on the north coast of Scotland and are scheduled to finish on 29th June 2024.
The venture is purely for fun and we do not intend to tie ourselves in knots creating self-imposed rules and principles that we regret a couple of miles down the coast. So for now, we will just walk and see what we find. If we can reach towns and villages with accommodation, we will take advantage of them. If not, we will make use of camping facilities, wild or otherwise. As of 2023, we have been using a small Volkswagon campervan which has been useful, particularly for the North West Highlands section.
My intention is to walk as close to the coast as it is safe to do so and to walk it continuously. That is, at the start of each stage I will return to the point where I finished the previous stage. When I started out I tried to keep to the general principle that we walk up a river until we come to a bridge with a pedestrian crossing. As I progressed the principle came under increasing strain and there were times when it seemed ludicrous to walk forty miles when I could take a ferry a couple of hundred yards across a river. Having reached the South West Coast Path and reviewed some of the route, I have decided to use a number of the small summer pedestrian ferries that operate on much of the route and which are such an integral part of the formal South West Coast Path. There seems no logic to taking the long inland detours where there is no clear path or route and I could be walking on busy roads.
The history of the British coastal communities is vast and varied and I look forward to finding out more about its communities, towns and villages both from the people we meet and from the adventure itself. I know little about the geology, flora or fauna of the coast, but look forward to learning more and to sharing it with you. Be aware, I am no expert on any of them!
Where possible, I have put up a route map of each stage as we completed it, generally recorded on my Garmin device and giving the route as it was walked. This is displayed with each individual journey in the section Walking Journal. In a page titled Progess there is an indicative map of the journey completed so far. Occasionally, I have used an OS route map when my Garmin has ran out of power. There is also a page (Stages) recording the journeys completed with actual and accumulated mileage, as well as an indication if it has been written up in the walking journal.
The easiest and quickest way to access the individual walks will be to go to the relevant section in 'Stages', find the walk you are interested in and double click on the stage number (first column) which is now in green and it will take you directly to the chosen walk
We have already walked just over four hundred stages or individual walks with a total mileage over two thousand and nine hundred miles, i most recently finishing the Wales Coast Path. Since stopping walking in July 2019 I have enjoyed some foreign travel visiting Italy for a restful break, backpacking in the Canadian Rockies and a visit to Australia. When I start back seriously in May 2019, my first foray will be to walk from the Wirral Peninsula to the Scottish Border. Back then on home turf, I will gradually work my way up the West coast. I am currently undertaking the planning for that, trying to identify stages, campsites, other accommodation etc.
I have recently added a Facebook Page (search for @ScottishVagabond2) to support the postings made here and which is used to give regular updates when we are on the trail. If you go to the page and 'like or follow it' you will automatically be notified whenever a new post is added. Please comment either on this site or the FB page. When I am actually out walking I try, a tad unsuccessfully, to keep a blog up to date.
Walking is fun! Long distance walking is lots of fun. As well as being good fun, walking is good for your health in so many ways. As well as the obvious benefits such as feeling and looking good, there are many other not so obvious benefits as this article on 'fifty benefits of walking' testifies. Go on, give it a try! You know you want to.
If I am walking anywhere near where you live, feel free to come and join me and enjoy the anarchy of the open road.
SAFETY
Adventure walking can be a dangerous activity. Make sure you have a map and compass and know how to use them. Be sure you have the right outdoor clothing and equipment for the activity you are undertaking. Nothing on this website should be taken as advice, rather it is shared as an experience and not as instructions to be followed. Make your own activity plan, equip for the adventure and implement the plan. Be safe and enjoy!
Adventure walking can be a dangerous activity. Make sure you have a map and compass and know how to use them. Be sure you have the right outdoor clothing and equipment for the activity you are undertaking. Nothing on this website should be taken as advice, rather it is shared as an experience and not as instructions to be followed. Make your own activity plan, equip for the adventure and implement the plan. Be safe and enjoy!
