Walking Lands End to John O'Groats 2025 for Alzheimer's Society

Whilst I've been recovering from the op, I've had plenty of time to plan my walk.  I had originally intended to simply stop when tired, camping most of the way and booking a bed and breakfast once a week or so. My nerve has deserted me!  I have now broken the walk down into roughly 12 mile days, and I've booked campsites, bed and breakfasts, and ear-marked possible wild camping spots. For much of the time, this tent (Durston Xmid Pro 2P) which I trialled on the Dales Highway in July, will be my home: I have to say, getting stuck into the planning has made me more and more excited that the walk is possible and will actually happen now, with renewed determination to get myself fit and well for the start of the walk. I'm currently walking about a mile a day - sounds awful considering where I was before the op, but never mind.  The target is to increase that over the next 8 weeks to 12 miles, gradually adding weight to the backpack as I fully heal and gain strength. ...

  Having had a great 2024 from the perspective of long distance walks including Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, Dales Highway and Cotswold Way, I didn't bank on having major abdominal surgery in November which led to 12 weeks recovery and a pause in walking and carrying any weight. A real frustration and impatience to get back on schedule.  But my consultant, physio and hospital staff couldn't have been more supportive.

My mother died on 2nd July 2024, after a prolonged struggle with advanced dementia, in a world she found confusing and frustrating. It would have been her idea of a living hell. Alzheimer’s Society is working towards a world where dementia no longer devastates lives, by giving help to those living with dementia today, and providing hope for the future. I walked the Dales Highway when she died seeking solace and peace camping in the hills. The idea of backpacking Lands End to John O'Groats (LEJOG) had been long in gestation but this is what clinched it for me. 1200 miles over 100 days following some of the trails I’ve walked before - the Pennine Way and part of the South West Coastal Path, and camping most of the way. As I raised £20k during these 2 walks in 2020 and 2022, I have decided to aim towards that target once more. I hope you will feel moved to follow and support me on this 100 day trek, as I walk in memory of my mother whose plight brought home to me just how cruel dement...

  Since I was first diagnosed with CLL, and started long distance walking, I've been fortunate enough to walk the North and South Downs Ways (2018), the Norfolk Coastal Path (2019), Coast to Coast (2021), the Menorcan Coastal Path and the Ridgeway (2023), the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, the Dales Highway and the Cotswold Way (2024). In amongst those, I walked the Pennine Way (2020) and the South West Coastal Path (2022) for charity.   In walking these routes, I realised that I love walking on my own, enjoy being immersed in the surroundings around me, able to go at my own pace, stop, observe, and simply be. I love the high moors and mountains but also our beautiful rugged coast - especially the north Cornwall coastline. I very much wanted to re-walk that part of the South West Coastal Path but extended to Penzance - a stretch with which I had been particularly taken.  I also wanted to re-walk the Pennine Way - eventually postponing this so as to incorporate it into t...