HExN LEJOG 22 by Jeremy Ward
/After travelling down to Penzance we kicked off with an afternoon spin of 24 miles to Land’s End and back. The next 2 days heading east through the repeated hills of Cornwall and Devon were 2 of the hardest of the whole fortnight, with one seemingly endless 10 hour day.
We were relieved to then hit the flat Somerset plains along to Portishead just outside Bristol. Although we had the relief of flat terrain we were against a strong easterly wind which made it hard going.
From there we headed across the Avon valley, Gloucestershire and up to Worcester, spending the night in the Premier Inn which looks over the county cricket ground. Still long days but easier rolling countryside.
We continued north over the rolling plains of middle England, through Staffordshire and Shropshire into Cheshire. It was quite emotional coming into familiar territory – past the salt mines in Northwich, through Warrington, Newton-le-Willows and Wigan up to Chorley where I popped into to see my very supportive colleagues who were running a basic surgical skills course for our ACPs. Janet, an old cycling friend and retired midwife, joined me from there to Longridge on the way home.
From here north we were lucky to be joined by several friends for varying lengths of the journey. Rob Trundle took us from Garstang to Carnforth and old friends Mike and Corinne Woodbridge from there up to Kendal. As I climbed up Shap I was delighted when a car pulled up and Tom Owen hobbled out of it to say hello, his leg in a boot supporting a torn gastrocnemius!
We had a very fast (if cold) journey north from Penrith up to Moffat and then up to the east side of Glasgow (difficult traffic on a Friday afternoon) before reaching Stirling where we stayed with Martyn and Fiona, friends of old. Martyn was joining us for the rest of the trip to the north coast.
The following morning we had our only street crowd send off, organised by Fiona as well as much-appreciated donations. We were also joined by Ranald MacDonald for this leg which took us up to Crieff, Aberfeldy and Pitlochry. These last 5 days in Scotland were some of the most memorable of the trip. Despite climbing to the highest altitude of the trip, Drumochter Pass, the day from Pitlochry to Aviemore was probably one of our easiest.
From there we were joined by Ken Walker, a friend who has worked in Nepal, who was our last domestique! After lunch at his house in Inverness he took us to the Cromarty Firth where we spent the night at a B&B full of character in Alness.
Poor weather early on the following morning saw us over the Struie hills to the Kyle of Sutherland but as the weather brightened the rest of the day brought some of the best cycling of the whole trip. We cycled up the River Shin to lunch in Lairg and then cycled 40 miles along an incredibly remote single track road through increasingly dramatic scenery to our first sight of the north coast of Scotland at Tongue.
We left early the following day (our last) with mixed feelings as we came to the end of the expedition. Initial bad weather meant a miserable 3 hours along more big downs and ups across the glaciated valleys that run into the north coast. However things had brightened by the time we reached Thurso where we had to say goodbye to Martyn before he caught his train home. It was bright and sunny as we cycled the last 20 miles to our destination, coming down the hill into John O’Groats at about 2.30pm. Total distance almost exactly 1000 miles.
It is not quite the godforsaken place it used to be – the development of the NC500 has led to more facilities, albeit commercialised. However, after a drink at a local bar we were pleased to be able to hop onto the foot passenger ferry to South Ronaldsay where we met John and Ruth and headed up to Kirkwall for a couple of nights in Orkney, a different place altogether!
Kirkwall was a great place to relax and unwind. We went over to Stromness and the Stones of Denness and Ring of Brodgar, so Tully was able to see just a little of what Orkney has to offer. After 2 nights Tully flew down to London to head back to Cayman, a different island altogether, while I headed south with John and Ruth who were good enough to let me off at North Queensferry to get the train home.
This was a trip I used to dream about as a child and I appreciate having had the opportunity to complete it in aid of HExN. Although hard work at times, the whole expedition was a great experience and it afforded me the chance to renew old friendships as well as develop new ones, both on the road and during evenings when friends came to meet us.
At the time of writing, we have received donations of up to around £7,500 and hopefully there is more to come. We are incredibly grateful to everyone who has donated to Health Exchange Nepal over the last few months – the health service and medical training in Nepal are in dire need of help and this will help us get going again after the pandemic.
You can donate to my JustGiving page by clicking here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jeremyward14?utm_source=Sharethis&utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=jeremy-ward14&utm_campaign=pfpemail&utm_term=574bc62d78464874a2e817bf8f0204e2
Thank you
