Made it ! Linda Brackenbury (left) and Gwen Sproston at the end of their epic walk.
At a time in life when many women of their age would be content to spend their days pottering in the garden or knitting jumpers for their grandchildren, pensioners Linda Brackenbury and Gwen Sproston decided to walk from Land’s End to John O’Groats.
But instead of simply following the usual route based on roads and well waymarked national trails, they plotted a more direct walk using public footpaths and bridleways as much as possible – and in the process managed to carve nearly 200 miles off the 1,200-mile trek.
Now Linda (age 67) from Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire, a retired University of Manchester lecturer in Computer Science, has published a 371 page book of their 1,035-mile, end-to-end journey. Hence the title : Walking e2e.
Between them, Linda and Gwen have nine grandchildren. Their epic feat took just 71 days between April and June 2012 and included a staggering 101,000 ft (31,077 metres) of ascent with only three days rest along the way and two days of travelling either side.
Covering an average 14½ miles daily, the 71 sections ranged from 6 miles to a maximum of 21 miles. Each stage is fully described and illustrated with sketch maps to make it easier for others who want to follow in their footsteps. There is also helpful advice on transport and accommodation.
“Thanks to Gwen’s superb navigation, we hardly put a foot wrong,” said Linda, who explained that they wanted to avoid the better-known, national trails because these often meander into popular tourist areas and generally attract more people.
“In fact, we stuck to quiet, public footpaths as much as possible as well as old drovers’ trails and military roads. As a result, we only saw 41 other walkers throughout our journey and many of these were friends and relatives who came to cheer us on along the way.” These included ten members of their walking group, East Cheshire Ramblers, who spent a day walking with them from Barnton to Glazebrook, Cheshire.
So would they do it again ? “Like a shot,” said Linda immediately. “Both of us felt a terrible sense of anti-climax when we got to John O’Groats.”
Apart from acting as navigator, Gwen (age 69), from Chelford, Cheshire, chronicled their feat in more than than 1,500 photographs, which are used for talks to raise money for local charities together with the proceeds from book sales.
Copies of Linda’s book, Walking e2e, can be ordered price £15, inc p.p., via her website : www.brackwalks.co.uk. ISBN 978-0-9931833-0-0.
Linda Brackenbury signs copies of her book Walking e2e accompanied by fellow members of East Cheshire Ramblers