Drymen, where we are headed this evening isn’t pronounced how you might expect. This is one of those quirks that quickly becomes normal in Scotland.   When the locals say Drymen it rhymes with women or swimmin’,  keeping  the emphasis on the beginning of the word and it is said with pace, there’s no lingering over the syllables. So our attempt, which was basically looking at the word and saying what saw ie ‘Dry - men’ was wrong on just about every level.   Leaving the Glengoyne distillery we were walking on an easy path across a flat plain. However we were by this stage becoming aware of the vast numbers of fellow walkers and began to worry about the meal options for the evening. Chris looked online at the various hostelries and decided that he liked the look of one in particular so he booked a table. The hills continued to offer an enticing prospect to our right but the path ignored their siren call. Very quickly we arrived at a road and beside it, handily placed for a lunchtime stop

In our opinion the first day of any long distance walk should not be too challenging. Others will race off with a heroic distance to be covered and good luck to them. Experience has told us that we do better if we ease ourselves into the rhythm of a walk with a relatively straightforward day.    The self luggage transfer service (£1 - cash only) never really got off the ground. The West Highland Way is very accommodating by having a variety of conveniently placed staging posts. Drymen, where we are headed at just under fourteen miles is the resting place for those similarly minded to enjoy a comfortable first day. Others, whose ambitions are for a faster and more challenging trek will head to Balmaha, nearly nine miles further on and with an additional thousand feet of ascent.   A hardy few will carry on up the side of Loch Lomond, perhaps to Rowardennan, adding another six or so miles to their day. The way out of Milngavie snaked past the back of industrial estates and houses before w

  The little shopping centre in Milngavie was moist and melancholy as we walked to the obelisk that signifies the start of the West Highland Way. Under a canopy nearby, a busker playing the violin sheltered from the drizzle while the damp grey precinct echoed to his plaintive tune that probably originated in a far off east European country. Jerome (l) is not entirely sure he wants to be seen with us (Chris & Duncan (r)). We gathered around the grey granite stone attempting to take pictures to record the moment as a lady with an outsize backpack lumbered towards us. Her accent revealed her to be American and she asked us whether she could help take a picture.   The favour returned, we collected up our daypacks as we watched our photographer take slow unsteady steps on the start of her journey along the way.   Yesterday we were on the train to Milngavie. Milngavie looks a plain enough place name that shouldn’t hold too many pronunciation potholes, however it isn’t rendered that way a

I read on the internet (link here ) that there are potentially over 180 trillion midges in Scotland during an average summer (which in case you’re wondering equates to six hundred million per West Highland Way walker). I mean, it could be a gross over estimate, so maybe there are only 100 trillion midges, which would be much more acceptable. For Buddhists, in particular those whose karma fails to reach the standard for reincarnation as another human, ending up as a biting insect looks a distinct possibility. Head stockings are worn loose this year. Back to the midges, looking on the bright side it’s only the female that bites, so assuming it’s a fifty-fifty split that’s halved the total. But given these numbers, who’s going to take that kind of risk?  Only a lunatic would head off to the heartlands of the midge, the western highlands without protection.  We are not mad but we are individuals, so rather than sheepishly copy each other we have each bought our own protection. I have a can

Scotland’s first long distance path is one of the most popular long-distance walks in the world. So what draws over 30,000 people each year to walk the West Highland Way?   Is it the spectacular scenery? - which is practically continuous from the start at Milngavie, a suburb to the north of Glasgow to the end at Fort William, nestling under the shadow of Ben Nevis the highest mountain in the British Isles.    Glencoe Or is it history? From the Romans who built the Antonine Wall, part of which can be traced through Milngavie. Or passing by a neolithic monument of standing stones at Drumgoyach? - the significance of which is lost in time. Or walking in the steps of Rob Roy and Robert the Bruce? Or crossing Glencoe? - the setting for the vicious slaughter of members of the clan MacDonald. Maybe looking across to Lochan Lunn Da Bhra? -  where on a tiny island Macbeth was alleged to reside (a Scottish King who should be contacting his lawyers about the lack of historical accuracy in the Sha

It all started in the mid 70's when Chris and Duncan met on a photographic course in north east London. In the third year they shared a house and their friendship has carried on from that time. In 1979 they needed a holiday and rather than head to the sun they planned to walk the Pennine Way.   Forty years later they returned to the Way and this story is recorded in the book ‘Forty years, Sixteen Days’ available here . This blog is a continuation of the story...