Tuesday 16/03/2010. When we planned our trip to Keswick for the Theatre by the Lake Literature Festival, I had it in mind to stay on in the Lakes for another week or so to continue my campaign on The Birketts (The hills in Lakeland exceeding 1,000' recorded in Bill Birkett's "Complete Lakeland Fells"). But I must admit that when push came to shove I rather fancied a longer walk than the short bitty days that Birketts would now involve. I have about 30 routes to do to complete my round and would dearly like to knock them all off in 2010, but Keswick is not now the best base. For obvious reasons the routes still to be climbed and walked are all farthest away from Keswick and so will mostly require an overnight camp to complete, given my dependence on public transport. So as I fancy getting some longer miles on my legs I decided to come back with Joy and then set off for Bonnie Scotland and have a go at the West Highland Way, at 98 miles it is only two miles short of my favourite walk distance!I set off from home on the 8.45am bus to Stockton and arrived at Milngavie just before 7pm. Fortunate for the fact that Milngavie celebrates it's relationship with the West Highland Way making finding the start a doddle, even in the dark. I walked for about an hour and a half before pitching my tent behind a wall close to the site of the pre-historic stone circle beneath Dumgoyach Hill about four miles out of Milngavie.
My picture is of Queen Victoria's statue in Bitts Park, Carlisle. I had a bit of time to kill and washed up here to have a look at the old lady and explore the connection with Jacob Polley's novel "Talk Of The Town" I won't go into details here, but my Flickr page reveals all...
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