Diary

1st Jan 2000.....at last it's not just talk...WE'RE DOING IT!! It hurts like hell, are we mad!? We got engaged today just as we were about to leave New Brighton Lifeboat station.

13th Jan 2000.....crossed by ferry to the Isle of Man just a few hours after the loss of the Solway Harvester. A most poignant time.

3rd Feb 2000.....spent the night on a cargo boat in Whitehaven Harbour.

11th Feb 2000.....crossed into Scotland and stayed in Gretna Green.

23rd Feb 2000.....'treated' by a hotel with the largest selection (on optics) of malt whiskies!

3rd Mar 2000.....reached the Mull of Galloway, Scotland's most southerly mainland point.

15th Mar 2000.....visited the Isle of Arran's only lifeboat station at Lamlash.

24th Mar 2000.....a wet and very boggy walk from Arrochar to Lochgoilhead.

6th Apr 2000.....wild camping by a beach near the Mull of Kintyre, facing the Atlantic Ocean.

17th Apr 2000.....crossed 1000 mile mark to reach Oban from where we visited the Western Isles, Islay and Mull.

3rd May 2000.....Upon reaching Glensanda Superquarry, we were subjected to our first tick infestation. It took 2 hours to remove around 40 ticks from each of us! There were ticks in places we never knew we had!! One or two of these nasty little beasties we expected, but the better part of 100 was a shock which lead to regular tick inspections!

6th May 2000.....camped on a soft bed of moss on the Moidart headland just before our first otter experience the following day.

11th May 2000.....pitched our tent on the Ardnamurchan headland, Britain's most westerley mainland point.

1st Jun 2000....a stormy and very wet walk (and scramble) on a very craggy path into Lower Diabeg. Started to relax on the tick inspection front!

12th Jun 2000.....80 mph gusts and gales forced us to shelter in a friends house at Aultbea.

30th Jun 2000.....reached Cape Wrath ('turning point' in Norse), Britain's north western corner. Camped by the lighthouse in fog, and with the fog horn for company throughout the night!

6th Jul 2000.....Alison fed and stroked a wild deer, a real special moment!

16th Jul 2000.....camped on Easter Head (Dunnet Head). Britain's most northerly point on the Mainland.

18th Jul 2000.....crossed the Pentland Firth to reach Orkney. Kirkwall and Stromness are homes to the lifeboat stations there.

25th Jul 2000.....reached Britain's most northerly lifeboat station at Aith, on Shetland.

30th Jul 2000.....back on the mainland to join the festivities of Harbour Day with the Wick and Longhope lifeboats.

31st July 2000.....turned to begin walking south from Duncansby Head.

19th Aug 2000.....Invergordon's Raft Race day festivities and Disco. Too tired to stay up all night though!

29th Aug 2000.....saw our first pod of playful dolphins very close to shore at Findochty.

7th Sep 2000.....spent a very wet day in Aberdeen. Although it was raining heavily, we both liked Aberdeen.

13th Sep 2000.....walked into Broughty Ferry and couldn't understand where all the fresh bread and milk had gone, then we realised. The petrol shortage had not hit us until then, walking, we hadn't even noticed it!

22nd Sep 2000.....day of exploration in Edinburgh, Arthur's Seat, Salisbury Crags and the castle.

28th Sep 2000.....walked to Dunbar lifeboat station with 2 llamas (Apolo and Beni) from Pentland Llamas. (link)

1st Oct 2000.....crossed back into England after visiting 3 lifeboat stations (St. Abb's, Eyemouth and Berwick-uopn-Tweed) in one day!

15th Oct 2000.....crossed the Transporter Bridge on Teesside to reach Middlesbrough in the dark, and deteriorating weather.

20th Oct 2000.....our second llama experience, this time on the North Yorkshire Coast with Carlos and Jose from Wellington Lodge Llamas. (www.llamatreks.co.uk) Llamas are great company and fun to walk with.

30th Oct 2000.....strong gale force winds and driving rain stopped us from walking today, so we rested in Withernsea.

11th Nov 2000.....after quick boot repairs at Skegness, we began our trek around the marshes of The Wash. Quite memorable!

19th Nov 2000.....started a long series of daily walks along shingle beaches and ridges, tough going!

12th Dec 2000.....camped in the rain in a cul-de-sac on a housing development in Essex.

21st Dec 2000.....cheque presented to us by sponsors at Burnham-on-Crouch.

25th Dec 2000.....Christmas Day spent with Martyn's family in central London.

1st Jan 2001.....Day off! TV, entertaining and eating. Fuelling up for the next phase, starting tomorrow with a 15 mile walk from Rochester to Swale on the Thames estuary.

13th Jan 2001.....rounded North Foreland near Dover to finally turn westwards again after walking south through the wet autumnal months.

26th Jan 2001.....walked along the top of Beachy Head and the Seven Sisters into Seaford, Sussex.

6th Feb 2001.....we made it to Bembridge on the Isle of Wight after a very muddy and slippery walk around the headland.

13th Feb 2001.....back on the mainland from Fishbourne to Portsmouth, we caught up with some old friends for shelter.

22nd Feb 2001.....soon after a visit to the RNLI headquarters at Poole, Dorset, we carried on to reach the South West Coastal Path at Studland. We had been looking forward to this stretch of the walk for a very long time.

24th Feb 2001.....our first notification that a Foot and Mouth outbreak has occurred, but not in Dorset.

25th Feb 2001.....footpath closures affected us. We had to skirt the army firing range at West Lulworth.

28th Feb 2001.....departed Weymouth for the Channel Islands and St. Helier, the location of Britain's most southerly lifeboat station.

9th Mar 2001.....returned to Weymouth after a successful Channel Islands visit, only to find progress halted because all the footpaths were closed.

3rd Apr 2001.....Alison diagnosed with a brain tumour

17th Apr 2001......Alison undergoes surgery at the Southampton General Hospital, Neurological Unit

28th Apr 2001.....returned home to Cheshire to undergo treatment and wait till the paths re-opened.

29th July 2001.....Took our first steps since paths were closed because of Foot and Mouth. Left Weymouth lifeboat station to circumnavigate Portland. Completed the circuit on Monday 30th July then had to return to Cheshire for Alison to have another CT Scan. Now awaiting results before we can return to Dorset.

30th July 2001.....Saved (from sleeping rough because the whole of Weymouth was fully booked!) by friends who undertake llama treks in the region. You can find them at (www.ukllamas.co.uk)

11th Aug 2001 - Returned to Dorset to resume our walk along the South West Coastal Path. Walked from Weymouth to the swannery at Abbotsbury.

15th Aug 2001 - Crossed into Devon and had a roller coaster walk across an area of undulating old landslips.

23rd Aug 2001 - Rounded Start Point and camped on a small grassy bank above the waves at Lannacombe Bay.

29th Aug 2001 - Arriving in Looe, Cornwall we went unnoticed amongst the throngs of holidaymakers enjoying the warm sun. Cafes, shops and B/Bs were generally full as many people extended their Bank Holidays.

4th Sep 2001- Were rowed across Gillan Creek by holiday makers out enjoying themselves. We would like to thank them.

7th Sep 2001- Met up with Alison's cousin and were looked after while on the Penwith Peninsular.

10th Sep 2001- Our trip to St. Mary's lifeboat station on the Isles of Scilly was a memorable one. We were treated with utmost friendliness and were summoned to the bridge of the Scillonian to enjoy the view from there. The island of St. Mary's is small enough to walk around in one day and we also had a boat trip to the eastern islands to watch the seals.

11th Sep 2001- On such an historical day of events across the Atlantic, we crossed back to Penzance on the bridge deck of the Scillonian watching for sea mammals and were rewarded with a sighting of a Risso's Dolphin.

21st Sep 2001- Joined up with friends we'd made on Scotland's west coast and walking the coast path to Port Isaac we saw large flocks of goldfinch and a solitary peregrine falcon.

29th Sep 2001- Martyn's parents met us at Braunton near Barnstaple and transported our rucksacks so we could walk to Ilfracombe unburdened.

5th Oct 2001- With the season coming to a close, we walked into Weston-super-Mare, Somerset where weekend holidaymakers were gathering for the last few drops of Autumn sunshine.

7th Oct 2001- Hello Wales. Walking across the old Severn Bridge into Wales was for us one of those milestones knowing that soon after the Welsh coastline we would be very near home.

13th Oct 2001- Assisted by security, we were able to walk through the industrial heartland of Port Talbot. A complete contrast to the South West Coastal Path, although it is not without its own austere beauty.

19th Oct 2001- Reached the final official long-distance footpath on this walk, the Pembrokeshire Coast Path.

24th Oct 2001- Today we reached St. David's, a small city with a big cathedral. The lifeboat station is set in a cove and has a ramp for launching, a picturesque setting. Alison's mum came to meet us so we stayed in a B/B there.

30th Oct 2001- Heading towards Aberystwyth we were confronted by a very boggy field and a river a little deeper than expected. Luckily a fallen tree trunk was nearby. Crossing this gingerly meant that a long backtrack or wet legs was avoided!

2nd Nov 2001- Walking into Porthmadog we followed the line of the raised railway track of the Ffestiniog Railway while there were traffic jams on the road below.

6th Nov 2001- Rounding the Lleyn Peninsular in drizzly rain we were treated to a tour around Porthdinllaen lifeboat station, another station in a glorious sandy bay.

10th Nov 2001- We reached Wales's extreme northwest lifeboat station at Holyhead where a cup of tea and biscuits was most welcomed.

13th Nov 2001- The walk around the limestone headland of The Great Orme to reach a busy Llandudno, afforded us views across to the Isle of Man, bringing back memories of the early stages of our walk.

18th Nov 2001- Nearing the end of our walk we were joined by friends from Nantwich who had came out to walk with us along a disused railway track in the Wirral Country Park. Many people were out on this Sunday at West Kirby and strolling around the marine lake.

19th Nov 2001- Our final day. We treated ourselves to a comfortable night in a hotel for a clean up and just to 'chill out'. At Hoylake lifeboat station (our 185th visited), we were given tea and biscuits again to boost us for the final few miles. Walking along the promenade on the edge of the Wirral Peninsular, we occasionally rested to ponder what was to happen afterwards. We didn't know! At New Brighton lifeboat station we were greeted by family, friends, local lifeboat crew and RNLI representatives plus a number of people from the media. A really special welcome awaited us, refreshments were laid on, a souvenir presentation was made to us and a timely interview with our ally Sam Plank on local radio made the day complete. We now just wanted to rest!

20th Nov 2001- With a wedding to organise and Christmas and New Year celebrations to look forward to, there is just no stopping.

1st Dec 2001- Married in Nantwich. Another special day which brought together not only family, but also friends old and new, some of whom we met on the walk. A honeymoon in County Antrim followed which included a little bit of coastal walking to the Giant's Causeway and Bushmill's Distillery!

Alison is meant to be carrying the baton in Nantwich for the Manchester Commonwealth Games on 20th July. We hope she is well enough to still take part.

We have been invited to open the Anglesey Walking Festival from 7th to 10th June - http://www.angleseywalkingfestival.com.

We shall be putting on a slide show of our walk and exhibiting photos and souvenirs.

Unfortunately due to illness Alison will not be able to carry the Commonwealth Games baton.

7th Jun 2002 - Martyn opened the second Isle of Anglesey Walking Festival at a breakfast launch in Menai. See the PHOTOS section of this site.

10th Jun 2002 - Delivered a slide presentation and talk about our Round Britain Walk. If you would like a similar presentation for your group or society, please contact Martyn at - martynking@talk21.com

11th Jun 2002 - Alison passed away at 8.30 pm with her family at her side

20th July 2002 - Martyn carried the Commonwealth Games baton in Nantwich.