Day 14 _ I pretend not to hear

I was awoken by lorrys roaring past at 5am, and had half a mind to pack up and head off to Johnshaven which looks an interesting little place with a great name. However, PW and I had vaguely talked about going to somewhere near St Cyrus to finish, and I’d so enjoyed walking with PW the day before that I decided to wait for her and went and had an early shower instead. Back in the tent I fell asleep again to wake at eight.

PW had obviously had a good time the night before, and was a bit slow off the mark this morning, but we found ourselves packing up and leaving together which suited me. It would be good to finish with a friend.

The route was straightforward enough; cross the main road, which was probably the most dangerous part of the whole trip, over the River North Esk to Gallery, then follow minor roads through rolling farmland past Marymill, where there was a view back to the hills of yesterday, and Stone of Morphie to the coastal main road, where a short lane leads down to the south end of St Cyrus beach at Nether Warburton.

There's a very interesting junk shop on the lane down to the beach, just past Sick Man's Shade, but we didn’t have time for that. "Junk Shop at Sick Man's Shade" - there's got to be a blues song in there somewhere.

We seemed to be in a nature reserve and taking a raised walkway across the dunes we found ourselves at the top of a sandy beach with the glittering sea beyond.

Of course, we had to take shoes and socks off for a paddle.

PW mentioned going in for a swim, but I pretended not to hear her…….

The day was actually colder than the photos suggest, and the sea was even colder, so our paddles didn't last long. I balanced the camera on a bit of driftwood to take a picture of us both, but it fell off.......

......so I borrowed PW’s mini tripod.

Thanks PW. No not for the tripod. For encouraging me to do the walk, and for finishing with me.

Feeling a bit what-next-ish we wandered back up the lane past the junk shop, meeting Ali, Sue and David on the way. It was odd meeting people who were still doing the Challenge – on the one hand I had actually finished, which felt good, but on the other hand I couldn’t help thinking that it would be better to be still doing the Challenge. I decided I’d better come back next year.

Up at the main road we talked vaguely about the possibility of catching a bus the three miles into Montrose, but, and I suspect PW felt the same, it seemed a bit of a cop out to catch a bus after walking 200 miles. We decided to wait for a bus if we saw a bus stop, or wave one down if not, and set off walking into Montrose over the road bridge.

I think we were both feeling a bit empty, both physically and mentally, because a bit further on a sign cheered us up by telling us there was a coffee shop down a side lane. We started guessing what other goodies besides coffee they might sell, not really expecting the mouth watering things we were coming up with, but at least expecting cake.

Turning down a side lane we found ourselves at Charleton Farm where there was a farm shop and a very inviting looking café. Finding a table we were amazed to find that whilst they didn’t have our fantasy foods they did have some very interesting alternatives, and we both ordered goat’s cheese salad which turned out to be absolutely delicious.

That’s where the walk really ended for me. It was as if the meal was the prize for finishing. “First prize – a goat’s cheese meal for two”.

However, there was a certificate and tee-shirt waiting at The Park Hotel, so after congratulating ourselves on finding such a wonderful eatery we set off down the hot road into Montrose, and after passing a bit of waste ground, a few factories and some boarded up shops we found ourselves in Montrose High Street, and asking directions we found ourselves at The Park Hotel where there was a pile of rucksacks and a few people sitting around looking dazed.

I’d often wondered what went on here, and the reality was quite close to what I’d imagined. I followed Shirley to a back room where we found several Challengers busy comparing experiences and behind them a table where Alan Hardy and Roger Smith were checking people in. Of course they knew Shirley (everybody does) and whilst she checked in I talked to Irene and Les who I’d met all the way back at Loch Rannoch, and several times since. Obviously we’d been walking at much the same pace, as after all that time they’d arrived just five minutes before me.

Then it was my turn to check in, and not knowing the name of our finish point I told Roger I’d finished at the same place as Shirley, and my certificate now tells me that I finished at Belhaven – a place I can’t find on the map. In fact we finished at Cocklem Bents, an unlikely sounding sort of place to end a trip full of quirky names.

Outside again we joined in the happy chat, met Chris Townsend (gear reviewer for TGO magazine), and Humphrey gave me directions to the campsite. Shirley had managed to get a room in the hotel, and Vince the American full time walker offered me his room as he was getting the next train back to the hills, but I preferred to carry on sleeping in my tent.

As I was booked in for the dinner the following evening Darren Christie suggested I join him for a take-away tonight, and then afterwards we could watch the proceedings from the back of the hall, so I set off for the campsite, which was very good, and right next to the sandy beach. I hurriedly put up the tent, had a much needed cup of tea, and then rushed back to the hotel where, to my shame I arrived late. Darren and I grabbed a meal and then went in to see the fun of the Thursday evening meal.

The long rows of tables in a large hall would have resembled school dinners with headmaster giving speeches if everybody hadn’t been in such high spirits. The contrast with the two hundred miles of open spaces I had just crossed was striking. The excited noise of a hundred and fifty Challengers chatting accompanied by clattering cutlery was occasionally interrupted as Roger Smith gave humorous short speeches, mostly congratulating people who had completed large numbers of Challenges.

A jolly time was had by all, but when the dinner and speeches had finished I was glad to get out into the cool evening air with PW and Humphrey. Humphrey entertained us for a while, and then I got chatting to Polly McBride from Aberfeldy, after which I said goodbye to PW and Humphrey and walked back through the park to the campsite.

Before going to bed I walked through the dunes onto the beach. No wind, no cloud, just the waves breaking lazily on the sand. This was more like it. I wasn’t at all sure the dinner was my type of thing and decided I wouldn’t go to another one, conveniently forgetting that I was booked in for tomorrow night’s dinner.

Day 15

Intro