Shoeburyness to Inverness
- petethefree
- Jan 15
- 3 min read
Updated: Jan 27
The idea for creating this walk gradually formed as we completed a number of well known long distance footpaths (LDPs). I first walked the Pennine Way in 1993 with my Father, Brother-in-law, and a pal. This came on a background of much walking in the Highlands of Scotland, particularly the Cairngorms and the Isle of Skye. Included here are links to the various well known LDPs that were walked in this time along with two we developed specifically to complete this journey.
The gap between 1993 and 2003 was not due to inactivity, indeed it was filled with shorter walks, cycling and barging. However, 2003 arrives and the lads are definitely old enough for some long distance walking. We love walking in Scotland and have friends in Ballachulish, so the West Highland Way was an obvious starting point.
Having visited Hadrian's Wall a few times we decided to walk its length. We finally sorted this out in 2005.
Between 2004 and 2006 we developed several mid-length walks (10 to 20 miles) in Essex, Suffolk and Kent. However, in 2006 we also did some interesting walking around Glencoe.
2006 Corrour Station to Kinlochleven and walks around Glencoe.
Our eldest son was no longer interested in walking by now, but the youngest was still keen and specifically wanted to do the Pennine Way.
We started walking The Thames Path early in 2009, but as it is local to us and we had another LDP planned for this year, we just did it in single days or as weekend trips.
2009 Thames Path started
Our next walk (Offa's Dyke) was chosen partly because we wanted to visit this famous earthwork. The fact that it included the wonderful Hergest Ridge made it a requirement. We walked this with our youngest son.
The final stages of the Thames Path were now sufficiently distant for us to take 2 or 3 days for each section as most of a day would be consumed by traveling.
2011 Thames Path completed
The obvious extension to the West Highland Way is the Great Glen Way, this is when the concept of Shoeburyness to Inverness first appeared.
The next route was clearly nothing to do with Shoeburyness to Inverness, but it was a very fine walk nonetheless.
Now we were thinking about the whole route, the next obvious step was to walk the Severn - Thames Path.
Covid and lockdown arrived. We explored some 200 miles of local footpaths, some of which took us from Shoeburyness to the Thames Barrier at Woolwich.
We now had 2 problems. How to get between Prestatyn and Edale, and between Kirk Yetholm and Milngavie.
In 2022 we took on, and developed, Prestatyn to Edale, but walked it Edale to Prestatyn as that was the direction in which accommodation was available in the time we had available.
Whilst completing Kirk Yetholm to Milngavie we also addressed the gap between the Severn end of the Severn -Thames Path and the Southern end of Offa's Dyke.
Kirk Yetholm to Milngavie was more challenging, with areas where the path was not at all obvious. consequently this required some "reccies" and finally required 3 trips over 2 years to complete.
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