UKC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-13072554

A classic long distance challenge in the making or another excuse to erect signs and build cairns?

S

In reply to Slugain Howff: what happens at the top and bottom. Surely it doesn't all run East/West, some must head south into England, or North at the top end.

Seems a long way.

In reply to Slugain Howff:

Both, probably!

I think it's a good thing. To my mind, we should have more long distance walks, promote them further, and cater for the walkers better. Our landscape is a massively underused resource, particularly in the NW - both from the point of view of tourism and from the point of view of getting people fitter.

It might feel like a bit of a shame for some of the areas along this route to get busier, but the flip side of that is more people getting to enjoy them. And the complex nature of our hills and glens and islands mean that there will probably always be quiet, awkward-to-get-to corners.

In reply to Slugain Howff:

Didn't Dave Hewitt (sometimes of this Parish) walk the watershed and write a book about it? I read it years ago and remember the description of his blisters still...

In reply to DougG: yes he did. It used to be available to read as part of the Angry Corrie website until they (Dave presumably?) decided to stop putting stuff online.

In reply to Slugain Howff:

I can't see it being massively popular, unless people are happy being self sufficient will it not involve lots of walking away from the watershed for supplies etc? The final section across flow country could be interesting as well.

Signposting it sounds a bit daft to me.

In reply to Slugain Howff: It's an amazing route, one I'd love to have the time to do. But this guy does seem to be sweeping Dave Hewitt under the carpet a bit, almost claiming that he invented the idea just because he changed the end to the more boring side of the country.

Not sure the route really needs sign posting - surely the fun is finding your own way. Anyway it's probably a bit on the long side to become that popular in this country (although I'm fullly aware that there are plenty of really long routes on the continent and in the US).

For anyone interested, Dave Hewitt's original story of the route is still available online:
http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/hewwat/

In reply to malky_c:

That may be a little unfair: Peter Wright's book http://www.luath.co.uk/acatalog/Ribbon_of_Wildness.html and website http://www.ribbonofwildness.co.uk/ certainly acknowledge Dave Hewitt.

Rather sloppy reporting form the BBC though: aside from not mentioning Dave, I'm not sure what the news story is (since the book was published last year). And using the term "marked out" does give the impression that there is some waymarking on the ground, which is not the case.

In reply to Mark Bull: Yes I gather he talked to Dave Hewitt before writing the book. I've not read the whole thing, but I looked through the introduction and while Dave's walk was acknowledged, he seemed to be trying to say that his walk was completely different and a new idea - just because he was ending at the proper (his definition) end of the watershed. Fair enough though, maybe he came up with the idea completely independently and was just looking for a way to market his book that made it appear to be a first.

In reply to malky_c: He is very dismissive of Dave Hewitt, going for the faint praise method.

Claiming to be the first to discover the watershed after it had been walked several times is a bit of a warning. Even if the route beyond the E-W watershed end at Carn Dearg (where the north coast comes in to play) is prescribed, Wright is still not first, someone else did it finishing at Duncansby.

The English one has been done too.
I once lived on it in Wednesfield, Staffs.

In reply to Mark Bull:

'sloppy reporting form the BBC though'

c'mon Mark, just how much background do you expect a journalist to give to a story? Huw is an excellant reporter, but he can't be expected to write the whole history of the watershed into his piece.

I'm guessing the reason that its popped up is that someone in teh Glasgow newsroom has spotted it and thought '.. that might be of interest to the general public.'. I'm always delighted to see outdoors stories making it into teh mainstream - but you always have to accept that in order to meet the constraints of mass-media certain details will have to be omitted.

Quite fancy parts of the route - there is something fascinating about looking at a map of for example the Beinn Dearg area and seeing just how close two lochans can be while draining in different directions (why that should be interesting I have no idea - it just is!)