We have a feeble history of disappointing long distance footpaths in Scotland. The last example was described well by Graham Nash after his frustrations with the Scottish National Trail, conceived by an arch-plagiariser with an eye for a quick buck and minimum research on the ground. An earlier lost opportunity was the Southern Uplands Way, which avoided the best bits of a potentially good line. This was so much sadder because it was an emasculation of Alastair Hetherington’s even earlier, but brilliant proposal for the ”Southern Highlander”, a high level route from Dunbar to Girvan which was reccied on the ground by fell runner Richard Puckrin many years ago. My offer of a champagne dinner for the first Carnethy member to complete this unborn route as a continuous traverse remains unclaimed.
The tradition of lost opportunities was repeated with the creation of the John Muir Way, originally a local East Lothian Council initiative which sadly misses the best bits of an outstanding coastline. This was extended and re-branded as the coast-to-coast version from Helensburgh to Dunbar, which repeated the negligent approach.
And so to the Alternative John Muir Way, which was my own way to compensate for these crimes of negligence by devising a route that takes in the best parts of the East Lothian landscape with no compromises. This year we enjoyed lots of sunshine, a cool tail wind for most of the day and an extreme low tide that allowed lots of beach running (and cycling) around the bouldery bits. We had a 20 strong team, 14 of these biking part of the route and a bold threesome (Peter Buchanan, Mark Hartree and Alan Hogg) completing the full 57km on foot. The nine hour day included a long rebellious coffee break in North Berwick and even longer lunch in East Linton.
Much thanks to Carnethy HRC for transport and refreshment finance; to drivers Mark, Patricia and Ben; and to lunch hosts Bärbel, Heidi and Kara.
Keith Burns
More photos here (thanks Alan):