Fort William ...three sleeps... have seen at least five men in kilts...but they were all walking tooo fast to catch them digitally! Two reservations on the National Rail and two seats taken by others. The first taker was a young arrogant looking sort sitting with an equally belligerent looking young thing as girlfriend... left them to it but sent evil looks in his direction every time I looked at him and he looked at me … just in case he thought he had gotten one over on an old lady. The second train ride I was faced with two men in my space... but after a promise of a cup of tea I sat in the four seat combination and spent the rest of the train ride to Fort William talking to two Norsemen. One worked ... read more

Built on the orders of Hadrian after he became Roman emperor and visited by him in AD122, the Wall defined the north-west frontier of the Roman Empire, covering 73 miles from east to west. It boasted 80 milecastles with two turrets between each, 17 larger forts and a defensive earthwork, the Vallum, to the south. Abandoned briefly shortly after it was built, it was in active use for some 300 years and garrisoned by auxiliary soldiers from across the Empire . http://hadrianswallcountry.co.uk/history Day One ... Route of Refuse Wallsend to Newburn … 20km... mostly asphalt ...some close to road and beside traffic... past Newcastle the Wall was defined by the quay ...thru parks, past housing projects, thru marinas, past the worst hotel ever (closed my eyes at that point) and beside the Tyne most of the ... read more

Meeting the sister of my friend Dorothy was quite an accomplishment. Rita's son arranged email contact. Rita found me on the proper coach. The woman next to me offerd to move so Rita could sit with me but when she saw that Rita could only find a backward facing seat the woman rescinded. We went to the infamous hotel by taxi. That's a first for me! Because check in was not unti 11.00 we had time to wander about, ride the bus, walk up the hill, walk across four of the seven bridges. We had already gone over the railroad bridge when coming into the city. We stopped in at The Hilton to use the loo and eventually went to the hotel to unpack and get ready for dinner at Witherspoon's a country wide franchise offering ... read more

Thirty minutes west out of the city one alights at a small station called Kew Gardens. Exiting the station small local shops on both sides of the road offer shoe repair, fresh meat, used books, drugs, creams, coffee, wedge, real estate are passed as the road leads to the the Famous landmark. And what pretty houses there are; well kept, manicured, gravel roaded, hedge trimmed, upscale cars polished. And this all under the unrelenting emission of jet fuel from the planes in the Heathrow flightpath. Not one or two or even three or four but an all day busy corridor of jets leaving for points unknown. At Victoria Gate the lady who volunteers by selling tickets comes from North Bay, Canada. The tour of the Garden began at 11.00. Mary the tour guide had worked at ... read more

Three days that did not exactly go to plan.... the itinerary not being written in stone has suffered many pleasant adjustments. Regent's Canal Towpath On Thursday the 14 I did begin the walk along the Regent's Canal Towpath at 10.20 beginning at Little Venice near Paddington Station and heading east with LimeHouse the intended final destination. There are masses of flat river boats moored along the edges of the canal. The centre of the water is still open enough for other barges to pass. Unless one has permanent mooring rights at the price of what a regular flat would cost in the city, ones barge must move every two weeks heading in the same direction for at least 20km/mi cant remember which. Penalties for not moving come to 25GBP/da.Along the towpath as far as I went ... read more