To Duncansby Head: Scottish Watershed

Stacks of Duncansby & Duncansby Head

A final day's walk across the last bog cotton and heather of the Flow Country - all dry and crunchy underfoot - led to the east coast a few kilometres south of Duncansby Head where the North Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean in the Pentland Firth. That last walk along the cliffs made for a superb finale with splendid scenery and a mass of whirling sea birds. Peter Wright, author of Ribbon of Wildness, the book that inspired my walk, was there to meet me on Duncansby Head. Suddenly the walk was over. After two months I would no longer pack up in the morning and walk on, following the twists and turns of the Watershed. There had been storms and sunshine, wildlife and wild land, and a new way of looking at the Scottish landscape. I'll always be aware of the Watershed from now on and always aware of how unspoiled and remote most of it is - and should remain. My thoughts and feelings will, I know, change in the weeks ahead as the effects of the walk sink in and different experiences and impressions surface. I'll be writing more here and in The Great Outdoors magazine and, hopefully, eventually there will be a book. Thanks to everyone who followed my progress and read my reports here and on Facebook and Twitter.

Duncansby Head