Walking with a Reason

25/10/2025

What a fantastic write up of our local cliff walk from Gillian's Walks It was our pleasure to walk with you and we hope to catch up with you again soon.

New walking route guide just published!

This one’s a little different – I’ve been exploring 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗔𝘆𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗲 and couldn’t resist sharing the stunning 𝗔𝗿𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗳 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗹 on Scotland’s east coast.

Think: towering red sandstone cliffs, dramatic sea stacks, hidden caves, wildflowers, seabirds… and maybe even dolphins if you’re lucky! 🐬

It’s a short, easy walk with big rewards – ending at the secluded Carlingheugh Bay, with the option to go further to Auchmithie.

📍 Fancy a coastal adventure beyond Ayrshire?
👉 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 and bookmark it for your must-walk list: https://gillianswalks.com/2025/09/30/arbroath-cliff-trail/

A HUUUUUGE thanks to Pete Walking with a Reason for inviting me to discover this wee gem on his doorstep that I had no idea about! He and his friendly walking group made us very welcome and really enhanced our experience by sharing their local knowledge with us.

Scottish Wildlife Trust The Arbroath Cliff Trail Visit Angus VisitScotland

23/10/2025

I can personally vouch for this course from Coralshore Childcare and First Aid Training Fantastic training delivered to suit my own needs. Highly recommended!

21/10/2025

Latest map for the collection. I've wanted this one for a while so I'm pretty chuffed. The excitement of it all has sent Fiona to sleep 😴 💤

17/10/2025

🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁

We are excited to announce that we will be launching our new Conversation Cafe in Kilwinning on the 23rd 🗣️☕️

A place to get together and where everyone is welcome to attend and get some real talk around Recovery/ Mental Health and see if we can build each other up ⬆️

📌— Vaults Lane Hall / 16 Vaults Lane / Kilwinning.

🗓️— 23rd of October (every Thursday)

⏰—12-2pm

Be appreciated if you could share this and get the word out, thanks ☺️

Corra Foundation

03/10/2025

Recovery Walk Day 7 03-10-2025

Dead End

The wind and rain was quite wild for a while last night but I was warm, dry and comfy in my sleeping bag so it didn't bother me one bit. Waking up this morning it's quite a nice day for it but there's word of a storm coming.

There's no hurry to get going today as I'm meeting people at 11.30am and I've only a couple of miles to walk so I finish the book I've been reading, get packed up and head into Perth. I've still plenty of time so I wander about the shops, pick up some supplies and another book.

My timing works out perfectly and I arrive at the community cafe bang on time. I meet with the gentleman I was supposed to and join the table he's sat at. We discuss a lot of different aspects of recovery and the importance of keeping people busy and involved with all manner of things from art to going to the gym. In my own case, as you've probably worked out by now, it was hiking.

The community cafes are also a great place for people to learn how to socialise during recovery from alcohol or substances because socialising can be a huge hurdle to overcome.

Talking from my own previous experiences almost all of my socialising involved alcohol and when I removed alcohol from the equation the world suddenly became a very scary place to be but integration into a community of my peers was exactly what I needed to get back on track.

I can't speak highly enough of the community cafes and the hard work and the dedication that the people put into running them is out of this world. The more cafes I visit on my travels the more I want to visit.

Having spent a few hours sitting around chatting it's time to hit the road. The rain is absolutely battering down so it's time for the waterproofs. The storm that's due is beginning to make an appearance.

I'd expected not to enjoy the first couple of miles as it was on roads and then onto a main dual carriageway for about a mile but strangely enough I had a great time. I like walking in the wind and rain. There's something about being wrapped up warm and dry while fighting against the elements that I really enjoy and with cars lorries and buses whizzing by me it only seemed to enhance the experience.

Getting off road I suddenly realise how deafeningly loud the traffic had been now that I'm away from it. A view of the River Tay opens up in front of me. It's known as the Silvery Tay but it's not very silvery today with all the rain that's been dumped in the hills flooding through it. I'd been hoping to get more photos of the river than I did but with the rain driving down I just couldn't.

The trail I'm on looks like it is very well kept, extremely muddy with deep puddles all over the place but well kept all the same when all of a sudden it stops. A complete dead end when it should lead onto the next village along. I have a look at continuing but it's just far too overgrown to keep going.

What to do I wonder. Walking back out and round to the other end of the trail would mean going back out onto the dual carriageway for a few miles and having already slipped and slid my way through to where I am now I really didn't fancy it, considering where I was looking at camping was only about half a mile away from here.

Where I'm stood at the dead end is reasonably sheltered from the elements so I decide to pitch exactly there, which I do. I get myself settled in my tent and the storm is really starting to kick in. I like being out in stormy weather but the fact that I'm at this dead end with only one way out is playing on my mind. I feel a bit claustrophobic and I don't like it. Couple that with the fact that the wind is beginning to howl through the power cables above me I really start to question what I'm doing here.

I get to thinking if any of my friends or family were in this position what would my advice be to them? Aye I'd be telling them to get out of there now as the storm is only beginning!

My backpack is packed in record time and I'm out of there heading for a bus stop. On my way back the trees I'd passed earlier are taking a real beating from the wind, so much so that I have my eyes on them like a hawk for any falling branches heading in my direction.

Getting back to the dual carriageway I'm standing beside the bus stop the wind almost has me off of my feet. The trees across the road are taking real punishment too, I'm surprised they are withstanding it.

Exactly on time the bus arrives, I get on and this adventure is over. For now anyway, I might go back and do the rest of it at some other time.

I must admit I had a whale of a time walking around in the wild weather today but I know with how much the storm has picked up that I've made exactly the right choice by going home.

I'm a little sad that I won't be finishing the route I had planned but I've enjoyed every minute of the part that I did do. Joining in with the Scottish Recovery at the very start was amazing. I met some amazing people there and continued to meet amazing people all along the way and the views I saw..... absolutely out of this world.

A big shout out to all that took the time to talk with me whether it was for two minutes or two hours. Who's knows, I'll maybe bump into you somewhere else before too long.

As always thanks for tagging along. Until next time, take care X

02/10/2025

Recovery Walk Day 6 02-10-2025

Invisible Woods

I wake up this morning before my alarm and just lie there chilling out until it gets bright enough to pack up. I only have about six miles to do today which I can do in two hours but there's quite a bit of rain forecast this afternoon so, since I have the option, I'd like to be at my new campsite before it starts.

Lying in my sleeping bag just as the sun is beginning to rise the crows in the trees above me start cawing like mad. They'd been doing it last night too. It sounds like there's a lot of them and I don't know if it's each other they're cawing at or if some other bird is agitating them. I'd heard owls twit twooing during the night and also female owls screeching the way that they do. It always sounds like they're giving the male a hard time. I wonder if the owls could be upsetting the crows. I wish I could speak bird to understand what's going on with them all and especially to find out what the male owl has done wrong to have Mrs. Owl giving him an ear bashing.

Packed up nice and early I'm on the road, it's road walking for a considerable amount of the way home from here, and it's another perfect day for walking. My backpack is quite heavy and it takes effort trudging about with it on so overcast days with a little bit of a breeze like this are ideal for me.

The wee country road I'm walking along is reasonably quiet and the fantastic views all around make it an enjoyable walk. It doesn't compare to the hills and glens that I've been over and through the past few days but it's still enjoyable none the less with plenty of birds singing to keep me company. One bird I saw, for only a few moments as we stared at each other, was a beautiful wee grey thing with a small black band across it's eyes. I have no idea what it was, I'll need to check my books when I get home to see if I can identify it.

Having walked for around an hour I decide to have a pitstop and I just so happened to find a tree in a field that has a really wide trunk at the base and in this wide part there's a natural scoop in it that's the perfect size for me to sit in. Never being one to waste an opportunity I sling my pack on the ground and take a seat. I can't believe how comfortable it is. Never mind all the big fancy recliner chairs, this seat beats them all hands down although it is a little on the big side for my living room.

Taking my phone from my pocket I open it up to see what the weather is supposed to be doing when all of a sudden I change my mind. I'll probably never sit in this seat again so I don't want to waste the moment looking at my phone screen. I quickly shove it back into my pocket, sit back and relax. I can hear all manner of small birds going about their daily business. Two larger birds I hear that I can identify by sound are buzzards and pheasants. I can also hear the wind blowing through the trees and leaves round about me. Ah, this is the life sat here in my tree seat.

Changing the subject for a minute, our phones are far too convenient aren't they? I find myself using mine far too often and it's one of the things I love about getting out into remote places, no phone signal. I can't talk for anyone else but I'm sure some of you must be like me in that we need to know something and we need to know it now so without thinking our phones are in our hand and nine times out of ten that quick search for something leads us down a rabbit hole and we end up reading about a dog that can drive a ride on lawn mower (or maybe that's just me).

My point though, is that I'm becoming increasingly more mindful of how and when I use my phone because, honestly I'm sick of looking at a screen all of the time and almost all of the time it's unnecessary stuff that I'm looking at. For example, when I went to check the weather what would I have done with the results? I'm outside walking regardless of the weather and I'm prepared and kitted out to adapt to whatever happens so knowing that it's going to rain in an hour actually doesn't make one bit of difference to me. Being out here is my way to detach from all things electronic but just out of pure habit I grabbed my phone to get information that I really didn't need and I would have wasted a pleasant wee while sitting in my tree seat doing absolutely nothing but be a part of nature.

Apologies for going on a bit of a rant there but it's just something that I'm working on about myself. The funny part about this is that I'm ranting about how much I use my phone and how I want to use my phone so much less all while typing on my phone to post this blog on my phone for you to read it on your phone! I do get the irony in this. Maybe next time I'll write you a letter instead.

Anyways, where was I before I went off on a tangent. Ah yes, my tree seat. Having had a rest on it for a wee while (without using my phone) I get my pack on and get moving again. I can still hear buzzards calling and for a while I can't see them until I see one, then another, then another. There are loads of them here so I can only assume that this is prime hunting territory for them.

Tomorrow I'm meeting with folk in Perth so I've spied a wee set of woods on my map to camp in right on the edge of the city that'll leave me about a forty five minute walk to get to where I need to be in the morning. I know it's going to get windier as the night goes on. Yes I know that because I used my phone to find it out but that's important so I can justify using it. The wind is coming from the south west so for safety from falling branches etc the north east corner of the woods is where I want to go to be reasonably sheltered from the worst of it.

Arriving at where the woods should be I can see that the north east corner isn't there, in fact none of it is there as the whole lot has been chopped down and I'm out of places to go, I can see Perth just along the road. I make my way through the minefield of tree stumps, broken branches and discarded tree limbs that used to be the woods until I find a reasonably flat spot beside a single row of trees.

My campsite for tonight isn't exactly ideal but I'll make it work. The trees I'm in between are sturdy and strong looking with no dead looking branches and I'm pitched in such a way that should anything fall it'll fall away from me but then again maybe my phones wrong and the wind won't pick up at all.

Now that my writing is done I'm putting my phone down until tomorrow morning to read my book in the peace and quiet, just the way I like it.

As always thanks for tagging along. Until tomorrow, take care X

01/10/2025

Forgot to add this photo of the yellow sheep to my daily blog

01/10/2025

Recovery Walk Day 5 01-10-2025

Graffitied Sheep

The wind and rain really picked up during the night and it woke me up for a while. As always when camping in woods I've made sure there are no big overhanging branches above me so I'm quite certain that I'll be OK but it still is a bit concerning when the wind picks up like this.

Luckily all was good and with not a great deal of mileage ahead of me today I read my book for a while when I wake up hoping that the rain will go off for me to get packed up. The rain is coming at me in really heavy showers so I chance my luck when one of them stops, stick my waterproofs on and get out of my tent to get it packed up.

The last of the big showers had passed and as I'm walking along the road I'm far too hot in my water proofs so I take them off and just take my chances at getting a wee bit wet with the drizzly showers that are coming and going.

As I'd thought, this road is fairly quiet so it's quite nice to walk along it with the occasional field of cows or sheep for company.

Ahead I see a wee shed with an honesty box so I go in to see what they have. The home made jam and chutneys all look really tempting but I wouldn't want to carry them all the way home so I settle for a wee bag of tablet instead. Having a bite it tastes amazing and the sugar boost will be sure to keep me moving along the road, I'll keep the rest for later.

As I'm getting ready to leave I meet James. His parents own the wee shed and he stops for a blether with me. I explain to him where I've came from and where I'm going and he tells me his brother likes to do the same thing. Looks like I'm not the only one. I say how good the tablet is and he tells me that his mum makes it, I ask him to pass on my compliments. In his hand he has two packets of Tunnocks Snowballs and he offers me a pack which I gratefully accept. I'll definitely be fuelled by sugar for the next couple of days.

On my way again and I'm still getting the odd drizzle shower but they are starting to fizzle out and it's turning into a perfect day for walking, overcast and not too hot. The roads are mostly lined with trees and bushes but when I get a glimpse through them the views of the hills are beautiful. Stepping aside for a car to pass the driver gives me a wave, it's James from earlier.

Feeling a little weary I decide its time for a pitstop. I'm right into the snowballs and I can feel the sugar rush almost straight away. That'll keep me going to Dunning, the next village I'm aiming for.

I'm in no particular hurry today and I'm just enjoying my walk and being outside. I've been descending since I left camp this morning, the hills are all behind me now for this trip. The view that's opened up in front of me I'm sure would have shown me the Cairngorm Mountains but it's too cloudy to see them across the other side of the Tay Valley.

Looking for the second time (because I didn't believe my eyes the first time) I see a field of yellow/orange sheep. Either they are some exotic breed of sheep or the local graffiti artists have ran out of walls to spray paint.

Arriving in Dunning I have a wee break for a while, get something to eat, top up my water bottles and pick up some supplies to keep me going at the shop before heading out of the village in the direction of Perth which is only nine miles away. I've to be there for Friday so I'm thinking to do a few more miles today and have an easy day of it tomorrow as the forecast is looking terrible.

Having walked only about a mile I find a cracking wee set of woods that are ideal to camp in. There really is nowhere obvious ahead on my map for me to pitch up. I think I'd be silly to pass this place by so it's decided that home for tonight is the woods where there once stood a Roman camp. If it was good enough for the Romans to camp here it's certainly good enough for me.

As I said the forecast for tomorrow is not looking good at the moment but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. As always my sleeping bag and warm clothes for night time are all double bagged in my back pack so whatever the weather hits me with I know that when I get in my tent I'll be warm and dry with the kettle on so as much as I'd like a moan I have nothing to complain about really.

As always thanks for tagging along. Until tomorrow, take care X

01/10/2025

Recovery Walk Day 4 30-09-2025

Scarred Hills

It had rained a bit during the night but the foliage of the trees I'm under kept most of it off of me so my tent is reasonably dry when I pack it away. You'd be surprised how much heavier a wet tent is to carry than a dry one.

Making my way out of the woods towards the road I'll be walking along I see a residential caravan park. My rubbish bag could do with being emptied, no sense carrying it if I don't have to, so I walk over to use their bin.

A man standing by his motorbike works here and we get chatting. He's ready to open up the reception area and he let's me in to fill my water bottles. I'd shed a miniscule amount of weight to carry by putting my rubbish in the bin and then gained a lot more by filling my bottles. You win some you lose some I guess.

Heading for the hills now. I've around a mile to walk along the road but there's a small pavement and the road is quite quiet anyway and add in the views of the hills around me and it's one of the much nicer roads I've walked along.

Time comes to get off road and I'm excited at getting into the hills, I always am. You would think one hill looks like the next and it would get boring real quick but that can't be further from the truth. Each and every hill and glen I've walked over or through has had something unique about it and they all have a special place in my heart. I've taken up hillwalking at a bit of a later stage in life than some but I know I'll be doing it for as long as I physically can. Nothing I know of gives me the feeling of even just a few hours in the hills.

The forecast for rain this morning has changed its mind and it's really a very nice day. A little bit overcast and not too hot or cold, perfect walking weather.

The terrain, in places, is quite boggy (no surprises there) and in some parts the grass is quite long which can really slow down your stride but I get up and over the part that had looked most difficult on my map much quicker than I'd expected. On this section I saw the biggest amount of chaffinches I've ever seen. It was great watching them flying around in and out of the bushes while twittering away to each other.

I'd passed a windfarm yesterday and as unsightly as they are I tried to put it to the back of my mind but the windfarm I passed today was so loud that it really did spoil the tranquility that I'd chosen this route for. I was glad when it was out of sight and earshot.

From here on in I'm now on forestry roads and looking around I can't help but notice the huge ugly scars these roads have made on the landscape. What with the wind farms and the roads I think a part of the beauty of this place has been spoiled and lost forever. Don't get me wrong though, this place is still absolutely stunning and there's nowhere else I'd rather be.

Bumping into a couple of birdwatchers heading in the direction I'd just came from I mention all the chaffinches I'd seen and they say to me that this area is part of their migration route. That explains it.

The weather does its usual of hitting me with three seasons in one day. From rain to wind to the sun almost coming out and back to rain again, it didn't seem sure what it wanted to do but it does go to show how quickly it can change and the importance of being fully prepared for even just a wee wander out in these places. At one wee pitstop I had I was sat down watching the rain clouds ominously rolling over the hills heading straight for me only for the wind to blow them off to my right hand side and just miss me by a whisker.

Reaching the end of the forestry road I'm out of the hills and onto a road. I follow the road for a short while and find a nice wee spot to camp in the woods. Having made really good time today I'm pitched up by mid afternoon. Having no phone signal whatsoever I have the rest of the day just for myself to relax with no distractions, I like it that way. I spend the rest of the day reading, writing, drinking coffee and listening to the birds.

Ahead of me, from here to Perth, will be a lot of road walking but if they are all like the road I'm pitched beside I'll be quite happy. From what I've seen there has been very little traffic and the views are outstanding.

The last I saw of the weather forecast was that tomorrow will be raining most of the day but as we know it can change its mind just as quick. It is what it is, we'll see what happens tomorrow.

As I'm finishing off today's wee story the rain has came on really heavy so I have my doors all zipped shut, I'm nice and warm in my sleeping bag and settled for tonight to wait and see what tomorrow brings.

As always thanks for tagging along. Until tomorrow, take care X

30/09/2025

Guess I better slow down a bit

29/09/2025

Recovery Walk Day 3 29-09-2025

Ankle Breakers

Yesterday I'd been unsure if I'd get a comfy sleep where I'd pitched my tent and I can confirm that all of the lumps and bumps in the ground compressed and I fell asleep quite quickly and soundly. That is until a helicopter flew right over me, woke me up and frightened the life out of me. There was almost a Pete shaped hole in the side of my tent.

My alarm was set for 7am and when it went off I was really groggy as I had struggled to get back to sleep after the drive by helicopter attack. It was also quite cold, about 2°C, and the thought of getting out of my warm sleeping bag didn't seem appealing at all but I'd set the alarm to see if I could watch the sunrise so I wanted to get up. I've never been lucky enough to see a sunset and then a sunrise the following morning while camping in the hills (due to cloud and fog) so I'm hoping today will be my lucky day.

Zipping open my tent I have to blink and look again. A sea of cloud is covering almost all of the Forth Valley below me. This is called a cloud inversion and I've always wanted to see one. I'm out of my tent like a shot running about taking photos and just looking. All thoughts of being cold were gone as I stood there in my shorts marvelling at the sea of cloud making its way along the valley.

Eventually the sun made an appearance over the hill next to me and I got my sunrise too. What a fantastic start to the morning. I really hadn't expected to see a cloud inversion. In fact I'd been talking to another keen hill walker I met at the recovery walk in Stirling on Saturday and we actually spoke about how neither of us had seen one but we both really wanted to. I must email him some photos.

Having packed up my kit I'm bouncing along the trail like Zebedee turning back now and again to see the clouds below until I got over the final peak that blocked it all from view.

Yesterday had been a day of meeting and talking to lots of people, even on my way up the hill but now that I'm a bit further in it's more remote and I don't see a sole until I'm out of the hills again.

At one point I appear to lose the trail, which had been quite noticeable up until now, but I know where I am and where I'm going so I keep on going in the right direction but it's slow going over rough ground and peat bogs.

Finding a gate through a fence tells me that I've came in the right direction but there really is no sign of the trail.

On the other side of the gate there's a decent trail to the right but I should be going straight ahead. I find a very faint trail going the way I should be going but eventually it disappears and I'm up to my knees in heather and find the occasional peat bog too.

Although my map shows this as the way I should be going I decide better of it. The ground is treacherous and I cant see where I'm putting my feet. This type of ground I refer to as ankle breaking territory and being out here alone with no phone signal and not having seen a soul all day I realise that carrying on this route isn't the best idea and I change direction.

After getting all of the ankle breakers behind me I've managed to pick up the trail that I'd seen back at the gate. It's going the wrong direction but it's safer and must lead somewhere. As it leads me to the top of a hill I can see ahead that it sweeps round and will lead me to where I want to be. I really wonder why this trail isn't on my map but I'm glad that I took it. It was a hard judgement call to make since it went off in the wrong direction but it worked out in the end. If I'd stuck to where the suggestion of a route on my map was I'd probably still be fighting my way through now.

Over the top of the last hill I can see down to the bottom where there is a wee single track road, that is used for servicing the nearby wind turbines, and that's where I'm headed for. Usually I don't like walking on roads but after my recent shenanigans with the ankle breakers it looks like an oasis in the desert.

Someone has placed a big boulder at the side of the road where I get off the hill and it's great to have a seat on it for five minutes to drink and have a snack. That wee pitstop was well earned and did me the world of good.

On my feet and moving again I spy a way down to the burn to top up my water bottles and while I'm there I find the perfect campsite but I'm not far enough along today to stop yet. I'm great at finding the perfect camping spot when it's not time to stop.

Glendevon Reservoir was something that I'd wanted to see but the service road that I'm walking along provides very little views of it as it's tree lined almost all of the way. Having seen photos of the old farm buildings that can be seen when the water levels are very low I was intrigued to catch a glimpse of them but today wasn't the day for it. The farm buildings had been submerged when the dam was initially flooded, I think in the 1950's if i remember correctly. I did see what looked like tide marks and erosion around the banks of the reservoir and the water is a lot lower than it can be so I don't know if the buildings would have been visible today or not.

Still on the service road past the dam it's a pleasant walk through the hills to the main road that I'm aiming for. Hearing a familiar screech I look up to see two kites flying around calling each other. I'm not that good at identifying birds but the distinctive triangular shaped tail on them is a dead give away.

Onto the main road and it's raining. I'm stepping off of the road as cars approach. Most of them give me a wave to say thanks and some, I can see, are thinking rather him than me. Little do they know I'm in my element out here.

Having covered enough ground for today I look for a spot to pitch. I find one not far from the road, it's not very glamorous but it's well covered by trees to keep the rain off. I'm about a mile away from getting back into the hills again tomorrow so the location is quite good.

So far I'm up to about twenty miles so I'm roughly half way to Perth from Stirling to meet with folk on Friday. I'm ahead of schedule so I should have reasonably easy days and plenty of time to relax.

As always thanks for tagging along. Until tomorrow, take care X