Lands End to John o'Groats

August - October 2022

Cycle trip from the bottom of Cornwall to the tip of Scotland with Gaylene, Greg & Geoff Read more

33footprints
2countries
34days
231photos
0videos
1.2kkilometers

Follow Calendar Share Bucket list

Traveler Lands End to John o'Groats
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Sep 1, 2022, 8:30am
- ⛅ 15 °C
- Altitude: 14 m
- England Tregoney 50.265823, -4.91775850°15’57” N 4°55’4” W
Day 2
LEJOG Day 2 - Penzance to Tregony
September 1, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
First hilly day with panniers. A couple of nasty 17% short pinches 😲

Cycled along the mining trail and past some splendid examples of the old Cornish tin mines. Tin mining ended in 1998 when the last remaining mine became unprofitable. However, in 2021 a new mining operation began to extract battery-grade lithium carbonate.

Outstanding (and much needed) refueling stops today - coffee & homemade goodies in Camborne and best pub dinner yet (fish pie) in Tregony!

In a delightful B&B tonight.

Distance: 65 km. 821m ascentRead more
Traveler well done!!I wouldn't have liked 17%. did you have to get off and push??
9/2/22Reply
Traveler Just a couple of short bits - and happy to do so
9/3/22Reply
That's amazing! [Meriel]
9/3/22Reply
just 'wow'! [sarah]
9/3/22Reply
1 like
Traveler Lands End to John o'Groats
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Sep 2, 2022, 8:00am
- ⛅ 15 °C
- Altitude: 137 m
- England Liskeard 50.455621, -4.46579850°27’20” N 4°27’57” W
Day 3
LEJOG Day 3 - Tregony to Liskeard
September 2, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
Huge day of hills - absolutely shattered. Some vicious little devils (think short portions of Awaba St, Mosman). We all had to push the bikes up them - and had a close call with a tractor.

Rookie mistake - we all forgot it was a Friday - so hadn't booked a table for a pub dinner. So 4 exhausted cyclists tried for take away pizza (wait time too long), supermarket hot food (finished 30 mins before). Eventually ate in the pub at 9.00 - could hardly keep our eyes open - but needed to refuel!

We stopped at the Eden Project for a couple of hours. Originally an exhausted, steep-sided clay pit 60 metres deep, with no soil, 15 metres below the water table, it is now the home of various biodomes housing a huge diversity of plants from rainforests, deserts and Mediterranean climates.

Distance 56 km. 1050m AscentRead more
Would love to go there - was it good? [Jane Lomax]
9/4/22Reply
0 likes
Traveler Lands End to John o'Groats
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Sep 3, 2022, 9:00am
- ☁️ 15 °C
- Altitude: 159 m
- England West Devon District Okehampton 50.738857, -4.00344850°44’20” N 4°0’12” W
4
Day 4
LEJOG Day 4 - Liskeard to Okehampton
September 3, 2022 in England ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
We were all a little concerned about today as the climbing profile looked very daunting (again) and all still tired from yesterday. However, pleasantly surprised as it seemed less strenuous.

A wedding was taking place at the 13th century Brentor Church, perched high up overlooking the green farmland on one side and desolate Dartmoor on the other. Greg walked to the top, but I viewed from a distance and then coffee beckoned!

We left Cornwall and entered Devon, skirted around Bodmin Moor and the windswept, barren Dartmoor National Park. The final section had us on the Granite Way which follows the course of the former Southern Region railway line and crossing the historic Meldon viaduct.

Distance: 55km. 870m ascentRead more
You are incredible Nikki! Such an inspiration to me! And I love the joy your cycling brings you! Keep the photos coming! Love Mandy xxxx [Mandy Carroll]
9/3/22Reply
The countryside looks gorgeous. English green everywhere! Can you stop regularly and take in the vista? Cheers Jann [Jann]
9/3/22Reply
Traveler Thanks Mandy- will probably need more morale boosting as the trip goes on
9/4/22Reply
6 more comments
0 likes
Traveler Lands End to John o'Groats
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Sep 4, 2022, 8:30am
- ☁️ 16 °C
- Altitude: 87 m
- England Sampford Arundel 50.966634, -3.2729350°57’60” N 3°16’23” W
Day 5
LEJOG Day 5 - Okehampton to Wellington
September 4, 2022 in England ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
A lovely ride through the picturesque Devon farmlands. Some early blue sky before turning overcast with light showers.

The cows must have been hiding as we had the lovely aroma of fresh manure - but no sign of livestock!

Good backroads made for slightly faster travel - so our lunch/dinner combined was at our pub stay - the traditional Sunday roast (before it finished at 5.30). So an early night.

Distance: 73km. 940m AscentRead more
1 like
Traveler Lands End to John o'Groats
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Sep 5, 2022, 9:00am
- ⛅ 17 °C
- Altitude: 13 m
- England Cheddar Cheddar Library 51.275669, -2.77721651°16’32” N 2°46’38” W
Day 6
LEJOG Day 6 - Wellington to Cheddar
September 5, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
Across the Somerset flats - an ‘easy’ day, but not without its challenges.

Derailleur issues for Geoff (fixed at a bike shop in Taunton); 1 flat tyre for Gaylene; 2 slow motion falls whilst navigating a rough path along the Taunton Bridgewater Canal.

Then an incorrect turn by Nikki led us into a 400m jungle path of brambles and nettles. We were at a point of no return so had to push through it, but nearly lost Gaylene beneath the greenery.

Tired and needing coffee & food we detoured into Bridgewater (not very inspiring). Back on the bikes and 1 km out of town Geoff had to high tail it back to the cafe as he’d left his backpack behind🫢.

Finally arrived in Cheddar and nice pub rooms. Showered & refreshed walked round town and then up to the cliff tower lookout - but it was padlocked. And just to top the day off, there was an unexpected Sydney style torrential rainstorm just as we were walking to dinner, so there were four wet and bedraggled diners - both shoes and clothes completely soaked!

However - amazingly fantastic Italian restaurant - so a good conclusion to the day.

Except I nearly set the fire alarm off - back in the room I was using the hairdryer to dry my socks and burnt a hole in one - hence the odd smell of singed fabric. Whoops!

Distance: 70 km. 330m AscentRead more
1 like
Traveler Lands End to John o'Groats
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Sep 6, 2022, 9:00am
- ⛅ 16 °C
- Altitude: 40 m
- England Thornbury 51.608738, -2.52581851°36’31” N 2°31’33” W
1
Day 7
LEJOG Day 7 - Cheddar to Thornbury
September 6, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
Started the day with a climb up through Cheddar Gorge on the southern side of the Mendip hills. The road winds through for 4.2km with a couple of 16% steep gradients before it tapers into a gentle climb. Certainly a sure way to wake up the legs first thing in the morning.

Interesting rock formations and wild goats grazing alongside the road.

Traversed through the outskirts of Bristol on a number of cycle ways, before heading back into the quiet lanes into the county of Gloucestershire and our rest day destination of Thornbury.
Distance: 62 km. 700m AscentRead more
Traveler Great photo
9/13/22Reply
1 like
Traveler Lands End to John o'Groats
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Sep 7, 2022, 9:00am
- ⛅ 16 °C
- Altitude: 38 m
- England Thornbury 51.609665, -2.52557851°36’35” N 2°31’32” W
2
Day 8
LEJOG Day 8 - Rest Day, Thornbury
September 7, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
A well deserved sleep in and a generally lazy day but only after the visit to the launderette and time spent on bike maintenance and cleaning.

Gaylene’s birthday - so a wonderful fine dining experience at Ronnie’s.

Distance: 0 km. 0m AscentRead more
Traveler Ronnie beat her there!
9/8/22Reply
Traveler this looks lovely!
9/13/22Reply
1 like
Traveler Lands End to John o'Groats
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Sep 8, 2022, 9:00am
- ⛅ 15 °C
- Altitude: 10 m
- England Tewkesbury 51.990826, -2.16170251°59’27” N 2°9’42” W
Day 9
LEJOG Day 9 - Thornbury to Tewksbury
September 8, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
Cycled via quiet lanes and the Gloucester- Sharpness canal in overcast weather. Just made it to our Gloucester city lunch stop when a thunderstorm and rain arrived.

We visited the revamped docklands area and then the Cathedral. Glorious architecture and stained glass windows.

Fun Fact 1: The cathedral cloisters were
transformed into the corridors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the first two Harry Potter films.

Fun Fact 2: The Great East stained glass window is the size of a tennis court and was installed in the 1350's and during World War II it was dismantled and stored in the crypt to keep it safe.

Arrived at Tewksbury, a very pretty medieval town at the confluence of the River Avon and River Severn. My late afternoon riverside walk was where I learned of the death of Queen Elizabeth II and naturally that was the topic of conversation for the evening in between watching the constant BBC news feed.

Distance: 77 km. 370m AscentRead more
0 likes
Traveler Lands End to John o'Groats
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Sep 9, 2022
- ⛅ 20 °C
- Altitude: 43 m
- England Bewdley 52.375568, -2.31738452°22’32” N 2°19’3” W
Day 10
LEJOG Day 10 - Tewksbury to Bewdley
September 9, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
Stage 6 of the Tour of Britain was due to start in Tewksbury today and we were looking forward to seeing the event preparations. However it was cancelled out of respect for the Queen.

Lovely medieval architecture in the town and then an undulating cycle to our overnight stop.

Distance: 78 km. 660m AscentRead more
2 likes
Traveler Lands End to John o'Groats
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Sep 10, 2022
- ☁️ 21 °C
- Altitude: 135 m
- England Oakengates Wombridge 52.705296, -2.44686152°42’19” N 2°26’49” W
Day 11
LEJOG Day 11 - Bewdley to Wrockwardine
September 10, 2022 in England ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
Today we saw quite a bit of the Severn Valley Railway which is a 26km heritage line operating mostly steam hauled passenger trains with stops at beautifully restored stations. Unfortunately we heard the steam whistles, but didn't get to see the train.

The planned route was meant to be 65 and 870m climbing but I managed to find a lovely track that ran parallel to the river and saved 10km and 200m climbing. Legend!

There has been a good selection of cycle trails & surfaces so far although some of the 'pinch points' to slow down bikes have been a tight squeeze - especially for the flat bar bikes.

Distance: 55 km. 690m AscentRead more
2 likes