Day 57- Sennen Cove to Lands End!
Actual distance 2.8km or 1.74 miles
Total Ascent 29m
Today was a celebration of our journey and the weather joined in too!
Just like any morning we packed away and had breakfast but happily we didn’t have to worry about ensuring we had enough food to sustain prolonged activity as we knew we had less than 3km left. Before heading off from the Penzance (Madron) Scout group we caught up with Jeremy, the DC for Penzance and the Isles of Scilly on his way to run a Silver DofE expedition.
We arrived at Sennen Cove to find a huge crowd in the car park waiting for us ready to join us for the final leg. After some photos we boldly headed off (before confirming which of the two routes we should take- the costal path or cycle route 3!) Following a brief consensus we opted for route 3 and off we went with flags waving in high spirits.
We soon saw Lands End in the distance and headed for the complex which is significantly more developed and touristy than John O’Groats. We found the start/ finish point and then were temporarily confused as to where the iconic signpost was so we took the scenic route (aka aimlessly wandered) to find it (not that it really mattered after over 1,750km!)
Signpost located we also spotted John Leeks, who saw us off from John O’Groats all those weeks ago, and who had travelled all the way down to Lands End especially to see us finish. As we approached the post we discovered just how lucrative a sign is to an area as you are only allowed near if you pay to have an official photo taken. We posed for the essential photographic proof on the poor mans side of the barrier, but John was an absolute legend and paid for an official photo as a present for us which we are very, very grateful for. Now looking at the photos the amazing blue sky behind us makes it look suspiciously like CGI – we really did make it we promise!
We were then surprised by being given not one, but two specially made medals to commemorate our adventure, along with individual certificates of achievement- an amazing and unexpected surprise from our families.
Obviously we then headed to the gift shop to buy a blanket badge and essential fridge magnet, before immortalising our adventure and our status as ‘end-t0-enders’ (the technical term for doing the JOGLE or LEJOG!) by signing the official record book at The Lands End Hotel.
It was then time to go our separate ways and for most of us to head home as quickly as possible for school and work, though James and Cara are going to stay in Cornwall for a few days to relax and finally celebrate their exam results! On the way home we listened to a radio interview we had recorded a few days ago with the lovely Matt Shepherd from BBC Radio Cornwall that was on air at about 13:20 today that you can listen to here https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0gb2vkm
Over the next few days we will reflect on the massive adventure we have had (possibly after doing a few loads of washing and a little unpacking!), but for now here are a few silly numerical facts about our journey –
Days away- 59
Days active- 55
Distance travelled- 1757.08km 0r 1091.8 miles (or 4.96 times the length of the River Severn)
Total ascent 22,667.16m (or the height of 2.56 Mount Everest’s)
Moving time- 171h 32m (or 10,292 minutes, or 617,520 seconds)
Total average speed- 10.2km/h (that’s an average of the walking and cycling combined)
Number of Birthdays- 3
Number of punctures- 6
Number of counties- 18 (which is 22.2% of all the counties in Scotland and England combined or 16.5% of the counties in the UK)
Number of falls- no idea but quite a lot! (none from Bethan or Jennie though!)
Number of memories made- far, far too many to count!