Blog/Updates

Written by Imogen Young

We were very lucky to have family living near Scafell that were happy to take us in last night, saving us from another journey into the early hours of the morning. This meant our day started at 6am for a 4 hour drive down to our final peak – Snowdon. The traffic was very kind allowing for a quick souvenir stop in Betws – y – Coed.

Lynne dropped us off at Pen – y – Pass car park and after a quick toilet stop we headed up the Pyg Track. Surprisingly our legs loosened up quickly and we got into a steady pace clambering over the rocks and boulders that made up the path. The sun was out however a chilly wind blowing up from the valley kept us cool and luckily it was a day without rain. We soon reached the first ridge and the mountain came into sight looming high above us. The peak was in and out of cloud so we were hoping it would blow over by the time we reached the summit.
The next section of path was fairly flat following the contour of the mountain so we made good progress and the path to the top came into view.
It became steeper and rockier as we scrambled up to the zig zags to the top ridge.
By now a queue was beginning to form in busy and technical parts of the ascent.

The summit ridge was windy and unfortunately in thin cloud so the long queue to the trig point seemed too cold to wait in so we settled for a selfie just below the trig.
We had managed to reach the summit in 2 hours 24 minutes!!

We quickly headed back down the ridge and dropped onto the top part of the Pyg Track which was much harder coming down as it was so steep and quite slippery. After 20 minutes on the Pyg Track we began the scramble down rocks to the Miners Track just below – from previous experience we know this is a much kinder path to descend. After Jennie’s fall yesterday we were very cautious of slippery, wet rocks. When we reached the lake we stopped for a drink and snack to give us energy for the final push to the end of our epic challenge. The Miners Track snakes it’s way around the valley giving many false impressions of how close we were. We pushed hard to keep a fast pace and were soon greeted by the familiar car park gates where Lynne was ready to pick us up.

We have made so many good memories on our adventure and it is certainly something we will never forget. It was such a shame that we couldn’t finish as a team and we wish Jennie a speedy recovery. All that remained for us was to get some much needed fast food and head home after an amazing adventure.

https://wonderful.org/fundraisers/794Vn

It was a later than planned start this morning following such a late night- its rare we need to wake up Ollie or Hattie in the morning, but a hot shower and the promise of a cooked breakfast helped get them going.

We set off from the National Trust car park in Wasdale Head around 11:30 under high clouds and sun, with only the very top of Scafell sprinkled with a little cloud cover. We took this a good omen and were optimistic that we would be up and back in 5 hours allowing ample time for our drive on to Snowdonia.

The track starts gently through a tree covered path alongside a beautiful waterfall before becoming more rocky and steep, with a familiar flagstone steps to climb. It then crosses a fast moving waterfall meaning we had to carefully pick our path across the water in order to keep our feet as dry as possible (and to stop us falling in!). With about a mile to go to the summit the flag stones switch to loose stones and scree, once again reminding us of clambering over rock pools at a beach. There were once again the tease of a few false summits, but our steady persistence meant we reached the summit in a little over 3 hours.

Having been treated to increasingly impressive views all the way up the summit was amazing with panoramic 360 degree views of the surrounding mountains. This was a total contrast to Ben Nevis where we could barely find the trig point, let alone see a neighbouring mountain. The obligatory summit photos were taken and we hurried back off the summit to find some shelter for lunch.

Fortified we carried on descending but the toll of yesterdays exertions became more obvious and all of the team were finding the steep descents increasingly painful.

We carried on, crossed the waterfall again and had the gate back to the car park in sight when disaster struck- Jen slipped on a rock and fell hitting her right hand on the boulders lining the path and breaking her wrist. Once the initial shock of the fall had subsided a little and pain killers had been found, a sling was fashioned from a necker (almost as if they were designed for that very purpose!). Incredibly, despite the pain, Jen got up and walked slowly back to the car park. A massive thank you to the kind w group of walkers who stopped to help and carried her bag the rest of the way down.

Jen and Phil jumped into the car and headed to the nearest Emergency Department in Whitehaven, which was 20 miles away. An uncomfortable ride ensued. Leaving Jen waiting to be seen, Phil headed back to Wasdale Head to pick up the kids from the Youngs allowing them to speed towards Snowdonia, hoping to be able to finish the 3 peaks for the team. Lets hope they have a successful and uneventful trip!

https://wonderful.org/fundraisers/794Vn

We woke following the broken sleep that comes with the anticipation of an essential early start. Having pitched the tents in the rain last night it was a relief to find the night had remained dry. We efficiently broke camp, ate our overnight oats and set off for the Ben Nevis Visitor Centre. As we drove the majestic hills hid under a blanket of cloud.. never a good sign when your about to head up the biggest!

We reached the Visitor Centre in good time and set off up the mountain path at about 09:30. I won’t lie; having been limping for the last few months and having had a steroid injection into my hip last week I wasn’t convinced I would manage even the start of this mission.

The footpath lured us into a false sense of reassurance as it crossed a field then started up a gentle incline on a gravelled path interspersed with regular stone steps. However, quickly the gravel vanished and the path became a giant stone staircase made of large, uneven flag stones, with occasional rocky crops to clamber up.

The cloud base remained low so we stopped at the halfway point at the side of a small loch to have lunch (and a little of the left over Kendal Mint Cake the Old Wolf gave us on the JOGLE) aware that a few hundred meters further up we would enter the clouds. Feeling refuelled we set off, expecting more of the same.. if only!

At the next corner the familiar flag stones changed to a path that reminded me of climbing rock pools at the beach, before changing again to shingle that slipped slightly underfoot. As we ascended it got wetter and wetter and colder and colder. The kids had been curious to discover if there was snow at the top of the mountain and we found the first patch about an hour from the top that blended into the white of the cloud and mist. Ollie made a little snowball, just because!

As we got nearer to the top the visibility got worse and worse. We navigated looking for the silhouettes of the marker cairns and from pausing to until we saw people appearing out of the white walking back down the hill. The last ascent felt like it went on and on and on. With the bitter cold wind, and disbelief that the peak would ever appear we were tempted to turn back, then finally the shell of the stone bivvy at the top came into view. We were all so cold that there was no want to stay at the top to celebrate the achievement of the climb. Instead we forced ourselves to do the horrendous thing of stripping our outer layers off to put more dry layers on underneath, ate a quick flapjack, then headed off on the path hoping to get out of the cold as quickly as possible.

Whilst the way up was a challenge for my hip, the way down was a nightmare on the knees. We plodded on, descending far quicker than we’d ascended. After about 45 minutes we were back out of the clouds and found the day was brightening. The surrounding mountains and valleys had come into view and the scenery was utterly stunning.

Just after the halfway point, having started to embrace the giant stone staircase again Ollie fell twisting his leg. He bravely got up, and managed to slowly continue with the help of my walking sticks. Our descent massively slowed, but eventually we made it back off the hill to the welcome sight of Lynne at the vehicles with a warm cuppa and cake! She had brilliantly got dinner ready too which was fantastic. It had taken 10 hours. To get up and down in the end and we really were exhausted!

We set off for Ennerdale at about 20:30, with an ETA of 01:30.. then we found the only road out of the Highlands was closed! There aren’t many roads in this part of Scotland, and the only alternate route took us on a 45 minute detour via a very windy single track lane. With the thought of pitching tents at 02:30 after a bonkers long day looming we bailed and booked into a Premier Inn in Carlisle at 00:45, whilst the Youngs continued on in their camper van to Ennerdale.

Curious about todays step count I had a little look at my phone.. it’s no wonder we all feel tired!

https://wonderful.org/fundraisers/794Vn

Staying at Glen Coe Mountain Resort

28/5/24

We set off from Staffordshire this morning, having enjoyed the fun of a festival for the last few days. It rained and rained all the way, with moments when the road completely vanished in a haze of spray. The beautiful hills and scenery of Lancashire, Cumbria and Scotland were barely visible in the mist, cloud and rain. The weather forecast has had a yellow weather warning today and we are hoping it will blow over a little by tomorrow.

It was lovely to reminisce on the way through Scotland about all the adventures of the JOGLE last summer. Every few miles one of us would mention a memory of our journey, from pointing out a path we cycled to playing spot the ferry boat. It was a surprise just how long it took to drive back along each days journey, especially along Loch Lomond, a lovely to see the Green Welly Stop and The Real Food Cafe agin!

The Camper team arrived first and set up base in exactly the same spot as we camped in last year. We arrived to find they had started preparing a super yummy dinner for us all which was most welcome. The midges were out to greet us, so we got to wear our highly fashionable hats at long last! After dinner we headed to the bar for a quick drink and some last minute planning (essentially trying to work out if the OS maps estimate for tomorrow or the Google prediction is more accurate so we can work out how late we can sleep until!). We then headed back to the tents and van to sort our bags ready for Ben Nevis tomorrow!

https://wonderful.org/fundraisers/794Vn

Niall Tyler

Part 2 – During the event:

Part-2 – the Event:

I think that we all knew that the Great Woggle JOGLE would be quite hard work, especially in the early days whilst travelling through the more remote parts of Scotland and the North of England, but I think none of us had realised the effort required to get to John O’Groats in the first place!

Google Maps gives a distance of just under 700 miles by road between our starting point at the Scout Hut (#brickfieldsbigbuild), and 680 miles to our accommodation for the night before in Wick; throw in an overnight stop at Nottingham and this proved to be a very long journey indeed.  It got to the point where we all agreed that driving the last couple of hundred miles past inverness and on to Wick in a marathon 5-hour non-stop drive was preferable to prolonging our journey even further by stopping!

At Wick we started to set up our tents in the garden of the Scout Hut, only for one of the leaders to arrive to let us into the Hut – cue much movement of tents and other kit – for which we were very grateful as we then had access to what would become probably the three most welcome things on the journey: a dry space for the tents, kitchen / cooking facilities, and toilets / washing facilities.

This brings me back to the issue of accommodation (see Part-1): during the 9-weeks of travelling the team stayed in many different Scout Huts, plus the odd Girl Guides and Sea Scout Hut, too.  All of these provided the aforementioned amenities, but they also provided something else – a welcoming and secure base for the team. After a very wet day-2 (Thurso to Bettyhill) it became clear exactly how much it helped the team by having a warm, dry space to spend the night in.

We are very grateful to every Group that allowed us to use their facilities and would like to add a special “thank you” to those Groups that provided company, food, and entertainment. Having food provided occasionally made life a lot easier for the support team!  However, we are especially grateful to the incredible families who made their homes available to us, providing food, showers, and laundry facilities to the team. You really have no idea how much having a hot shower and clean clothes can lift one’s spirits until you’ve been without either for a while!

Napoleon Bonaparte is often credited with the quote, “An Army marches on its stomach”, and it’s something that I think applied equally to the Great Woggle JOGLE team.  The provision of food, including shopping and (ideally) cooking the evening meal, plus the delivery of lunch to the team en route, were key deliverables for the support crew, ensuring that the team could focus on the job in hand. Whilst it’s fair to say that the supply of the packed lunches didn’t go to plan on the first day (with the crate containing the packed lunches having been loaded into the van and not the car…), the whole process of preparing the packed lunches is something that the team became very slick at. I’m not sure who out of Ollie, Hattie, or Bethan came up with the idea of a double-decker sandwich, but it certainly went down well with the team. 

The biggest challenge, however, was logistics. Physically moving the vehicles and kit between stopping points was a real issue, especially when there was only one support person and there were two vehicles to move.  The issue was exacerbated in Scotland by two things: 1: the distances involved – up to 60km on some days – and 2: lack of direct roads between the start and finish points.  However, with much to-ing and fro-ing and the occasional lift by third parties, the vehicles always made it to the finish point. A special mention to Dan for his efforts with the vehicles: moving one and then hopping on to his folding bike and cycling all the way back to collect the second. Well done, Dan!

When Emma and I again took on the role of support towards the end of the adventure, Sarah and Dan plus Elaine and Phil were around to help, too. This made the whole process a lot easier, especially when cooking for larger numbers of people – curry in a barn for 13, anyone?

Looking back on my time spent with the team I’ll remember many things, but these are just a few: 

– The incredible beauty of the Scottish Highlands – especially when the sun came out after the rain

– The wonderful sunset over the Beauly Firth that I witnessed from Clachnaharry  

– The strange familiarity of Scout Huts across the country – including the somewhat variable facilities

– The gentler beauty of the Gloucestershire / Somerset countryside

– The kindness of strangers to other members of the Scouting family

– And the rugged coastal scenery of Cornwall, including an incredible sunset at Porthtowan Beach.

But the team themselves also provided many abiding memories – some of them are:

– Witnessing Phil’s ever-improving skills at packing innumerable boxes into the van and multiple bikes onto the car

– Seeing Hattie’s confidence when riding a bike growing considerably

– Bethan quietly getting on with things (and having a “Yoga Brick” in her Crate…)

– Cara suffering with a painful knee but pushing-on anyway – and coming back for more

– I didn’t see Ollie taking a dip in the canal, but it sounds like something he’ll remember

– James applying for a job whilst “on the road” and, with a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, being interviewed and being offered said job (well done!)

– And watching Jennie continue to be the driving force of the adventure. Leading from the front and being up late most nights route-planning and Blogging, despite being obviously very tired.

When I left the team in Inverness at the end of the first week of The Great Woggle JOGLE (a day later than planned – thanks EasyJet!) I think that the enormity of the task ahead of the team had finally become clear, to me at least!  In that first week they had all shown incredible resilience and had achieved much more that I thought they might (52km through the Highlands on bikes in the pouring rain – no problem!).  Collectively they showed a determination to achieve their goal and they demonstrated the capabilities to do it, whatever the weather and terrain could throw at them. I was proud of them then and I’m very proud of them now. What they achieved is remarkable and I hope that they all remember their adventures for a very long time.

When we finally arrived at the Land’s End signpost to be greeted by John, ex-District Commissioner for the Scout Group, it brought the journey to a fitting end. John and I had both been at the start of the adventure in John O’Groats to see the team off at what seemed like an age ago and here we both were at the finish.  The support team’s job was complete.

The support team: Niall, Emma, Dan, Sarah, John, Paul, Jayne, Neil, Jan, Christian, Olly (& Ethan), Phil, Helen, Elaine, and Phil – my apologies if I’ve forgotten anyone (Abi and Moby get an honourable mention, too). Thank you.

The end.

Niall Tyler

Part 1 – Before the event:

When my younger son announced last year that he, a couple of other Scout Leaders, and some of the Scouts were planning to cycle and walk from John O’Groats to Land’s End during the then next summer my first thoughts were “really?!”, followed by “that’s a long way!”, and then rounded off by a “how’s that going to work, then?”.

But with the overall plans gradually taking shape and the route becoming clearer (avoid the A9!), thoughts turned to the logistics of the 8-to-9-week journey and the support that would be required throughout.

I was one of a collection of parents, grandparents, and the ex-Scout District Commissioner who, with some juggling by Jennie and Phil, managed to agree a schedule of at least one support person being with the team for the whole of the journey. Somehow, I found myself agreeing to be the support for the first week – so from Chandler’s Ford up to John O’Groats and then with the team as they made their way by bike and foot to Inverness.  It all sounds so simple written down like that…

The support work started well before the journey itself did, with many of us and our wider families helping to seek out suitable accommodation en route, assisting Phil in identifying the local Scout Groups and contacting them to request use of their facilities for a night along the way. I’ll come back to the accommodation later.  Other questions such as “how many spare inner-tubes will we need” came down to a finger in the air guess and a hope for the best!

Hendy Ford had been kind enough to lend us a Transit Van for the adventure (even wrapping both it and Phil & Jennie’s car with Woggle Joggle logos, QR Codes, and, of course, their own business name) and Phil did an amazing job constructing some wooden racking in it to hold the many and various crates and boxes that seemed to keep growing and growing in number.  The whole event would have been impossible without this, and we are very grateful to Hendy’s for their support.

As the day of departure grew nearer, and the mountain of kit grew ever larger, thoughts turned more to food and other essentials.  With various dietary requirements to cater for shopping was a bit more involved than perhaps it might have been, but I think that we managed to provide suitable food for everyone so we must have done something right.

Eventually, the early evening of Friday 7^th July arrived and the Great Woggle JOGLE team, accompanied by their support team (me) assembled at Brickfield Lane, to be seen off by a large gathering of family, friends, and other well-wishers on our way to our overnight stay near Nottingham.

The Great Woggle JOGLE had begun.

End of Part-1.

A few of Jennie’s thoughts on the last few months..

Last summer we had a different mad plan in mind. We were about to embark on a self build; something that we knew would take over our world for a few years and possibly bankrupt us in the process. Despite the underlying fear of such a massive project it felt exciting and risky. Then, due to several factors completely outside of our control, our build project fell through and I was left wanting to find a new something to fill the gap that had been left.

Last August bank holiday we helped at the Hampshire Scouts stand at Carfest South. The stand was visited by thousands of people, including Chris Howard, aka Chris the Coast Walker, who has completed several big challenges including walking the coast of the UK to fundraise for Children in Need. We got chatting, and I told him about our Scout groups mission to replace our Scout hut with a community building and new HQ and he offered to help.

Over the next 24 hours my brain started whirling.. maybe we could do a big challenge as a fundraiser for our Brickfields Big Build project. I lay in bed unable to sleep, when the idea of the Great Woggle JOGLE hit. It felt right. I did a little 2am research and it didn’t seem impossible even for the kids. I finally fell asleep with a head full of new plans.

In the morning I shared my idea with Phil. He paused for a few seconds, then smiled – 1 down 2 to go! I headed downstairs and found the kids in front of the TV. I told them my plan and Ollie was instantly on board – “Mummy I can easily walk 5km so this will be fine” (bless him!). Hattie however was not so convinced, but gradually over the next 20 minutes she started to see what an amazing adventure it could be.

Family onboard, we next needed to check with the kids schools and with work. By the time all of this was in place we were already into 2023 and time was running away from us.

I’m quite good at planning, and had a systematic order in my head that each step of the project needed to be done in. First planning a route, then looking at which Scout and Guide groups may be near so we could explore potential accommodation and see if they would like to join us. It sounds so simple – look on a database and send a few emails, only there isn’t such a database, and we didn’t have a list of contacts let alone email addresses. Trying to work out the names of Scout Districts in each County was a big enough challenge. Each evening became a routine of sorting the kids, sorting any Group admin, then doing Woggle JOGLE planning.

With a couple of months to go it suddenly dawned on us that we ought to leave the static planning and do some training. However, with 2 busy full time jobs, many different after school clubs and a Scout group to run we didn’t find much time for training. In fact I only got a bike at Easter which totally speaks for itself!

The last few weeks before we left felt like chaos. I was working a lot, and therefore felt totally out of control. I had no spare time to pack, and literally threw bits into a box the night before we left, hoping Phil had looked at the lists we’d made. I therefore ended up having only packed 3 t shirts, but about 25 pairs of pants as I really had packed in a rush!

The night we set off I finished work and had 10 minutes at home before we headed to the hut to meet the rest of the team. It didn’t feel real and I certainly didn’t feel ready. There were loads of little things I’d planned to sort but simply hadn’t found the time to do. I was desperately tired, and all I actually wanted to do was have a weekend off. When we finally set off the enormity of the journey in the car really hit home. What had we done?

But then we started cycling and walking, and after a few initial hiccups (like a lunch stop with no food, and apples left on the car roof), we all settled into a routine where the only things to think about were getting up and ready, walking or cycling, moving the support vehicles, making dinner and setting up camp again. It was lovely. Very few external stresses, just quality time with my family and adopted extended family for the summer.

There were certainly moments when we all questioned whether we wanted to keep going. For me my sheer stubbornness just wouldn’t let me stop. My left knee massively started to play up just as we were leaving Scotland, and I had a few weeks when I walked each morning like my legs hated me, but with some very out of date ibuprofen gel I was able to keep going hopefully without causing too much lasting damage.

I honestly cannot say enough how utterly moved we have been by the pure kindness and generosity we experienced from people who were complete strangers, but now have a place forever in our hearts. Yes the scenery across the country was stunning, and yes the physical exercise was a challenge, but it was the people who made this experience truly special and I honestly can’t thank you all enough.

Finishing is in many ways quite a shame. I’m already missing our JOGLE routine, and hate that we are already slipping back into some of our pre-adventure habits. I love being able to shower when I want and having access to a washing machine as needed (although I have used it far to much in the last 48 hours). I’ve lovely seeing friends, and I’m also quite enjoying the cuddles our cats they keep giving. But I’m itching to go back out on the bike (something I never thought I’d say!), and I am very aware I can’t go completely back to the life we had before this. There will be another big idea that pings into my brain soon..

A brief reflection on The Great Woggle JOGLE (according to Phil)

The Great Woggle JOGLE has been part of our life for quite a long time now. It was a monumental challenge on many levels. Finishing it was amazing but also a little sad- I can understand Forest Gump a bit better now (a dated reference to a film of the 90s which totally confused the majority of the team who were all born this century).. I could have kept on going and I’m not sure I want to stop, though being able to plug stuff in is pretty awesome…..

Early on we met Becky the Traveller at the Outdoors Expo. Becky is an outdoor adventurer and we got chatting. As an old hand she said that the easy part is the journey- by the time you’re at the start you’ve done most of the hard work. Being a polite bunch we smiled, nodded and agreed not really believing her, thinking but we’re doing this with kids. We now know she was totally right- the planning was insane and really challenging! Working out the route was tricky to say the least. Jen tried to find the flattest and shortest (requirements in that order) route and unbelievably there wasn’t one that people had done and shared on the internet.

Logistics were a major headache- most cyclists will do the journey in less than 2 weeks and most walkers in around 80 days but how do you calculate how long it would take to do a mixed route especially with a 9, 11 and 14 year old? We aimed for 4 hours of activity per day and guesstimated 20km walking and 50km cycling should be about right. Strava, our official record of the route, reports that most days we were doing less than 4 hours activity (despite some of the days lasting 6 hours!) so we got this spot on.

Learning and using social media was seriously tricky, totally challenging and something we still haven’t fully cracked (what is the difference between Facebook and Instagram and why does the same post go down so differently?!). How do you spread the word and encourage people to support and donate to total strangers who claim that they are going to do something epic? We were so heartened that people began to get behind us and began to support us, offering us accommodation and support across the country.

Trying to work out what kit we needed was a bit of a headache- we had to be able to be entirely self-sufficient should we not have anywhere to stay. This included food, cooking, sleeping, washing and bike maintenance for up to 7 team members and any team support. Ultimately I succumbed and started making lists!

By the time we were ready to leave I was totally exhausted having walked over 7 miles just loading kit in the van. However, it was massively exciting to finally be leaving and off we went. By day 2 of driving it was less exciting, but arriving in Scotland was amazing until we realised just how big Scotland is. After driving for 10 hours we were still only in Inverness and we still had 5 more hours ahead of us. By the time we got to Wick it hit me- we had an awfully long way to go to get to the finish point. Compartmentalising it helped though- by just focussing on the day ahead rather than the whole journey the overwhelming anxiety was subdued.

I was constantly amazed and proud by just how determined the team were. We started out with days far longer than we had ever managed in our training (which had not been particularly rigorous!) and the kids managed to carry on day after day despite aching all over. We slowly got into a routine of getting up (much later than planned- I had envisaged we’d be off early and have long, lazy afternoons to relax), packing up, making breakfast and lunch, then setting off and finishing in time for dinner (most of the time).

I was also very grateful for Jens navigational abilities (mine aren’t great if I’m honest). She would generally lead and navigate and I would be at the back moving at the speed of the slowest ensuring we didn’t loose any of the team. This was fine until the speeds of the two groups diverged and the lead group would disappear over the brow of the hill and we would hope that they would signal at any turns.

Cornwall was properly tough with some really challenging hills- thank goodness we had done Scotland first as otherwise I suspect we wouldn’t have made it out of Cornwall! It was quite an end but it did show us how much fitter we had become as we may have been slow but most of the hills were ridden!

Would I do something similar again? Yes, absolutely (though work might not be so forgiving next time!). However, I’m sure it won’t be long before Jen comes up with another mad project!