Walking trail goes on a pilgrim route

A MEETING in Sutherland brought two organisations together with the aim of highlighting the historical aspects of a far north walking trail.

Trustees of the the John O'Groats Trail (JOGT) – which follows the coast from Inverness to John O'Groats – and members of the steering group for the Northern Pilgrims' Way (NPW) had a joint meeting at the Bannockburn Inn in Helmsdale.

The main item for discussion was how they could co-operate to further the aims of both groups. The NPW is a fairly new group who is working to re-establish the ancient pilgrimage route between St Duthac's in Tain and St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall.

As parts of the pilgrimage route overlap with the JOGT it seemed sensible for both groups to work together, NPW secretary Jane Coll said.

She added: "The Northern Pilgrims' Way will benefit from the greater experience and higher profile of the more established John O'Groats Trail, and the John O'Groats Trail will benefit from the added historical interest in the places on their route and, hopefully, an increase in the numbers of people walking."

For the moment, the co-operation will take the form of having a presence at each other's meetings, sharing information and working on joint projects to improve the accessibility of the routes.

Jane added: "Long-distance walks, and pilgrimage walks in particular, are increasing in popularity and it is hoped that these two projects will encourage more visitors to the north of Scotland and give existing visitors a reason to spend even more time in the area.

"The JOGT has had 126 long-distance walkers so far in 2019 and many times that number of local walkers."

Trail use has more than doubled in each of the past three years and walkers have been using local accommodation, restaurants and shops in increasing numbers, she said, noting that one shopkeeper had commented about more trail users using his shop than NC500 drivers.

Both groups have members drawn from across the far north and welcome more members to get involved with their projects.

They can be contacted via the the John O'Groats Trail website at jogt.org.uk and at northernsaints@yahoo.com respectively.

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