Beyond the Speyside Way
The northern end of the Speyside Way is at Buckie, one of many fishing towns and villages along the Moray coast. We arrived there with the club at Spring Bank Holiday this year and like many of the group we thought reaching the wild and undeveloped coast was a highlight. The stone marker for the end of the Speyside Way seemed as if it should be the start of something else. So, after completing the Speyside Way with the club at Spring Bank, we returned to Buckie in July to walk a little further along this excellent coast. It is famous for its dolphins and whales, plus the fact it is the sunniest part of the UK. Famous in Moray that is, as no-one much beyond the locality knows anything about this area!
All the villages and towns are made of similar one-storey fishermen’s houses, but in different arrangements so they all look unique. All have specially built harbours to protect the ships from the northerly winter gales, and each village has a ‘Seafield Street’ in honour of the Lady Seafield who endowed much of the development in the mid-19th century when fishing used to be a big industry here. Only a little remains so tourism is now the main hope for work. The tourists are mostly heading north and west and Moray remains well off the beaten track, so it is still a nice and quiet coast. However, we were surprised to find a few West Yorkshire folk have made it and set up cafes or work in pubs.
The two day stretch from Buckie to Portsoy is a fascinating rocky coast with sea stacks, natural arches and caves. There are some ‘Giants Steps’, man made from huge rocks in an exciting rocky setting. From Portsoy to historic Banff the walking is more of a wilderness adventure. The paths are thin, steep and rough. The whole stretch is rich with wild flowers and sea birds.
The high cliffs beyond Macduff beckoned us on, but we will have to return later to continue on to Fraserburgh and maybe Aberdeen and Dundee.
Ray Wilkes

The Heart of the Cheviots and the Pennine Way Mayday Weekend 2011
Looking forward to the Cheviot section, there is good coach access to the route and everyone should be able to do the whole section as hard/medium B walks – about the same as the Once Brewed weekend. However, there are some ‘cheat shortcuts’ which will give a continuous route in fabulous scenery.
Anyone who wants some great Cheviot walking should come along even if they are not doing the Pennine Way.
All in all we have had 19 good weekends at the northern end of the Pennine Way. In nearly every case some part of the Pennine Way was walked, in some cases the whole weekend was devoted to it.
Ray Wilkes (2010)