Walking the Watershed

The Border to Cape Wrath along Scotland's Great Divide

Dave Hewitt

Illustrated by Chris Tyler

1994

       Acknowledgements

       Foreword

       Watershed map

       Introduction

       Contents

       Indexes

I sit on the cliff-edge, high above spiralling seabirds, high above the boom and crash of waves, my mind drifting vaguely back over the walk: the green Borders hills, the hazy Central Belt dustbowl, the snowy corries of the first Highland bens, the hot heart of Knoydart, the grey screes of the north.

In an age when to be considered a real hillwalker requires an ability to reel off a full quota of Munros, Corbetts etc, it's good to know things don't always have to be that way.

Some people still plan their walks using natural - if tortuous - routes, rather than those governed by the artificial criteria of humanly-imposed height and ease of access. Walking the Watershed is the story of one such walk: an 80-day journey along Scotland's east/west divide - the line separating rivers flowing to the east from those flowing west. From the Border to Cape Wrath, Dave Hewitt walked over 850 miles, with 100,000 metres of ascent. In so doing he learned a lot about Scotland, but a whole lot more about himself...

First published June 1994 by TACit Press

All rights reserved

Thanks to Mags, Grant, Alan and Julia for proofreading

For Warbeck and for Mags

Now the geography was becoming clear, my knowledge becoming connected and I was seeing the relation of these mountains to each other... With each new view, the pattern had grown inside me. Now the framework was there, and I would spend a lifetime filling in the gaps. These mountains would always be a part of my life.

Peter Boardman
Sacred Summits

The rivers in the distance
must be leading somewhere...

The Blue Nile
Heatwave

ISBN 0 9522680 1 9

Glasgow: TACit Press

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