#supitandsea

The Expedition

2200 kilometres.

2 paddleboarders turned hikers.

1 mission.

To be the first pair to hike back after paddling the length of Britain – from Land’s End to John o’Groats – whilst raising over £24,000 for Charity.

the what

Overview

Soon after becoming the first pair in the world to Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP) the length of Britain, Dave Chant and Sophie Witter are taking on a new expedition.

Their journey will be a continuation of their paddle but this time take them on foot 2200 kilometres back from John o’Groats, the North East point of mainland Britain to its South West point, Land’s End.

The journey is Britain’s iconic challenge and long distance route, known affectionately by runners and cyclists as LEJOG. This time Dave and Sophie will be JOGLEing to get back to the first beach that they pushed their paddleboards off months earlier.

The followup expedition is titled “SUP It & Sea…US Hike” and will take 3 months or more to complete over Winter 2021/22 from 9 November 2021.

A SUP journey for LEJOG was unusual. To get the double by walking back would give them another first. The shortest distance between Land’s End and John o’Groats is 970km (as the crow flies). It can be cycled in 1207km and drive in 1347km, all with solid ground under the feet, but walking will take them 1000km further…

the what

The Route

Options for completing a successful JOGLE route are numerous. There’s no one set path, though many hikers combine popular routes. Most routes are around 1900km.

“SUP It & Sea” have decided to buck the trend and take a longer 2211km route that combines both coastal and inland hiking, thus allowing them to trace many of the parts of the country they paddled months earlier.

Throughout the journey we want to highlight all the fantastic elements that the UK has to offer – pretty villages, beautiful rivers, coast and mountains, and courageous everyday people.

The route is divided into 5 Main Sections:-

The Road to Edinburgh – 600km
Crossing the English Border to Carlisle – 250km
The Lake District and Lancashire – 350km
The Canals and Severn to Bristol – 400km
The South West – 600km

The route is further divided into 20 hiking trails:-

John o’Groats Trail (starting with the famous JoG signpost)
The Great Glen Way (Caledonian Canal)
The West Highland Way
John Muir Way (to Edinburgh)
Wilfrid’s Way (to England)
Hadrian’s Wall (across to Carlisle)
Cumbria Coastal Path
Lancaster Canal (down to Preston)
Leeds & Liverpool Canal (including The Ribble Way, Rufford & Leigh Branches)
The Manchester Canals (Bridgewater, Rochdale and Ashton)
Peak Forest Canal (and Marple Locks)
Macclesfield Canal
Trent & Mersey Canal
Shropshire Canal (and Middlewich Branch)
Staffordshire Canal
Upper Severn Way (and Worcester)
Gloucester Canal
Lower Severn Way (and the Severn bridges)
Portishead to Minehead
South West Coastal Path (all the way to the Land’s End signpost)

All planning times are estimates only and subject to weather conditions. Weather in the UK over Winter can be fierce – rainy, windy and snowy. This will play a huge role in determining the days that Hiking is possible.

Route map for Hike JOGLE by Dave Chant on plotaroute.com

click on the arrows for more info

Detailed Route

Part 1: The Road to Edinburgh

The first part fo the route will take us from the famous John o’Groats signpost along the coast to Inverness, a trail currently being created and still through rough terrain called the John o’Groats Trail.

From Inverness the route goes back down the Caledonian Canal to Fort William using the Great Glen Way. From here Scotland’s most popular hiking route – the West Highland Way – cuts down the country to finish just outside Glasgow.

The final leg of Part 1 is the John Muir Way, cutting through Scotland West to East past the Falkirk wheel to the capital – Edinburgh.

part 2: Getting to England

The second leg of the journey will take us from Edinburgh in a meandering Southerly direction using one of the old Pilgrim Routes, the Wilfrid Way. This uses sections of St Cuthberts and the Pennine Way to get across the border into England and then to Hadrian’s Wall.

From there, Hadrian’s Wall can be followed East to West to get to Carlisle, one of the North most points of Western England.

The route is longer than most travel but it sets the hike up for Part 3.

part 3: Cumbria coastal path and lancashire

Our third section takes us out of the way, using the coastline of Cumbria to cover parts of the sections that we paddled into Scotland months earlier.

When this sizeable, meandering route is completed, we will then head South through Lancashire to get to Preston.

part 4: the canals

Preston is the gateway for SUP It & Sea to get back to the canals that they spent 18 days navigating from Sharpness to Tarleton – just in reverse.

The Ribble way will take them near to the first canal, and then their route will pass through Manchester, Macclesfield and then use the Trent & Mersey, Shropshire Union and Staffordshire Canals.

This will take them all the way to the River Severn where a combination of the Severn Way and the Gloucester canal will see the route head under the amazing Severn bridges to the suburbs of Bristol

part 5: the south west

From the suburbs of Bristol, the route will cross the M5 bridge over the Avonmouth and pass through a difficult and barely walked section to try and connect up the towns of Portishead, Clevedon, Weston and onwards to Minehead.

From Minehead the South West Coastal Path awaits. This is England’s longest national path, and will take the hike all the way to its end at the signpost at Land’s End.

If you would like to sponsor the expedition, whether that be as headline sponsor, a kit sponsor or by sponsoring certain points on our voyage, please see our Sponsor & Donate page.

Support the expedition

Sponsor the Expedition to help with Running Costs

Donate to our Chosen Charities

Help us with a Bed, showers or a Tent Pitch for the night.

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