WHW Day 1 – Milngavie to Drymen

It was an early Sunday morning start for day one after a Saturday afternoon sampling Edinburgh’s finest hostelries. Kevin is joining Mountain Goat and me for the walk and we had enjoyed his and his wife Claire’s hospitality in Musselburgh.

Claire dropped us off at Waverley Station for the 8.30 train to Glasgow (ouch) and after a short wait at Queen St we were on the train to Milngavie where the trail starts.

We had arranged to have a communal bag transported to our various accommodations for the week and after handing this over at the station we were on our way.

The most noticeable thing about the walk that hits you immediately is how popular it is. We wanted to get to Drymen in time to watch as much of the Everton Chelsea game as we could so we set a good pace. We must have passed a hundred other people during the four hours it took us. Compare this with Glyndwr’s Way where I saw six people over eight days!

The birdlife was interesting once we got four or five miles in. We heard a couple of cuckoos but didn’t see them and then heard – and saw – a solitary curlew. A few miles from the end a lapwing flew over our heads as well.

The walking was pretty easy today to be honest. No real climbs to speak of and clearly waymarked paths in good condition. The only difficulty in navigating was finding Platform 8 at Glasgow Station!

We were able to complete the section without stopping and arrived at Drymen at 14:15, so 12 miles in 4 hours. We will be able to saunter a lot more for the rest of the walk and take in the stunning scenery.

The Clachan in Drymen claims to be the oldest pub in Scotland (one of many no doubt). We have renamed it The Chisellers Arms. £5.50 a pint! The other pub was the same so Drymen might be an apt name…

Tomorrow’s stage is thirteen and a half miles to Rowardennan so it should be a nice stroll. Most of the stage is overlooking Loch Lomond and there is a pub halfway at Balmaha which should make for a nice lunch stop.