Cape to Cape

Facing his fast-approaching 70th birthday and retirement, John Sutcliffe wanted to do “something rather special” – and in his case, that meant planning a walk of more than 1,000 miles, to take him from the foot of the UK, at Cape Cornwall, to the top, at Cape Wrath. John comments: “As a lover of the outdoors, a long walk through Britain would fit the bill and help me reconnect with Britain and the British hills after a lifetime of working abroad.”

The idea, he says, came from a friend of his, who had read a book by someone who had done the same thing. But John was keen to avoid the usual route – Land’s End to John O’Groats, or vice versa. “I am a Far From the Madding Crowd sort of bloke which sort of rules out both Lands’ End and John O’Groats.” He believes that Cape Cornwall has far more to offer than Lands’ End: “It  is a lovely unspoilt spot conserved initially by H. J. Heinz,  who then bequeathed the land to the National Trust. The rugged Cape of gnarled and twisted ro...