St Aidan’s Way – Iona to Lindisfarne – June 2024
Iona, an island off the west coast of Scotland, is known as the birthplace of Christianity in Scotland when St Columba came from Ireland in AD 563. In AD 635 Aidan, an Irish monk,walked from Iona across Scotland to the island now known as Holy Island on the North East coast of England and founded a monastery, called Lindisfarne, at the request of the king of Northumbria. His route is known as St Aidan’s Way.
In June last year Pete Greig, an evangelist and author, spent 3 weeks walking St Aidan’s Way and spoke daily on the Christian channel, Lectio 365. This gave me the idea of attempting the route not by walking but more quickly by cycling. Trustees of Ethiopia Education Aid, the charity we run, encouraged me to accept sponsorship for my ride.
I arrived in Oban on the West coast of Scotland by train from Totnes on Tuesday 11th June and finished at Lindisfarne on Wednesday 19th June – 305 miles and 6½ cycling days later. The adventure went well in spite of cold weather and winds although I did find the cycling and hills tougher than my previous trip in Scotland 3 years ago. However I was able to keep more or less to my scheduled plan.
The Route
From Oban I took the ferry to the island of Mull and across the central hills to the Iona ferry. I spent several hours in and around the Abbey, praying for my pilgrimage before makingthe exact return ride and ferry crossings back to Oban. This next section of the route to Loch Lomond was the toughest part of the trip over the central hills of Scotland. It was cold and wet and main roads were the only viable route. I was relieved to find the route alongside Loch Lomond was much easier.
Arriving in the Glasgow area I joined the Clyde to Forth Canal tow path and to the Falkirk Wheel, an amazing engineering feat to raise boats on to the Union Canal that goes to central Edinburgh. This canal path of 60 miles is of course level, but has many walkers, runners and cyclists and concentration is needed to avoid mishaps or falls into the water. Once in Edinburgh, a great city to visit, I enjoyed a 2 day break staying with friends and visiting Susan’s sister.
From Edinburgh I left early using parts of the old A1 and a coastal cycle route via Dunbar and Berwick-on-Tweed. The ride to the Holy Island causeway took me one day. The causeway floods each high tide but timings next day gave me a complete day to visit the Lindisfarne Priory and the castle. Both are highly recommended. From here I made the final 10 mile return ride back to Berwick for the direct train to Totnes.
Thank you
I would personally like to thank everyone for your support and encouragement for this ride – it was tougher than I expected!
Some thoughts and Statistics
Thankfully I had no cycle problems, punctures or illness. Camping in a small tent was ideal being more flexible than accommodation and enabled me to make good progress each day. I had no cooking facilities due to extra weight but I always seemed to find meals when needed.
Distance covered – 305 miles (253 on the routes +52 to and from start and finish)
Average speed – probably about 8mph
Longest day – 69 miles, Edinburgh to Holy Island
The toughest day: Oban to Ardlui on Loch Lomond
Nights camping – 6
Thanks and Blessings
Maurice
P.S More route details and donation details can be found below
Lloyds Bank UK
Name: Ethiopia Education Aid
Account No 51063868
Sort Code: 30-98-69
If sending from outside UK : include:
BIC : LOYDGB21183
IBAN: GB86 LOYD 3098 6902 2153 96
Ethiopia Education Aid 