A reminder to anyone joining the walk that the start time is 9.30am each morning, except Sunday 21st which is a 1pm start.

There is work planned on the Forth Road Bridge which will impact travel to our start points both days this weekend.
We would recommend that those heading for the Kelpies on Saturday travel there via the Kincardine Bridge.
For Linlithgow on Sunday you should consider a slightly earlier start as there will be Network Rail activity in Winchburgh Tunnel which will impact traffic around Linlithgow Railway Station.

http://www.forthroadbridge.org/news/cable-inspection-works-110615/

Dr Bob Grant sets off this Saturday 13th June on his amazing 117-mile walk for Maggie’s, the charity which provides free practical, emotional and social support to people with cancer, their family and friends.

Dr Grant lost his leg to cancer in 2002, having been diagnosed with the disease as a teenager.

His fourth walk for Maggie’s Fife, and his longest so far, starts at the Kelpies, in Helix Park, Falkirk, just a few miles from the site of Maggie’s Forth Valley which is being built in the grounds of Forth Valley Royal Hospital and which will be the eighth Maggie’s Centre in Scotland when it opens next year. From there Dr Bob will walk for nine continuous days on a route along the Union Canal to the coast, then up the Fife Coastal Path and finally to Maggie’s Dundee on Sunday, June 21.

Dr Bob will be joined by friends and supporters along the way and for the last stretch of the journey he will be joined by 100 Harley Davidson bikers from the Dunedin Chapter.

From the Fife Today website – Photo by James Stewart

Dr Grant was first diagnosed with cancer as a teenager, just weeks after he lost his best friend to cancer. He decided to have his leg amputated in 2002 after living for years with pain and infection. Having survived cancer and lived for years with the lasting effects of radiotherapy Dr Bob has become a national influence on the Scottish cancer scene. His experience of health problems from his school days onwards has contributed to a strong personal motivation to improve patient care.

Dr Bob has been the chairman of the Associate Fundraising Board of Maggie’s Fife since 2012. Dr Bob said: “My enthusiasm for Maggie’s continues to grow. It is vital that funds are raised to ensure that the essential support that Maggie’s gives to people affected by cancer, and their family and friends, can continue.

“This is my fourth walk for Maggie’s and I know it will be exhausting because it’s day after day. It will be tiring but I know the endorphins will be flowing and any fatigue will be overwhelmed by the buzz!” He added: “There are so many things to enjoy! In previous years, I have been joined en route by so many generous and interesting people and I look forward to meeting more this year.

“The route of the walk will take me through so many interesting and beautiful places. I can never get enough of the Fife Coastal Path and I’m looking forward to the ever-changing scenery, the wildlife, the East Neuk villages and of course the finale in Dundee. “The last day is always amazing and always surprisingly emotional.”

Alison Harrow, centre head at Maggie’s Fife, said: “We are so proud of Dr Bob. He is fantastically committed to supporting Maggie’s, both in his work as chairman of our Fife Board, and also through this extraordinary challenge and the amazing funding he has already raised which helps Maggie’s to keep on supporting people with cancer and their family and friends.

“Travelling 117 miles on crutches is an exceptionally tough challenge and everyone at Maggie’s wishes him the best of luck for fine weather and an enjoyable journey.

“Numerous members of Maggie’s staff and volunteers will be joining Dr Bob at points along his route, so we will be able to cheer him on.”

Since his first walk for Maggie’s in 2007, Dr Bob has raised more than £40,000 for the charity.

Mackays Jam and Marmalade have come on board as Dr Bob’s walk event partners, and two Mackays staff members will be joining him for part of the walk to represent the organisation. FMC Technologies of Dunfermline are also supporting the walk.

Paul Grant, chairman of Mackays, said: “Mackays are delighted to be supporting Dr Bob’s walk for the second year. We were immensely proud of his dedication and fundraising efforts in 2014 and look forward to an equally successful, if not better event this year, for Maggie’s.”

The route for Dr Bob’s 2015 walk for Maggie’s Fife starts at the Kelpies at Helix Park near Falkirk. From there the route will be via the Falkirk Wheel and along the tow-path of the Union Canal to Winchburgh.

Then, leaving the canal, it will go on to Kirkliston, South Queensferry, over the Forth Road Bridge and on to the Fife Coastal Path all the way to the Tay Road Bridge.

On the final day the route is over the Bridge to Dundee, passing Discovery Point, and ends at Maggie’s Dundee.

You can donate online at www.justgiving.com/bobswalk2015
You can also donate by text message.
To donate £5 just text  DOCB99 £5  to 70070
To donate £10 just text  DOCB99 £10  to 70070

To find out more visit Bob’s Walk or Facebook

To find out more about Maggie’s and to see how the Centres support people with cancer visit Maggie’s Centres

Bert Hannah is the route planner and one of the main participants for Bob’s Walk 2015

Trekkers on a special week-long charity walk this month will be turning to Methil man Bert Hannah for help and guidance. And they’ll more or less have to – as he’s the one who planned the route!

Bert is one of an enthusiastic group taking part in Bob’s Walk 2015, an annual excursion in aid of Maggie’s Fife. The party – featuring a mixture of newcomers and experienced walkers, including Mail editor Allan Crow – will be walking between the Kelpies, near Falkirk, and Dundee, from June 13-21, a distance of 117 miles.

The walks have been inspired by the main participant, Dr Bob Grant, a retired Fife GP who lost a leg to cancer in 2002, after being treated for the illness during most of his life

Bert has mapped out a fairly flat route for the team to tackle – and his reasoning is quite simple, as he told the Mail: “I hate hills.”

Bert (68) has previously done a walk from Land’s End to John O’Groats in aid of Cancer Research UK, as well as a Length of Ireland trek – which featured alternate days of cycling and walking – for a school for pupils with cerebral palsy.

Also, in his days with the East Fife Male Voice Choir, he trekked from Kirkcaldy to Luss, when the choir had a singing engagement nearby. “I do quite a lot of walking anyway because I enjoy going outside,” added Bert.

Originally from Methil but now living in Kirkcaldy, Bert said he’d been impressed when he heard about Bob’s extensive work for cancer research. “Bob Grant was a GP in St Brycedale and in Markinch, and people always talked about him in glowing terms as a doctor,” said Bert.

This year’s walk, as ever, will be taking in some spectacular sights. “The Kelpies had just been unveiled, so we thought that would be an iconic spot to start from, especially as they are building a new Maggie’s Centre at Forth Valley Hospital, which is nearby,” he said.

An ex-Dundee University student, Bert worked with the world-famous computing firm IBM before retiring at the age of 53 and deciding he wanted to devote time to community-based activities. He’s also had a lifelong awareness of the misery cancer can wreak, having literally grown up with its legacy.

His father died of the disease in 1949, when Bert was little more than a toddler, although he said his mum Mary did a great job of raising him and his older siblings. “I’ve always known the effect it (cancer) can have on a family,” he said.

Bert is also working with the Friends of Methil Heritage Centre and researching the famous story of Robert Dunsire, the Buckhaven soldier who earned the Victoria Cross during the First World War nearly 100 years ago.

Bob’s Walk has already raised £40,000 for Maggie’s Fife. And not surprsingly, the team there has huge respect for Dr Bob Grant, who will be tackling the walk on crutches. Alison Harrow, the new head of centre, said: “We are so proud of Dr Bob. He is fantastically committed to supporting Maggie’s, both in his work as chairman of our Fife board and also through this extraordinary challenge.” The squad will set off from a point near the Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert on June 13, heading via the Falkirk Wheel along the towpath of the Union Canal to Winchburgh, Kirkliston, South Queensferry and over the Forth Road Bridge to the Fife Coastal Path. They’ll be joined by groups of friends and supporters along the way before arriving at Maggie’s Dundee on June 21.

You can donate online at www.justgiving.com/bobswalk2015
You can also donate by text message.
To donate £5 just text DOCB99 £5 to 70070
To donate £10 just text DOCB99 £10 to 70070

From the Fife Today website – article by Ralph Mellon. Pic by Fife Photo Agency

Dr Bob has also set his training programme into action, ahead of Bob’s Walk 2015 in a few weeks time.
“Bert, Joan, Amber and I enjoyed a dry and sunny walk in Kirkcaldy on Monday morning. We started at Ravenscraig Park and walked west and along the new promenade towards Morrisons. Then we headed up a path, which was new to Joan and I, towards Balwearie Golf Club and then via the woodland walk into Beveridge Park. We really enjoyed the sunshine and the firm and even surfaces a…llowed me to practice using my spare, lightweight carbon fibre crutches. Just after the half way mark I reverted to my favourite titanium crutches and completed the walk on them. In all we walked for 2-1/4 hours and felt that we had earned our picnic lunch adjacent to Dysart harbour, currently being prepared as a film set…all very interesting.”

You can donate online at www.justgiving.com/bobswalk2015 and you can also donate using text message. Just text DOCB99 £5 to 70070 – or DOCB99 £10 to 70070

Photo courtesy of www.fifetoday.co.uk

Bob’s Walk: Sunshine on the Water of Leith

Allan Crow is in training to join Bob’s Walk 2015. His latest walk took him across the Forth to the Water of Leith

One of the joys of walking is you get to see towns and cities from an entirely new perspective.

I grew up in Wester Hailes in Edinburgh – a grim housing estate designed to suck to the life out of any community spirit even before folk move in.

It sits at the bottom of a dual carriageway which feeds into Colinton, and leads to the leafy suburbs of Juniper Green and Balerno.

And it’s there you can start the Water of Leith trail; a 12.5-mile journey which takes you all the way to Leith.

Over the course of five hours on a gloriously sunny Saturday I meandered the length and breadth of my home city.

A number 44 bus trip through the town and out to Balerno, off at the stop next to the high school and I was ready to roll.

The Water of Leith is pretty much flat, almost entirely off-road, perfect for families, cyclists and joggers … and walkers.

It’s easy, accessible, and you can leave it at any time and be in a shop, cafe, shop or back on the bus in a matter of minutes. In fact, that rucksack on your back is pretty much redundant.

It truly is a green corridor which weaves like a ribbon through the heart of Auld Reekie.

In Balerno I saw a couple relaxing by their outdoor swimming pool which featured a ceramic penguin as a lifeguard – one of the many hidden features in gardens which take your breath away.

It takes no time at all to pass Juniper Green and Colinton before arriving at the Slateford canal with its narrow path and no wall between you and the flat water. The duck sitting on sunbathing in the jetty didn’t seem too concerned as cyclists dismounted to negotiate the path as walkers passed in the opposite direction, all careful to avoid a diup in the calm water.

You can continue and follow the canal, or you can take a left and head to the visitor centre. It’s a good stopping off point for info and a cuppa before carrying on towards Saughton where the playing fields now boast a tree of hanging trainers – shoes thrown up and into the branches!

Cross the road and you are back on to the path which picks up the river once more all the way to Murrayfield and round the rugby stadium into Roseburn.

One more hop across the road and down a flight of wooden steps and you are back into the tranquil wooded walks along the river’s edge where you’ll find some amazing waterfront homes; places you never even knew existed far less lived in!

You’ll pass the back stairs to the National Gallery of Modern Art – one of many obvious stopping places – before you head to Dean Village, arguably the most stunning part of the walk. It’s the perfect place to stay if you have oodles of money – waterfront balconies in modern flats where time is marked by the sound of water lapping agast the river banks, magnificent historic buildings with many nooks and crannies, old town houses still standing and looking resplendent, and everything wrapped in tranquility. Alas, I can but look, dream and move on …

If you want food, Stockbridge is as good a place to any to stop – the area is packed with great eateries, from sandwich shops to cafes and great pubs such as Hector’s Bar. You can be seated with a cold beer within minutes before returning to the path as it heads on from Canonmills – where properties balance right over the water – and onwards to Bonnington before finally arriving in Leith.

I turned off just after it passed Leith Walk, and doubled back for my bus, but you can follow it all the way to Ocean Terminal

I’ll definitely do the Water of Leith at least once more before Bob’s Walk in June.

It was a pleasure to see my home city from a completely different perspective.

There will be a daily blog during Bob’s walk in June here at www.fifetoday.co.uk and www.bobswalk.co.uk – plus several updates leading up to the fundraiser for Maggie’s Fife.

Allan Crow is joining Bob’s Walk 2015, June 13-21, from The Kelpies round Fife Coastal Path to Maggie’s in Dundee, raising funds for Maggie’s Fife.

There will be a daily blog during Bob’s walk in June at www.fifetoday.co.uk and www.bobswalk.co.uk – plus several updates leading up to the fundraiser for Maggie’s Fife

You can donate online at www.justgiving.com/bobswalk2015

You can also donate by text message, just text  DOCB99 £5 to 70070  –  or text  DOCB99 £10 to 70070

Bob’s Walk 2015:  Stunning views along to the Wemyss

Bob’s Walk for Maggie’s Fife takes place in June – 117 miles from the Kelpies, round the Kingdom to Dundee. Allan Crow’s keeping a training diary …

First time I had to climb The Path in Kirkcaldy I thought I’d need an ambulance. Boy, it fair gets the heart going and tests the old calf muscles … But what waits at the top is worth the brief huffing and puffing.

The route to the Wemyss really kicks in once you leave the main road and turn into Ravenscraig Park where the crunchy path through green parkland follows the centuries old wall separating land from sea. The views are stunning, the nooks and crannies in the walls leading to secluded BBQ spots and places where you can forget all about the stresses of modern life.

Out of the park and on to the path adjacent to the beach, through the tunnel and sharp left takes you into the wonder that is Dysart Harbour. It never fails to impress.

There is always something happening at the water’s edge – boats moored for repairs, enthusiasts working under the midday sun. The towering rockface is home to many birds which fly in and out of the nooks and crannies, while the giant chains seem to be made to anchor ships much bigger than those in the water.

Past the harbourmaster’s house and the new modern sea beams sculpture, which mirror the colours of the sea, and on towards the Wemyss, the steps are great for getting the heart thumping – making the seats at the top all the more welcome.

Along to Frances Colliery and on to the path behind the place where once worked thousands of Fifers, we pass a horse and its young rider before tackling the first of several sets of wide steps round and then down towards the Wemyss. The artwork outside the village is fantastic, while the main street has a real tranquil seaside feel to it.

It was good to see the West Wemyss cafe back open for business – it’s a welcome stopping point for many walking the path. Do go in – the food is fabulous and it is a community venture that needs your support.

Must admit I’ve grown to love the walk out of Wemyss and on to Leven – it winds its way around a path right down at the waterfront. It’s easy to follow and there are plenty of places to stop as you arrive in Buckhaven and Leven … and it’s an easy bus journey back home!

There will be a daily blog during Bob’s walk in June at www.fifetoday.co.uk and www.bobswalk.co.uk – plus several updates leading up to the fundraiser for Maggie’s Fife

Allan Crow is joining Bob’s Walk 2015, June 13-21, from The Kelpies round Fife Coastal Path to Maggie’s in Dundee, raising funds for Maggie’s Fife.

You can donate online at www.justgiving.com/bobswalk2015

You can also donate by text message, just text  DOCB99 £5 to 70070  –  or text  DOCB99 £10 to 70070

In truth, the training is simple. Get up. Walk. Repeat.
But I’m a fairweather chap – if I see a muckle big black cloud, I usually find something else to do. Something indoors.

But you can’t really wing it if you are planning to walk from the Kelpies to Ninewells as part of Bob’s Walk to raise funds for Maggie’s Fife – 117 miles in nine days means you have to be capable, if not fit. It’s all very well going for a marathon walk, but you got to be able to get up the next morning – not the easiest task if you’ve seized up overnight – and do it again.
And again. And then again.

So, as winter melted away I knew I need to get back into the routine of walking, and getting some decent distances under my belt in preparation for Bob’s Walk 2015. This year I’ve been back on the coastal path, doing the two parts most familiar to me – in fact I’ve done Kirkcaldy to Kinghorn and then on to Burntisland so often I could possibly do it blindfold. The first walk of the year was meant to end at Kinghorn; a gentle 45 minutes from Kirkcaldy. In fact it took me and my other half to Burntisland. I must admit the slight detour at Seafield Tower down on to the beach and rocks to see the seals out sunbathing was rather special. I could have watched them all day.

As always the walk along the Esplanade in Kirkcaldy was a joy – we really MUST start making more of this as one our natural assets. It’s hugely popular with visitors and locals, walkers, joggers and ordinary strollers – with some imagination it could be an even bigger draw.

Along to Kinghorn and a wee stop at Nicola’s Cupcake cafe on the High Street for a wee treat and then back down to the beach and along the front where folk were out enjoying the beach and the scenery. The bit between Kinghorn and Burntisland is perhaps my second least enjoyable part of the coastal path – the routed out of St Andrews is noisy, gritty and tough going – simply because it’s on a main road where the roaring traffic throws up grit and dirt, and makes conversation impossible. And yet, glance across to your left and you are still left in awe of the views over the Forth and up the river to the bridges.

The magic of the coastal path never fails to dazzle or delight. I get to do almost the entire path this June as part of Bob’s Walk.

Before then,there are a few hundred miles to get under the soles of by walking boots. Come to think of it, better get a spare pair. Just in case …

There will be a daily blog during Bob’s walk in June at www.fifetoday.co.uk and www.bobswalk.co.uk – plus several updates leading up to the fundraiser for Maggie’s Fife

Allan Crow is joining Bob’s Walk 2015, June 13-21, from The Kelpies round Fife Coastal Path to Maggie’s in Dundee, raising funds for Maggie’s Fife.

You can donate online at www.justgiving.com/bobswalk2015

You can also donate by text message, just text  DOCB99 £5 to 70070

Bob’s Walk 2015 for Maggie’s

Dr Bob Grant has launch the fundraising drive for his latest challenge, Bob’s Walk 2015. The 117 mile walk over 9 days, on crutches, will be his fourth for Maggie’s Centres, and his longest so far.

Dr Bob’s walk will start on Saturday 13th June at the Kelpies, in the Helix Park near Grangemouth. Walking over nine continuous days, joined by groups of friends and supporters along the way, Dr Bob will arrive at Maggie’s Dundee on Sunday 21st June.

Dr Bob’s Walk for Maggie’s 2015 starts at the Kelpies, and takes in the Forth and Clyde Canal, the Falkirk Wheel, the Union Canal, the Avon Viaduct, the Forth Bridge, the Fife Coastal Path, the Tay Bridge and ends at Maggie’s Dundee. On the final day of his walk, Dr Bob will be joined by up to 100 motorcyclists from the Harley Davidson Dunedin Chapter.

Looking forward to starting the walk in June, Dr Bob said: “There are so many things to enjoy! ln previous years, I have been joined en route by so many generous and interesting people and I look forward to meeting more in June. The route of the walk will take me through so many interesting and beautiful places. I can never get enough of the Fife Coastal Path and l’m looking forward to the ever-changing scenery, the wildlife, the East Neuk villages and of course the finale in Dundee. The last day is always amazing and always surprisingly emotional.”

You can donate to Bob’s Walk online at  www.justgiving.com/bobswalk2015

You can also donate by text message.  To donate £5 just text   DOCB99  £5   to  70070

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