Tuesday 19 to Saturday 23 May 2026 - Around Fort William and Montrose

Tuesday - Fort William and Neptune's Staircase 

A slow start. The forecast rain didn't arrive. Sue made a nice scrambled egg and smoked salmon breakfast while I contacted some of Gary's mutual friends. Gemma (his daughter) said he had wanted to contact us but had deteriorated rapidly.

The funeral will be on (TBC)

The morning passed quickly in the conservatory, under the dulcet tones of the resident chaffinch.

After lunch, a 21 km bike ride for me and Sue, to Fort William and Neptune's Staircase. Here are a few pictures taken in between showers, including one above where the railway crosses the River Lochy.

Here's our 21 km route.

Cuckooflowers line the towpath at this time of year.

Wednesday - The Hermitage in Dunkeld, and Montrose

We drove in pleasant weather to Dunkeld, for a walk around the area known as The Hermitage.

Click on the next picture for a readable version of the highlights of the Hermitage.

There are several iconic bridges over the River Tay in this area.

The woodland is beautiful at this time of year, with many different shades of green as the leaves emerge from the year's new shoots.

Ossian's Hall is a long, thin building dating from 1757.

Nearby, the River Tay plunges down a series of cataracts.

Ossian's Cave dates from when the pleasure grounds were first opened in the 18th century.

A little further on, more white water flows under the Rumbling Bridge.

After pausing for lunch on a massive picnic bench near some beehives, we worked our way round a 7 km loop, passing through a magnificent avenue of pine trees before returning to the car park and our onward journey to Montrose.

Here's our route - 7.6 km with 180 metres ascent, taking us a leisurely couple of hours. Well worth it if you are passing through Dunkeld and fancy a short break.

Later, we got installed in the Links Hotel in Montrose - a lovely room with a balcony and a bath - and said hello to TGO Challenge Control next door in the Park Hotel, promising to help with tea and biscuits for the finishers over the next couple of days.

We soon met up with Ali, Gayle and Mick for an impromptu convivial evening with some nice Thai food at the Ma Yom restaurant.

Thursday - Teamaking at TGO Control, and a walk to the beach

We've been here before. Pictures are from a quiet moment in the Park Hotel, and a walk to the beach.

Friday - Challenge Control and a bike ride

After a busy morning with the teapot, Sue and I grabbed a chance to cycle 5 km to Charleton Strawberry Farm, where we met a variety of Challengers passing through with only 6 km to go to finish their walk from the west coast. Some of the paths in the disused aerodrome were bordered with the sweet coconut scent of gorse, a pleasant change from the sweaty atmosphere back at the Park Hotel!

Here's our 11 km route.

Back at the Park Hotel, a table of socks that participants could swap for the pair in their goody bag if that was the wrong size. These excellent Darn Tough socks would have to be returned to the sponsor, UltraLight Outdoor Gear. I'm not sure of the arrangement, but it seems a shame that the socks (albeit every finisher gets a pair) are not for sale.

Coming towards the end of tea and biscuit service, this next picture shows the team at work after several of us had returned from a largely uneventful vetters' meeting.

Later, there were about 100 people at the Friday dinner, which seems to be more popular every year. There had been 130 the previous night, and a good number on the Wednesday as well.

Speeches and awards... dinner finished quite late.

Saturday - Montrose parkrun, the strawberry farm, and a five hour drive home

After saying goodbye to our friends in the Park Hotel, we drove a couple of km to the start of the parkrun, where we were joined by Mick and Gayle and by veteran parkrunner (he lives in Bushey), Charles Harmer. I think there may have been a few more Challengers there as well. Gone are the days when Sue and I were amongst very few Challengers to have even heard of parkrun. 

Here we are with Charles at the start.

There were 193 finishers, and our results went something like this: (full results here)

Charles - 24:21, position 31 (well done, as he was the only one of us who had actually completed the Challenge)

Sue - 25:58, position 52

Martin - 34:19, position 146

Mick - 48:47, position 179

Gayle - 49:10, position 182

It goes without saying that Mick and Gayle had decided to walk round, otherwise they would have been ahead of me. Here they are with Alethea McHardy near the end,

After cake at the parkrun finish, we went backto the strawberry farm for one of their iconic tarts, Alethea and Mags McHardy joined us, amongst other Challengers and parkrunners.

All in all, a successful TGO Challenge, ably 'controlled' by Di Gerrard and her team. Well done, everyone.

Then we drove home.