Land's End to John o'Groats
#BikeForButterflies
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From 22nd June 2021, I cycled from Land’s End to John O’Groats (LEJOG) to raise money for Butterfly Conservation and to bring attention to the plight of the environment and to the climate emergency. I raised over £30,000 for Butterfly Conservation, thanks to the generosity of so many people.
The route was designed so that I could see as many of our wonderful butterflies and moths as possible - both threatened species and more widespread species. It was 1,200 miles (2,000lm) and took 30 days. People could follow me on Twitter/X and Facebook with the hashtag #BikeForButterflies.
I met many of our Branch volunteers and Butterfly Conservation staff on the way, and was joined by keen cyclists for some of the days.
I visited as many wildlife sites as possible, to create publicity for Butterfly Conservation’s work.
Butterfly Conservation promoted the ride and it featured in the Summer 2021 edition of Butterfly magazine, and at www.butterfly-conservation.org/bikeforbutterflies.
Route overview
Approx. 2,000km (1,200 miles) in 30 days, based on the Sustrans route along the National Cycle Network:
Land's End → Truro → Bodmin → Holsworthy → Barnstaple → Glastonbury → Bristol → Stroud → Worcester → Stourport → Wem → Nantwich → Manchester → Whalley → Borwick → Penrith → Gretna Green → Abington → Glasgow → Stirling → Callander → Killin → Pitlochry → Kingussie → Inverness → Lairg → Thurso → John o'Groats
See the route here.
High points:
483m on Exmoor (Grid Ref: SS 74765 36245),
427m in the Forest of Bowland,
457m at the Pass of Drumochter in the Scottish Highlands, and
401m at Schlod Summit near Inverness
Total climb (and descent!): Over 14,000m
Resources
Sustrans: www.sustrans.org.uk
Cycling UK: www.cyclinguk.org
Butterfly Conservation: www.butterfly-conservation.org
At Land's End
At Land's End
In Cornwall, near St Ive's Bay
In Cornwall, near St Ive's Bay
By Crowdy Reservoir, Bodmin Moor
By Crowdy Reservoir, Bodmin Moor
Bristol
Bristol
Cross of Greet, in the
Forest of Bowland
Cross of Greet, in the
Forest of Bowland
Small Tortoiseshell, Carlisle
Small Tortoiseshell, Carlisle
Over half way!
Over half way!
6-Spot Burnet
Fallin Bing near Stirling
6-Spot Burnet
Fallin Bing near Stirling
Not dull at all!
Not dull at all!
Britain's most northerly mainland
Britain's most northerly mainland
Finally at John o'Groats
Finally at John o'Groats
Why LEJOG?
Why LEJOG?
Cycling has always been an interest of mine, and I have long held a fascination with the Land's End to John O'Groats (LEJOG) long distance ride. Having retired early, I wanted to take on something that would challenge me, something that I wasn't sure that I could accomplish. LEJOG seemed the ideal opportunity. Being 62 years old (in 2021), it feels like "now or never!".
The ride is dedicated to my good friend Kevin from university days, who died in 2018 from cancer. He introduced me to cycle touring and we had a wonderful first cycling holiday on Orkney in the summer of 1978.
The ethos of the ride is "an ordinary bloke with an ordinary bike trying to do something extraordinary"*.
My aims are:
To raise awareness of the biodiversity and climate crises
To get people to engage with nature, especially the green spaces near where they live and work
To promote Butterfly Conservation and the fantastic work it does with its many volunteers
To raise money to help nature
I am doing this because:
THERE IS A CLIMATE AND BIODIVERSITY CRISIS AND NATURE NEEDS OUR HELP
Biodiversity declines in the UK are largely caused by intensive agriculture and development, which result in:
habitat loss and fragmentation (e.g. development)
habitat degradation (e.g. changing management practices)
chemicals - pesticides, fertilisers, air pollution
To which we can now add global heating.
There are lots of complicated reasons for these outcomes, but the underlying cause is simple:
WE HAVE LOST OUR CONNECTION WITH THE NATURAL WORLD("we” means societies and individuals)
But habitat loss, habitat degradation and the climate crisis are not inevitable.
They are the result of CHOICES that we have all made - e.g. about development (how much? where?), agriculture (intensive or organic?), energy production (fossil fuel or renewable?) and personal CO2 footprint (cars vs. public transport, meat/dairy consumption, flying, etc).
THINGS CAN CHANGE - BECAUSE WE PROTECT THE THINGS WE CARE ABOUT …
If we are re-connected with nature, we will care about it - and we will protect it.
So, I’m encouraging people to CONNECT WITH NATURE
… in whatever way makes sense for them, knowing that, if they do, we can still turn things around.
Follow me on Twitter: @sbsaville - views are my own.
* Well, not that extraordinary, really ... Cycling UK say that LEJOG is "a challenge that many thousands take on each year". Many people do it in half the time (2 weeks rather than 4), but also take the shorter "traditional" route of around 1,400km (874 miles). And the record is under 2 days!
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