‘I could never have imagined it’ – Loth Burn footbridge opens up John O’Groats Trail to more walkers

A £90k footbridge has been opened across a wide burn on the John O’Groats Trail. John Davidson went along to hear about the impact of the new crossing

The far north is starting to reap the rewards of the John O’Groats Trail after its biggest piece of infrastructure was put in place.

A 22-metre-long footbridge across the Loth Burn was officially opened on Thursday, eliminating one of two major obstacles along the coastal route.

It marks a major milestone for the 147-mile walking route between Inverness and the Caithness village after which it is named.

“I first walked this coast in 2014 and we formed the charity in 2016, so it’s been nine or 11 years, depending how you count,” explained Jay Wilson, founder of the route and chairman of the Friends of the John O’Groats Trail.

“When I first crossed this burn back in 2014 I could never have imagined that we would have a structure like this to take people across.”

The bridge crosses the burn close to the railway bridge, which frames a wonderful view of the Loth hills for walkers crossing on foot. It cost around £90,000 to develop and install, and Ken McElroy, one of two trail managers the charity employs, described it as a defining moment for the route.

“This is by far the biggest single piece of infrastructure we’ve implemented and it’s symbolic of how far the trail has come since it was first incepted by Jay Wilson in 2016,” he said. “It has largely been small improvements here and there that definitely make the enjoyment and the accessibility of the coastline much easier for everyone.

“But this bridge has been a real endeavour and is one of the two main obstacles on the trail and it’s great to see that one of those obstacles has now been removed and we have this brilliant bridge to use and enjoy.”

A group of around 25 invited guests including politicians, walkers, the landowner and trustees of the charity gathered for the occasion on a warm and sunny afternoon.

Jay said: “A project like this 22-metre bridge is a big step forward for presenting a trail that’s more walkable for more people – bringing more people up to the far north.

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“I feel overjoyed. I just never imagined that it would come to this, that it would catch the imagination of so many people, local residents, long-distance walkers, just so many lovely people and all the volunteers who have got involved over the years. We managed to do so much and out of sheer good will of so many good people.”

He explained how Graham Smith, the former chairman of the North of Scotland group of the Long Distance Walkers Association, helped share details of the route in its early days through the organisation’s membership magazine Stride.

Jay and Graham once met on opposite sides of the burn when it was in spate during a survey for the route – highlighting the need for a bridge after Graham only just managed to wade across with water up to his waist.

Trail manager Laura Gray said: “The site is not the easiest to build on, as you can imagine. We’ve got a bit of coastal erosion at either side of the bank here, so there was a bit of to-ing and fro-ing to find the perfect sport for the bridge and to find some bedrock that we could lay the abutments on. But we found the ideal spot and hopefully it’ll be here for a long time.”

The bridge is going to be known as the Rob and Caroline Pickard Bridge, after a couple who have been long-time supporters of the John O’Groats Trail. They were among the first people to walk the full trail in 2017 – after Rob had been diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour – and Caroline pledged a gift of up to £10,000 for the development of the trail after Rob died in July 2018.

The local landowner John Billett said helping the charity with its plans for the bridge was already showing benefits.

He said: “When Jay and Laura approached us to see about putting the bridge across it seemed a fairly easy decision to agree to it at once. I would say even in the few weeks it has been complete I’ve seen an upsurge in people using the trail.

“Any landowners up and down the trail who are wary of improvements, I would speak to them and say it is to be embraced. We’ve enjoyed being part of the process.”

The work on the bridge was done by CR Contracting North Ltd (CRC) with funding from the North Highland Initiative, The Big Give – who matched crowd funding efforts, People’s Postcode Lottery, the SSE Sustainable Development Fund, SSE Gordonbush Community Fund, Kilbraur Windfarm Community Benefit Trust and the Gordon and Ena Baxter Foundation.

Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross MP Jamie Stone said: “It was an honour to be present at the opening of the new Loth Bridge – connecting communities together and encouraging people to explore our beautiful countryside is such an achievement.

“The thought of people walking from Inverness, across this new bridge, to John O’Groats is fantastic. I hope this bridge serves the people of the far north for many years to come.”

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