MALCOLM Rowe has a surprising spring in his step for a man nearing the end of an 800-mile journey.

Mention John O’Groats to Land’s End to people and most will think of cyclists, who can complete the trip in under a fortnight, or sports cars whose drivers can do the distance in a day with their foot to the pedal.

Malcolm, though, set out from the top of the UK mainland in July and has spent around 70 days walking southward, his aim being to get there in one piece and raise £5,000 for Children’s Hospice South West.

We caught up with him in Dobwalls, after he had just left his home turf in the Tamar Valley and had negotiated some hair-raising walking along the A390 between Callington and Liskeard.

With another less than tranquil morning of walking ahead along the Glynn Valley to Bodmin, Malcolm was itching to get moving: he was looking forward to being ferried by his friend Bill back to Plymouth to watch an Argyle game, and a much-needed rest day.

During his two and a bit months of walking, Malcolm, 67, has endured thunderstorms that soaked him to the skin even through layers of waterproofs, a bout of serious leg trouble that needed medical treatment, and some dangerous traffic.

He’s been motivated by the goal of completing a challenge that has “always been on his bucket list” and by supporting an important children’s charity in its work.

While walking entirely alone, and staying self-funded in hotels and Air BnBs, Malcolm says that the solitude hasn’t been a problem.

“I’ve met hundreds of cyclists but not one walker. Mentally I’m quite strong, and I can be social, but I can be alone, so it doesn’t bother me,” he said.

“It feels like the homeward stretch now, because I’ve seen a lot of people I know.”

Having started out with the first three weeks of accommodation booked in advance, Malcolm then intended to continue planning his route on the map and booking places to stay accordingly. But this strategy had to change: “I quickly threw the map out the window. So many places were fully booked that I ended up walking a route in a vaguely southward direction, going to wherever I’d found a place to stay.”

Malcolm’s good friend Bill Gowans has been his “eye in the sky”, watching over his location by GPS, and supporting throughout from his home in Wadebridge.

For the most part during the trip Malcolm has stuck to the quieter roads.

“I’ve gone off-road a bit – and got lost a bit – so I have mainly stuck to B roads, and some very hairy A roads. I’m used to jumping into hedges now!

“Music is a big part of my life normally, but I’ve not listened to anything. I’ve wanted to be very aware of all the cars around and I think it would be quite dangerous to wear headphones.”

Surprisingly, Malcolm expects to arrive at Land’s End tomorrow (Saturday Oct 2) wearing the same pair of trainers in which he started the walk, and in which he ran the Plymouth Half Marathon for Children’s Hospice South West seven years ago!

You can discover more about his three-month journey and see photos on his Facebook page – and to support his fundraising, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Malcolm-Rowe2?