Aviemore constable and son go on straight and narrow for a record distance

When it comes to showing how to keep to the straight and narrow, who better than a police constable? An officer stationed in Aviemore has just done that - for 79 kilometres!

Jonathan Bellarby (57) and his son Sam (23) have accomplished their amazing feat by walking unsupported in a straight-line hike without crossing a single road.

After getting his breath back on Friday, the Strathspey cop told the Strathy that the feat had been inspired by very impressive ‘record’ set in August 2021: Calum Maclean and Jenny Graham took on the longest straight-line hike not crossing a road in the UK.

Their route was based on Ordnance Survey mapping and a route that had been automatically created in 2018 previously by the OS: “As the pair found out at the end of the hike, the OS called many farm and moorland tracks ‘roads’. This allowed them to extend the hike when they realised their original finish point was actually a track.”

But this year Pc Bellarby, impressed by how tough the route looked, realised that there was a route several kilometres longer not crossing any road.

This route started near Spean Bridge on the A82 and finished on the A9 near Carrbridge traversing the remote hills of the Monadhliath.

He discussed it with his son, who then found a blog by Alasdair Rae in 2023 that also found a similar route and went into much more detail, looking at many variations.

After a reconnaissance trip up Glen Roy to define where the road ended, Jonathan and Sam selected the longest route which was 78.8 km.

Their plan was to traverse from near Spean bridge to the A9 near Carrbridge whilst keeping a tolerance of +- 50m.

Navigation was by GPS device and GPS watch aided by compasses set at 57°!

Essential equipment comprised walking poles, waterproof socks and gaiters. With food and camping equipment their rucksacks came in about 10kg each.

On April 22 Jonathan and Sam - a physiotherapy student at Edinburgh Uni - set off from near Spean Bridge.

They were unprepared – although keen hill walkers and runners, neither of them had attempted any precise navigation of this type. They were also naïve with respect to how hard it would be.

“Day one was particularly hard with some very steep and craggy ground and much traversing high above Glen Roy to the accompaniment of white-tailed eagles,” said Jonathan.

“Approaching the valley, we were confronted by a large house and its tennis court. We had already agreed to abide by responsible access, so we were able to detour round – just within our 50m tolerance.

“By day two, the terrain got a little easier and bizarrely the route went directly over the summit of the highest hills in the area – Gairbeinn.

“Day 3 traversed through several windfarms and onto extensively bogs with a few steep descents river crossings and reascents. Day 4 included some miserable parts through deep bogs, dense forests and many fences but finally finished somewhat abruptly beside the very busy A9.

“Overall, the weather was kind apart from a very wet camp high up in the Monadhliath.”

Starting early in the season, they also avoided both the dreaded midge and the equally terrifying dense bracken. Through a lot of mud, sweat and groans, both Jonathon and Sam completed the 78.8km longest straight-line route, but said they would never do it again and acknowledge how hard the previous record set by Calum Maclean and Jenny Graham must have been!

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