Coast-to-coast challenge for city firemen; WEEKEND: TRAVEL: CHARITY WALK IN SCOTLAND.

Byline: RICHARD FIELD

EVERY year the firemen of Birmingham Airport Fire Service raise money for the Diana Princess of Wales Children's Hospital by completing a sponsored walk. This year Coventry-based firemen and their friends went to Scotland for a weekend of walking and sightseeing.

AFTER six-hours of stressful Friday-afternoon driving up the M6 we finally reached our destination - the pretty abbey town of Melrose in the Scottish Borders.

After checking in at different B&Bs throughout the town, we met at the town's chippy for a haggis supper - just what the doctor ordered to line our stomachs for a big night out.

Melrose only has one pub - The Ship Inn - but with weekend last orders called at 1am in Scotland, this was a blessing in disguise as the next morning we began the 25-mile walk at the ungodly hour of 6.30am.

Taking in part of the famous coast-to-coast walk, The Southern Upland Way, we started at St Mary's Loch in the Ettrick Forest.

For the first five miles, we circumvented the loch as the cool breeze erased our hangovers and aroused our hunger. Then after a couple of miles up-hill, we could smell sausages cooking and saw our support team in a lay-by preparing a full English breakfast for us.

Suitably refreshed, we set off towards our target, Innerleithen, on what was possibly the hottest day in Scottish history.

With two of the 25 miles remaining, aches, pains and blisters sprang up and thoughts such as "I hope those kids appreciate this" entered our minds.

We were filled with an enormous sense of euphoria and pride as we crossed the finish line, and our celebratory pint was one of the best I've enjoyed in recent years.

The next morning we enjoyed a deserved lie-in before heading off to Edinburgh - recently described as "one of the most loveable cities on the planet" in The Lonely Planet Guide to the UK.

With glorious sunshine and weary feet, an open-top bus tour was the obvious way to see the best of Scotland's capital city. For a rather pricey pounds 8.50, you will be taken around all the sights and can hop-on and hop-off at any that take your fancy.

A stop at the castle, built high upon an extinct volcano, is a must before rejoining the bus for the trip down the Royal Mile towards the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the royal family's official residence in Scotland.

Edinburgh is teeming with pubs and restaurants, and we dearly wanted to sample a few more than we did, but reluctantly (and perhaps sensibly) returned to Melrose for the night to be fresh for our long journey home to Coventry.

Richard Field, aged 28,

a sports researcher from Green Lane.

IF you would like to sponsor Birmingham Airport Fire Service's walk, you can contact Richard Field - e-mail: [e-mail]

CAPTION(S):

IN TRAINING: Coventry firefighters preparing for their 25-mile charity walk in the pub which was followed by some sightseeing Edinburgh