Pensioner, 82, completes 600-mile ride from England to Scotland on her pony Diamond – a 7-week trip she’s made every year since 1972

An 82-year-old woman has completed an annual seven-week trek from England to the Scottish Highlands with her pack pony and dog.

Jane Dotchin has been making the epic 600-mile journey every year since 1972, catching up with the friends she has made along the way.

Heading north, the horse lover travels between 15 and 20 miles a day until she reaches Inverness in the Scottish Highlands.

This year she set off again with her horse Diamond from the small farm where she lives, near Hexham, Northumberland.

“I love camping and I love the countryside,” she said.

‘The more I’ve done it, the more nice people I’ve met along the way that I’d like to see again.’

Jane carries everything she needs, including her tent, food, a few items and her Jack Russel Dinky in the saddle bag.

“She loves to sit in the saddlebag,” Jane said. “She loves sitting in there and watching the world go by.”

And despite wearing an eye patch, Jane is determined to continue the annual tradition for as long as possible.

‘I know the route so well, I don’t need to read a map. I can do it if I follow the routes I know,” she added.

“If I were ever in trouble, I know there would be someone not far away to help.”

Jane first got a taste of long-distance trekking when she trotted to the idyllic West Country about 40 years ago in 1972.

She previously said: ‘My mother did look after my other ponies but she wasn’t keen to look after my Halfinger stallion so I drove him to Somerset to visit a friend, which is about 300 miles.

“It was a bit of a tough slog, but it went well.”

Jane made the trip every year, riding south where the bridleways were much better.

But as the area developed, she noticed the route becoming more and more crowded and decided to head north instead.

She has made the journey north every autumn for the past thirty years, visiting friends along the way, including some near Fort Augustus, on the edge of Loch Ness.

‘It’s nice to see them again. I call them in the morning to say I’ll be there in the evening,” Jane said.

“I don’t warn them too far in advance because if the weather suddenly changes or I decide to stop early, they might wonder where I should go.”

The journey takes approximately seven weeks, depending on the weather.

“I refuse to trudge through the pouring wet rain,” Jane added.

‘I don’t want to go over hilltops in bad weather, but I do on the road. Maps don’t bother me, I just stick to the routes I know.’

Jane lives on porridge, oatcakes and cheese, and carries an old mobile phone with a battery that lasts six weeks – although getting a signal can be a problem.

While Jack Russell Dinky is on a diet of oatmeal porridge, oatcakes and cheese, which is bought from local shops.

Jane is devastated by the litter she has seen over the years, which she finds ‘shameful’.

She once said: ‘It’s terrible, especially the disposable barbecues that are left everywhere.’

Jane received earlier The British Equine Association Lifetime Achievement Award, which she said was “a bit of a surprise.”

“There’s always something interesting happening and there’s never a dull moment,” she added.

The British Horse Society Scotland wrote in a Facebook post: ‘Well done Jane, Dinky the dog and Diamond – 2023 was a wet year but even well into your 80s you were never put off by the rain. You are an inspiration to riders everywhere.”