AN engineer undertaking a 700-mile pilgrimage from Shetland to London is urging the UK Government to “stick with” its decision to block the Rosebank oil field.
Andrew Dames, from Cambridge, said he wanted to celebrate the Scottish Courts’ role in upholding climate law.
He began his journey in Shetland on August 3, holding a vigil outside the Court of Session on Thursday morning when he arrived in Edinburgh.
Speaking to the Sunday National, the dad-of-four said he was inspired by a fellow Quaker and climate activist Phil Laurie, who walked the length of Pilgrims' Way from Winchester to Canterbury.
Dames, 63, admitted he had not undertaken a challenge of this magnitude before. He had to pick up some new shoes in Edinburgh, after one of his toes was left pointing “slightly” in the wrong direction.
“My feet are feeling much more likely that they’re going to get to London,” he said, during his walk from Edinburgh to Dalkeith.
In January 2025, the Court of Session ruled that consent given to Rosebank and Jackdaw oil fields was unlawful. The owners of the oil fields were told they must seek fresh approval before being given the green light to begin production, and are expected to resubmit their applications. The Labour UK Government has said it will not grant new oil and gas licences, and Dames hopes that ministers will stick to this decision.
The dad-of-four is not new to climate action. In November 2022, he was arrested along with 11 other activists from Just Stop Oil for causing disruption on the M25.
They had targeted the UK’s busiest motorway, urging then-Tory prime minister Rishi Sunak to half new oil and gas after ministers opened up a new licensing round in the face of warnings from scientists and the United Nations.
With Labour committing to a ban on new oil and gas in their manifesto, and the Supreme Court ruling that greenhouse gas emissions should be included in environmental impact assessments, Dames explained: “I'm just trying to give encouragement to our Government to use those court judgments to stick with their program, actually renounce new oil, and set an example to the world.”
But it hasn’t been plain sailing. Dames, who is chronicling his journey on Instagram under the handle juststopwalking, was forced to abandon his attempt to walk across mainland Orkney after stormy weather saw his ferry redirected to Aberdeen.
“We were meant to go to Kirkwall,” he said, “but it was gusting 90 miles per hour when the ferry was due to dock, so the captain said he was going to continue to Aberdeen.”
Dames then had to get a bus back to Scrabster, Caithness, and began his pilgrimage through mainland Scotland from there.
“It was interesting walking down the road from Thurso and along the coast,” Dames added.
“I got the occasional toot from people.
“In Shetland, I had about eight people stop and offer me a lift, which was very tempting, especially when it was a crashing storm.
“I was struck by how absolutely beautiful the places have been.”
Dames said the pilgrimage has allowed him to speak to plenty of different people, and witness energy infrastructure being put in place, such as large cables “in the middle of nowhere”.
“It’s much better to be a reluctant user of a dangerous drug in the short term than to be producing it and selling it to the rest of the world,” he said.
“Fossil fuels are a dangerous substance, that doesn’t mean they’re not useful.
“I think if we positively renounce oil and gas, we’ll generate such a mindset shift. We’ll be in a much better position to rebuild the industry.
“The future is renewable energy, not fossil fuels, that’s the past.”
Dames is aiming to finish his pilgrimage at the Supreme Court in London on September 13.
