Walk 42 (HW1) - 18.6 miles - Total 563.1 miles - To Go 436.9 miles

Sam's Walk
Wallsend,Segedunun, Swann Hunter, St Peters Quay, Millenium Bridge, Newcastle, Newburn, Heddon on the Wall.


As we take our first steps on this walk we are thinking about you Sam. We want our efforts to make a difference and accelerate research for a breakthrough treatment for MS. In the meantime enjoy every day of your life to the full and give your great mum a big hug while lots of people work their hardest to find a solution for your future. This walk is for you and we want it to raise hope. Everyone out there reading this please help our cause and help us make a difference in fighting this disease.

A good friend Viv has joined us for this walk and his friends are sponsoring him generously. We start out with a weather forecast promising heavy rain, flood threats and news that the hosepipe ban remains in force. Actually the rain is light as we pop in to the local Total station to get our Hadrian Passports and our first stamp.


At Wallsend we meet the North Tyneside Branch of the MS. Sandra Richardson who has had MS for 20 years and was diagnosed 5 years ago and like many others with the disease is fighting and positive. We also meet Jim McAndrew the local chairman and Derek, Sandra's husband, who are both active members helping the society locally. They also tell us about Patsy Peebells who is 14 and has MS and writes a blog for the Evening Chronicle. We really hope the efforts we are making with this campaign will help Sandra and Patsy and all the other people impacted by MS.


After a quick tour of Segedunun where there is little to see although we are told by Jim that this is the most excavated Roman site on the planet. He directs us on to the wall route and immediately we are by the Swan Hunter site. Jarrow across the river conjures up imagery of massive social dislocation from the past. The silence of the ship yard is now earie as you think 30,000 people worked here and when the shift buzzer went 7000 workers used to flood out stopping traffic and taking life in to the town. Now it is all silent. As you look around Lowry and Orwell come strongly to mind and make you realise the historical significance of the place we stand.



Further along the Tyne (can't help thinking Lindisfarne) we meet schoolkids and their teachers from Dean Magner and Newent School in Shropshire. They have cycled Hadrian's Wall in the other direction and are finishing. 12-16 year olds all of them and not a complaint as they took on the challenge. Brilliant effort.

We see what look like seats along the footpath but with great iron blisters making them uncomfortable to sit on. We wonder if they are a massage mechanism for aching muscles at the end of the walk from Carlisle.



As we approach Newcastle we smell engineering oil and look in on a manufacturing wharehouse. We meet Peter Gallen who tells us they make valves for oil companies here. They are making a valve for BP in the Gulf Coast at the moment. He comments on the incredibly stringent and high standards BP insists on for all their work and his surprise at events in the Gulf. Bel valves is a world leader and doing great business as part of a bigger operation called British Engines. A great story to complement the earlier silence of Swan Hunter. Peter tells us up the hill is the worlds biggest valve at 40 inches which was produced for Texaco at a cost of £2m to show how big they could be but was never used and is now a museum item.


On the way in to Newcastle we find HOPE painted on a building and want this to be a sign for our cause. Later on I also manage to hold the Milenium Bridge in the palm of my hand.

Wendy Hurst, out walking with her daughter Anna, stops to ask about our campaign. Her best friend Julie has MS and is coping very well. Keep with it Julie and we all hope we can accelerate a treatment by the efforts we make. Anna and I have a chat about what it is like being nine and a half months old. Seems pretty cool I would say.

At a quayside pub in the centre of Newcastle by the Tyne, Gainer Thomas actually welcomes Rob's camera. Our first lady on the 1000miles4hope walk to actually welcome being photographed. Most women we ask for photographs normally refuse us, claiming their hair is not quite right or their make-up isn't on etc. Well done Gainer and Glyn who have just finished the walk the other way round.


We find this amazing Deli across from Dunston for lunch. Must be run by Rob's compatriots as all the deli specials have Haloumi and Feta and olives on the menu and a massive queue outside. Rob tries his Greek but without a Geordie accent (his is more island Greek) it is wasted. A goldmine with six people serving flat out behind the counter.

Further along we meet Adrian and Margaret Dent from Darlington who tell us of really tough hills in the middle section. Rob is not convinced now he has Offa behind him. We shall see.



As we approach Heddon on the Wall in pouring rain we meet Donna Collins and Susan Long from Houston. They are doing the wall and really enjoying it already. We loved the accent ladies and hope you enjoy the whole walk and it doesn't rain too much.


Viv's only downside was walking past an attractive pub at Newburn where a pint would have gone down well. Drenched like drowned rats at the end an enjoyable 18 mile stroll we are delighted to arrive at the warm, dry and welcoming Iron Sign Farm. Owen organises our cab down to the Swan and fills us up with a fabulous full English to set us on our way the next day.

We are on our way. Give mum another hug Sam and a big hug back mum.

Newcastle

We have decided to come up to the start of Sam's walk by train up to Newcastle. First class tickets purchased at a £1 premium over standard a couple of months ago to travel in style. We mistakenly try to use the first class lounge at Kings Cross only to find our cheap first class tickets are not full first class tickets and can only be used on the train! We get on the train expecting there to be no seats with the numbers we reserved and an explanation that cheap tickets don't come with seats. Rob tries the internet to find it is as slow as when internet began. You search for a page and watch a timer for a couple of minutes until the page comes up. We gave up. Rob also tried to do his Citywire call where he waxes lyrical about the economy. After three tunnels in succession he rescheduled to the afternoon.
After a boring flat countryside all the way and a journey lasting three and a half hours we arrived in Newcastle to dark dark clouds. Rob is dismayed as I suggest using public transport to get to the hotel. He thinks I am joking. But it turns out to be easy and we take the Metro. Feels like a foreign country as we try to understand what people are saying. We get to the Hadrian Wall Hotel debating how much we have saved by using the metro. I reckoned a cab would be about £30 as the metro ride took 20 minutes. Rob plumped for £5 as we are so far north. The Hotel looks bleak on the outside and against the grey sky and I am sure Karen is happy she is not here. Inside it is clean and functional and we are immediately made to feel welcome by Anne with a lovely smile and offers of help. She tells us a taxi in to town costs between £7-10 to go in and probably £15 to come out. That is cheap and more than half of London prices. We have it explained to us that to take a cab in Newcastle you will normally be asked to pay a deposit up front.
This afternoon we decide to play online bridge to pass the time and distract the senses. Other hotel guests are amused as we discuss hands across the lounge and debate bids we should have tried. We were going to go in to Newcastle tonight but as we finished our bridge we looked out on torrential rain and heavy clouds. The thought of wet gear soaked before we start does not appeal. So Lee the cheerful chef cooks me a curry and chips and lamb shank for Rob and Ann serves up extra cold guinness to wash it down. The rest of the evening is filled with more bridge hands with Coronation Street on in the background and whiling away the hours on the internet. Looks like walking in the rain for the next three days.

Walk 41 - 20.2 miles - Total 544.5 miles - To Go 455.5 miles

Pirton, Hexton, Barton le Clay, Sharpenhoe, Streatley, Telegraph Hill








Our final walk before Sam's walk along Hadrian's Wall. The plan is to do 17 miles today and we set off on a very windy and actually quite cool day. The first five miles are gone in a blink as we talk about 'The Third Man' or the prince of darkness and the audacity of the man. Easy to dislike but you have to respect him for the impact he has had on Labour and the political scene over recent years. You don't like him but grudgingly respect what he has been able to do and the way he has survived. Agreed you would not want him as a friend and now will watch the replies. Blair we expect to be a smooth rose coloured own view of history with him at the centre. The most interesting will be Brown if he can find a way of telling his tale. Fascinating stuff.

As we approach the outskirts of Hexton we need to go through a cutting in a hedge. Rob leans down to go through when all of a sudden what seems like a pack of rabid barking teeth nashing dogs appear from nowhere. I would like to think that Rob did a great job of protecting me from what might come but I think actually his arms were just waving in blind panic. As our hearts settle we see we are confronted by two muzzled labradors, one black and one golden. Their owner follows behind saying don't worry they won't do you any harm. Rob breathing fast and checking he has not had a heart attack and rubbing his thigh from a pulled muscle thinks differently.

Through Hexton and in to Barton le Clay for a tea and bad boy cake for Rob at Scoffers. Beside us local lads eating the biggest breakfast you ever did see. All that was missing was a copy of the Sun and an update on Ashley Cole's love life. A little talk about football where Rob predicts Man City will win the league and he is coming to terms with Liverpool in the qualifying rounds for the Europa League.

Up a short steep hill which now seems easy versus our Offa's Dyke experiences and we get to the top of Sharpenhoe Clappers. We get lost a couple of times and go in circles but the views are stunning and it is lovely walking.
Along the way we are pleased to meet George and Elisabeth French and Jack and Anita Blackit (apparently up north a name meaning sheep stealer!). They can help us with directions as they know where they are and we are not sure. Rob meets their dog Boot and is soon serving up stick throws and becomes a life long friend. They know Hadrian's Wall well having had a caravan called Halt Whistle near to the wall. They increase our enthusiasm for the walk starting Tuesday and their main advice is take waterproofs. We have been warned.


We come upon a marquee set up for a wedding at Holtwood Farm tomorrow night. There will be a pig roast as the main event. Looks like a great event surrounded by wheat fields and in the middle of nowhere. We asked them to keep the noise down.


As we hit the final stretch we realise we are going to walk more miles than planned. We get tired and notice we are both quieter. In the end we have completed over 20 miles making this our longest walk so far. Easier than the hilly walks but at the end you do notice the distance we covered and the legs and feet do ache.
Ready for Hadrian now. Rob the Greekling is ready to march on Hadrian and his mate Len will be watching out for savage dogs appearing from surprising places.
Tell your friends about Sam's walk and follow us from Newcastle on Tuesday morning.

Walk 40 - 16.5 miles - Total 524.3 miles - To Go 475.7 miles

The Bridgewater Monument, Clipper Down, Barley End, Pitstone Hill, Tring, Northchurch Common, Aldbury, Ashridge





Birds tweeting, real birds with real tweeting that is, a cool breeze, blue sky and it is 5.30 in the morning. Waking up for another walk as we get going again on 1000miles4hope. So different to the same time in January and driving round the M25 to get ready for a London Loop section. Feels good and time for a tweet. I am learning this alien form of communication as I go and send off my first tweet of the day.

I arrive at The Monument at Ashridge at 7.30 am to be ushered in to a parking space by Trevor. Lots of cars around me and seems I am expected and I am very surprised to see so much activity this early in the morning. There are about 40 cars parked in a line, a van serving breakfast and a number of big trucks clearly getting ready for something. As Emma gets out of her car next to mine I say hello and ask what is going on.
Emma is in charge of wardrobe and tells me they are doing a shoot of a Little Red Riding Hood theme for a Sky advert coming out in the next two weeks. Rob arrives like a film star and also wants to know what is going on. Finding out it is not for us we move our cars to the visitor centre where we belong. Can't wait to see the ad. Look out for it and you will know we were there.

Rob sees me in my David Villa Spain shirt as I explain I have some Spanish blood in me somewhere way back on my mothers side. Then it is on with the 1000miles4hope tee shirt and ready to walk. This is a delightful walk we did last year as preparation and remember as being hard. Today we found it easy after our Offa's Dyke training. Everything seemed flatter and the steep bits shorter and easier. Amazing. Not having seen each other for six weeks there is lots to catch up on. Rants about Capello, the economy, what is going on with family and friends and looking forward to the next football season kill three hours straight away and the first nine miles fly by. We did get lost at one stage but fortunately met another Trevor out walking Maisie who could redirect us. Trevor is a keen birdwatcher and told us red kites and quails are features of this region. His wife is interested in wild flowers and we were told the most interesting wild flower locally is the squinancy wort which cures most ailments. We way we will look out for some as we have many ailments to cure.

We stop for an early lunch as Rob has his weekly audio with Citywire. Whilst waxing lyrically about the IMF report and the state of the world economy there are dogs barking in the background and Rob is trying to eat his sandwich. Impressive multi tasking a woman would be proud of and rarely seen in a man. Sarah Carlisle walks by with a couple of georgeous Golden Retrievers as Rob continues his soliloquy.



Aldbury is a really pretty village and we sit by the pond to reflect for a few minutes and take it all in.




We finish round the Ashbury Estate which is now a business school. An impressive building put up by the Duke of Ridgewater in 1825 and sold off to pay death duties within 100 years. Makes you think how things rise and fall and Rob has strong opinions on death duties.

We pass a par 3 on the Ashridge golf course which funnily enough Rob is playing with the Greek Cypriot Golf Society on Wednesday.


We stop for a cup of tea at the end at the Monument visitor centre and Rob is able to rescue Dusty of Sally and Ian. Dusty has got his lead stuck in a table and Rob now so comfortable with dogs is able to go across and offer advice on how to release Dusty.
Good to be walking, talking, meeting, greeting and most important of all raising money for research in to a treatment for MS. Tell your friends to support us and anyone else who will listen. The walking is the easy bit and accelerating the research is what we really want to happen.

One Step At A Time

Robert Kyprianou and I have just completed Offa’s Dyke walking 184 miles in 14 days. On the final day of this walk we also completed 500 miles of the 1000 miles we are walking to raise money for Research in to a treatment for Multiple Sclerosis. We have donations of over £33,000 so far and we will raise £100,000 this year. The Offa’s Dyke walk was the biggest physical challenge Rob and I have taken on in our lives. I reflect on the three insights that float to the top from this experience.
1. 500 miles is over one million steps. It is too daunting to think I am going to walk one million steps. Instead if I concentrate on one step at a time then each step is easy and after a while I pass one million steps. The same goes for ascending steeply two thousand feet. Look up the hill and the task is daunting and looks impossible. Instead take one step at a time and the summit eventually appears and what a view and great feeling it then is.
2. I am terrified when high up and close to an edge with a sheer drop a couple of feet away. I cannot overcome the feeling of panic when in this situation. I had to walk along a couple of sections like this on Offa’s Dyke. One almost a mile long after an aptly named section called ‘World’s End’. I learnt not to think about these sections to come before they happened. Enjoy today and what I am doing now and then take on the challenge when it arises if I can. This enriched the enjoyment of the moment in the moment and the stunning views, smells and feelings around me. I walked the scary sections and my heart did beat fast and I was scared but I did do it one step at a time and my fear lasted while I did it rather than all the hours beforehand.
3. My body and mind have more resources and resilience than I think. When I believe I have reached my limit but somehow push myself on I can go much further than I thought possible. The body strengthens and the mind finds new ways to get me through to my goal. I must remember this the next time I think something is not possible.
One step at a time, one conversation at a time and one penny at a time and we will walk 1000 miles, meet 10,000 people and raise £100,000.
Len

Walk 39 (OD 14) -8.5 miles - Total 507.8 miles - To Go 492.2 miles

Robin’s Walk and AXA PPP Step Up Challenge
Tintern, Devil’s Pulpit, Wintour’s Leap and Sedbury Cliffs








Imagine the scene with two grown men in their 50’s dancing around a stone on the edge of a cliff shouting ‘we did it’, doing high fives and then screaming ‘yyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessss’ as loud as we could. That was Rob and me at midday at the end of Offa’s Dyke at Sedbury Cliffs. We end on the last bit of the dyke itself and with humour note how there is a steep descent and then a final ascent in the last quarter of a mile. Brilliant effort and we are both very impressed with what we have done. Offa’s Dyke has presented the toughest physical challenge both of us have endured in our lives and we have pushed ourselves on to do it. With 184.1 miles of Offa’s Dyke behind us and reaching 500 miles in total today we are now half way. We have already met thousands of people and donations are now over £33,000 and it feels like we are making progress on the road to raising hope for people with MS.


It is our shortest walk today of the whole two weeks on Offa. We set off from Tintern and there is no surprise any more that there is a 500 foot climb up to start the day. We talk about the psychology of walkers who starting out from Chepstow had told us it was all downhill for us. We think most people only remember the struggle and pain of the uphill part of their walking and put the downhill out of their minds. We are finding there is plenty of challenging uphill even on this final section in to Sudbury. We complete 500 miles at the Devil’s Pulpit overlooking Tintern Abbey which is an amazing sight. I can’t spend too much time looking as it is a sheer drop below us. Rob will have about 100 photos so I will be able to look at leisure from the safety of my armchair in the future.

We meet Graham Lee and Don Jordan from Leeds and Scarborough who are starting out on their way to Prestatyn. Again we exchange notes about what we have done and they tell us about Hadrian’s Wall and Coast to Coast. Our walking today is about four miles of forest with wild garlic in flower all around. We think we are leaving Offa’s Dyke for the last time near Little Chase so Rob gives it a farewell hug with another tear in his eye. Later we reconnect with the Dyke for the last quarter of a mile when he is overjoyed once more.


The final part of the walk for three miles through the outskirts of Chepstow is nothing special apart from some high up views down on to the Wye. About two miles from the end in a meadow we meet a large group of schoolfriends who left Wyckham Girls High School in 1965 and are now here with some husbands and friends to take on the whole walk to Prestatyn. Looks like a fun crowd and thanks again for the donations. Enjoy the walk and we know there is so much in store for you as you trek up north.

Finally we are done and it is still sinking in as I write this. Over 1 million footsteps so far and the big lesson is you can only do one at a time. Also never fear great heights tomorrow as there is so much to enjoy today and there is plenty of time to live the fear in the moment when it arrives. And finally can someone tell Rob I do not like heights and that he should not say things like ‘oh Len you are not going to like this, don’t look down!!!’. Well done Rob....was great doing this with you and enjoyed your company and good humour along the way. Big thanks to Karen for ferrying our bags around and bringing stimulating conversation and fun to our evenings.

Post script: As Len and Karen head off to Cheltenham to celebrate with friends they dump Rob and his luggage at Chepstow railway station to let him struggle back to his London home.There he meets Nick and Trudy Veres who are waiting for a train to Gloucester and take sympathy on a bedraggled, exhausted and hungry rambler and offer help and support. They were both born in different parts of the UK - Trudy is the daughter of wartime GI - but now live in the Yukon. They are the second party we have met from the Yukon walking Offa's trail - it's a long way to come for a walk but it seems the ancient King of Mercia's pulling power goes way beyond these shores.

Walk 38 (OD 13) -11.2 miles - Total 499.3 miles - To Go 500.7 miles

Robin’s Walk and AXA PPP Step Up Challenge
Monmouth, Upper and Lower Redbrook, The Kymin, Bigsweir, Brockweir and Tintern Abbey














We walk up the hill in Monmouth and past Prego where we had an enjoyable Italian. Just as we are about to leave the town Mary Newman stops us to read our tee shirts. We talk and she donates to our cause when she hears what we are up to. Thankyou Mary we really appreciate it.

No surprise but there is then a sadistic climb up to the Kymin through Garth Forest. So early in the morning it is a real challenge and we nash our teeth at those on the Offa’s Dyke committee taking this route rather than the gently wander along the River Wye. People say style hurts and something we are learning is that views hurt. When we experience a painful walk up we invariably say at the top ‘wow what a view’ and today is no exception. We stop to take in the naval temple opened on August 1st 1800 to commemorate famous victories of the British Navy and its Admirals. Nelson himself is commemorated there and is known to have visited the spot and looked down on the Wye and described it as ‘a little gut of a river’.

We walk by Coxbury Farm where Rob is overjoyed as we reconnect with Offa’s Dyke itself. He wonders over and gives it a big hug. In a most perfect spot we find Wendy Birch from Walsall writing post cards to her friends and family. First she is drying them in the sun following the downpour that soaked them yesterday on the walk up from Chepstow. Wendy is walking as far as Welshpool and is now looking forward to some of the delights ahead we promise her.


Just down the hill we enter Slip Wood and come upon the best blue bell scene we have ever seen anywhere. It is stunning, magnificent with blue bells as far as you can see and all around. We walk through it on a soft mulch under foot and it does just go on forever with the occasional break of a swathe of white wild garlic flowers.

It is a long walk in the wood up and down and dark and in many places mossy and dank. Rob remarks that at any point it would be no surprise to come across a prehistoric monster still roaming around.


Towards the end of the wood Hudson and Dorrit come running and barking towards me with menacing intent. I ask Michelle and Sally from Tintern and Brockweir if this is their way of saying hello. They tell me no this is them telling you loud and clear that you are trespassing on their territory. I pat them on the head and assure them we will be off shortly and ask them to be gentle with Rob who is still nervous of dogs.

We stop for lunch on the banks by the Wye just beyond Bigsweir Bridge. The views today are just outstandingly beautiful. Winding river, valley, hills, meadows and forest all around and a new ‘wow’ round every corner. We eat our sandwiches watching fly fishermen casting off on the other bank. Looks like there is as much technique to it as golf. We could imagine ourselves tangled up in fishing line if attempting what they were doing. A really idyllic lunch spot and time stands still and we in awe of it.


We walk along by the Wye and the beauty continues round every corner. We approach Llandogo which is on the other side of the river and just have to stop and admire it, photograph it and just take it in. The sun is warm, the river flowing by, the grass is dry and the view to Llandogo just perfect. Could stay here all day from morning light, through midday to the setting sun. We stay for about half an hour just taking it all in.


We enter a field and a white horse takes a keen interest in Rob. Rob tells me the horse wants an apple and once again I am impressed at his ability to communicate with animals. He is a lot more relaxed than when confronted by bullocks with horns.
Around another corner we meet Robert Adams up from Bristol planning a charity walk to support the Darjeeling Childrens Trust. Marilyn Adams set up the trust in 2007 to help children in Darjeeling with education and support to give them a helping hand in life. Robert and Marilyn were in Darjeeling three days ago and tell us it takes a couple of days to get back. If you are interested in what they are doing there take a look at their web site at www.darjeelingchildrenstrust.com.



We stop by Tintern Abbey where we are staying tonight and go for a cup of tea and a big slab of rich chocolate cake. So close to the end we allow ourselves a little indulgence. Peter Little and Henry come over to make a donation to our cause and we share notes on the walk as Peter completed it in ten days fifteen years ago.
It is tough to say one day on this walk is better or worse than any other but today was special and having travelled the world we will put the Wye Valley as one of the best days of the whole walk and one of the most beautiful places in the world.

And tomorrow is the last day! We are so impressed with what we have done. This is the hardest thing we have done in our lives and we have found new levels of endurance and recovery and pushed ourselves on when the body was saying enough enough. 500 mile mark tomorrow and finish Offa’s Dyke and only 500 miles to go!