We made it!

We completed the London to Brighton Trek!

Here's a photo from the finish line.

That was one tough walk, physically and mentally!

The fundraising page stays open for a little while so please donate to the British Heart Foundation via our JustGiving page http://justgiving.com/2walkto.

Thank you!

In training: Another long walk

As part of our training for the London to Brighton 100K Trek, we have been stepping up the distance walks in preparation for the endurance challenge facing us next month.

It's all in aid of the British Heart Foundation - and this blog is about the walk, the training and the fundraising.

Walking the North Downs Way

The North Downs Way national trail has featured in a few of our training walks already and we previously reached as far as Guildford in the westerly direction. The final length of the trail is about 10 miles farther west to Farnham. This means we've done all of the North Downs Way between Guildford and Hollingbourne, with the Guildford-Farnham part still to finish in the west, and from Hollingbourne-Dover still to cover in the south east.

24 May 2015

We jumped on a train from London Waterloo to Guildford where we followed the River along the route which will be part of the actual London to Brighton Trek on the 27th June. Where this meets the North Downs Way we turned off the river path and headed in the direction of Farnham.

The first 12 miles to Farnham took us through bluebell woods (pictured above) and sandy lanes. At Farnham station we switched from the North Downs Way to a combination of local walks heading for MOD land, eventually ending in Fleet, another 14 miles further.

Danger signs and suspicious objects on MOD land near Aldershot and Farnborough.

When we got to Fleet Pond nature reserve we realised a train from Fleet back to London Waterloo was due in the next 5 minutes so we finished our 26 mile walk with a light jog, followed by a more serious run when we spotted the train was on the other platform and we needed to run over the footbridge to get to it!

Today's walk has almost very nearly coincided with part of the route we walked on our first charity walk adventure from London to Devon, where we followed the Three Castles Path for 3 of the days. We are planning a future walk to join up the end of this walk from Fleet, heading to Winchfield and the Basingstoke canal. But that's for another time!

Here are a few more photos from this walk:

23 mile circular walk in West Sussex

We are in training for a mammoth charity walk for the British Heart Foundation - the LONDON to BRIGHTON TREK 2015. It is 100 km to be completed within 30 hours, walking through the day and night.

We're doing plenty of long walks at the moment to train for this large undertaking!

Here is one to share with you.

If you enjoy walking, this walk is a stunning route through the West Sussex countryside. We did it in May, when the bluebells were out. The walk crosses the appropriately-named Bluebell Railway (a preserved steam railway) a couple of times.

It's a circular walk so it can be started anywhere and you could shorten it if 23 miles is to your taste (if you're not in training for a trek!). We started in the village of West Hoathly, which is not far from the M23 Crawley/Gatwick.

Setting off from West Hoathly, we walked clockwise towards East Grinstead, then followed a straight trailway to Forest Row, before heading south and west to Horsted Keynes, then back round to the start point at West Hoathly.

For the walkers out there, click the map below to view the track we created using Viewranger (a GPS tracking app).

Get in contact if you'd like further information about this incredible walk. It's thoroughly recommended.

Below are some photos from the walk to entice you to go and do it!

Day 7: The ups and downs

The general theme with the coast path is up-down-up-down-up. Today was no exception. After every big climb there was a steep drop back to nearly sea level.

Erosion on this stretch of coastline was the other recurring theme. There were lots of diversions away from the previously marked path, often borrowing land from a farmer's field, or sending us down a lane.

As our destination of Hayle got nearer, the landscape changed from dramatic cliffs to more gently undulating sand dunes

We passed seal watchers, surfers, bird spotters, walkers, joggers, kite fliers, and every type of coastal being you can imagine.

Everyone we have met has been so friendly and when they find out we're doing a charity walk they almost always want to donate some money to the fundraising pot. All those spare bits of change add up and it all helps. Thank you to all the people that have donated this way.

Thanks to everyone that has already donated via the Virgin Money Giving page, and got those that haven't here's the link:  http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/walklandsend

We're pushing onwards towards Land's End...

Here are some pictures from Day 7:

Day 5: Moor to Sea

We started today's leg of the walk in Bodmin, and swiftly picked up the Camel Trail, which is another former-railway-line-turned-walk-and-cycle-path. It seems like there are quite a few of these trailways in Cornwall; many railway lines must have been removed.

The next part of the walk followed country lanes through villages and farms. The weather provided us with April Showers (acceptable because it is April and this is what we took on), although a couple of times the showers were more like April Deluges, getting us thoroughly soaked.

We took refuge from one of the heavier downpours under a church gateway porch in small town called St Columb Major. In this unlikely spot we got talking to a local lady also taking shelter from the rain. It's so interesting to get small snippets of the lives of the people we are meeting along the way.

By the time the sea came into view as we approached Newquay, the sun had pushed its way through the clouds and we realised we had kept walking for 20 miles without really sitting down.

We are over half way on the walk, with four more days to go.

To see how we're getting on during the walk, see the 'Track Our Progress' page which shows a live map - http://2walkto.blogspot.co.uk/p/track-live-progress.html

Here are some pictures from today's walk:

More hills and training

Only one week to go before the walk from Totnes to Land's End begins.  The sponsorship page is now open at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/walklandsend

Training Walk on the North Downs

We have been out in the Surrey countryside exploring another part of the North Downs Way. This time we caught the train from London out to Oxted, just outside the M25.

Here is a map of the route (click on the map to zoom in and view the distance, height, average speed etc if you are into that kind of thing!)

This part of the North Downs Way seems to hug the M25 for quite a long way. The countryside around here is absolutely beautiful (ignoring the 8 lanes of roaring traffic where possible!).

We had to cross the motorway a couple of times during the day, and we were never far from it.

Despite the proximity to the M25, at times it was possible to forget it was there. Combined with a beautiful Spring day we were treated to some great views of Surrey.

Here are a few more photos from the walk:

And no walk would be complete without seeing a quirky road name. We stumbled upon...

Don't forget to follow us next week when we begin the walk from Totnes to Land's End, and if you can sponsor us that would be brilliant.

The sponsorship page is open at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/walklandsend

2 Walk To Land's End badges

Sponsor our walk and you'll receive one of these unique, handmade, limited edition... BADGES!

Masses of thanks to Karen and Rupert for making and sending the badges.

The adventure continues

Exciting news!

We're on the move again, and raising money for 2 fantastic charities in the process...

This year we're continuing our walk by picking up from where we finished last year's epic walk from London to Devon.

In a few weeks from now we'll be heading to Totnes and continuing the journey from the exact spot we ended the walk in April 2013.

Keep an eye out on this blog for news about the walk and the charities we're walking for.

In just a couple of weeks the adventure continues!  Please come along for the journey with us by following our blog, Facebook and Twitter.

More news to follow...

:-)