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 8: North and South

We left Hayle on the north coast of Cornwall and walked to Marazion on the south coast. It's about 5 miles coast-to-coast across this thinnest part of Cornwall.

At Marazion we saw St Michael's Mount, tide in, so no chance of hopping across the causeway for a look around.

From a perfect blue sky in the morning on the north coast, by the time we'd reached St Michael's Mount just a couple of hours later the clouds had rolled in and the forecast was looking pretty bad for later on.

We met a lady in Marazion that told us her story about Macmillan helping her when she had a brain tumour 4 years ago. She has just been for a check up with her specialist who said she didn't need another appointment for a year. A great success story. We've heard so many great stories about the charities that we are walking for, and what they mean to so many people.

Please support the excellent work of Macmillan and RMH Bristol by sponsoring our walk here: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/walklandsend

When we reached Penzance we made the decision to push onwards to Land's End and combine the two last days into one. We'd always factored in flexibility with the days in case of delays, bad weather, or any other problems, but so far we were on track and on good form so we thought we would be able to make the last 9 miles before the weather closed in on us and before it got dark.

Did we make it? Was it possible? Find out in the next installment of the blog!

Here are a few photos from the Hayle - Penzance walk:

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 6: Clinging to the cliff edge

Dramatic cliffs along the Atlantic coast.

After leaving Newquay we headed west to the estuary of the River Gannel. We had to head upstream to a different bridge because the place we were planning to cross wasn't passable.

This diversion early on meant we found ourselves further inland than planned so we worked out a new route to meet the coast path at Perranporth.

To say the coastline is dramatic is a big understatement. There were a lot of landslips and the narrow rocky coast path is right on the edge of the cliff in places. The south west coast path is a well-managed national trail but it seems like bits of it might be getting eroded faster than alternative routes can be put in place.

The day ended with a stunning sunset. Here are some photos to summarise the day...

Day 1: Totnes to Dartmeet

Wow, what a day! There were some fairly almighty ascents to contend with. There's nothing like jumping in at the deep end.

It's all for two fantastic causes, Macmillan Cancer Support and RMH Bristol.

Take a look at the sponsorship page and if you are able to donate to the charities we're supporting with this walk please consider sponsoring the walk. There are plenty more days and a lot of hills still to climb!.

http://VirginMoneyGiving.com/walklandsend/

Here are some photos from the first day of the 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

Training on the North Downs Way

With only a few weeks to go before the start of our Totnes to Land's End walk, we stepped up the training regime.

We caught the train to Otford in Kent, where the North Downs Way passes the station. We followed the trail east towards Rochester (19 miles). If you want to view / download the route you can get it here: North Downs Way Otford Walk Route

It was a mild day, but felt hot at times - especially after climbing a big hill. Apparently the high pressure system has trapped air pollution from Europe and dust blown over from the Sahara over Kent and south east England. There was a murky haze of blue-grey throughout the day but we didn't notice any abnormally bad air. On the radio in the morning the news had warned of "stinging eyes" and "difficulty breathing", and maybe as a result of this there were very few people out and about on the trail or in the villages along the way.

After 19 miles of the Downs (mainly Ups) there aren't any aches or pains to report. This is encouraging for our big Totnes to Land's End walk starting on the 18 April.

We've launched the sponsorship page at uk.virginmoneygiving.com/walklandsend

The map at the top of this post is the training walk route on the North Downs Way.  If you would like to view the route for our walk to Land's End please see the Route Plan page.