Over the last five years (beginning in September 2019) a group of seven of us have been walking the South West Coastal Path. Four of the group have covered the whole 630 mile journey in annual increments of about 100 miles, whilst the other three have journeyed up to 550 miles. None of us are as young as we were 5 years ago, but we've had a great time walking, talking, including swapping stories with strangers as we've walked, taking in the wonders of creation as we've clocked up the miles and been well fed and watered by our Chief Cook Alex. Judith, Alex's wife was the one who put the challenge to us all and her sister Caroline, along with Daphne, Rob, Lois and John thought "Why not?"

So here we are in 2024, feeling a little tired but deep down exhilarated having pushed ourselves to do "All We Could". When asked many times what we were walking for we replied honestly 'because we like walking'! We could tell that the questioners were probably inquiring if we were being sponsored and while not soliciting donations we finished up raising a total of getting on for £10 000, including Gift Aid. The money was given to The Leprosy Mission and All We Can in acknowledgement of our gratitude for being able to walk, as against those who through no fault of their own, suffer ill health or are "born on the wrong side of the track.'

As Louis Armstrong used to sing, we rediscovered "What a Wonderful World".

 

Best wishes

John Hindson