Well done! Wall walkers
The Seven Ages of Man (and two more) Team
Four teams of sponsored walkers all achieved their goal of walking across Britain along Hadrian's Wall, in the process raising £174,000 (and still rising) for Prostate Research Campaign UK. Thanks to them and to fantastic friends and supporters, many of them Update readers, who gave generously in sponsorship. Thanks, also, to one of the younger walkers, Joe Kirby, who wrote this account for us.
Joe Kirby, who wrote this article
Occasionally an eclectic group of people with the most tenuous of links are thrown together and happen to combine with explosive chemistry. The fantastic team-spirit that sparkled between all four teams testified that this expedition was undertaken by a very special band: The Heroes of Hadrian's Wall.
Perhaps it was the blend of history, wildlife and scenery that inspired us. Maybe it was the daunting knowledge that a 7-day, 84 mile trek had to be completed inside of five days. For me, the camaraderie was thanks to the coupling of youth and experience: the age ranged from 70 to 20 among the four teams, made up of twenty-nine individuals. (See below for names). Many had never met each other before; however we all bonded and focussed on our universal goal: conquering the coast-to-coast path and in so doing raising money for the Prostate Research Campaign UK.
The Pace-Setters team was appropriately led by two professors Kirby and Fitzpatrick, who pioneered the path into the wilderness. Peter Amoroso's team, The Seven Ages of Man (and two more) came swiftly behind. My own band of brothers, The Young Guns pursued as hungrily as a pack of wolves, with bounding exuberance marshalled under the firm hand of The Legionaires team, led by the irrepressible Roger Plail and the man of steel, Brigadier John Anderson.
On Day One, morale was high and banter flowed. Sighting Fort Segedunum reminded us of our Roman heritage. Upon crossing the Tyne we felt, as Caesar must have done on crossing the Rubicon, announcing (in Latin): 'The die is cast'. From now on, there would be no turning back. Having left the coast and the Tyne, we set our sights on crossing Britain.
The second and third days were spectacular: we were confronted by staggering beauty. The views ranged far out to horizons of English meadows and Scottish highlands, as we trudged our weary way alongside the vallum and the wall, incredibly preserved after two thousand years of history and weathering.
At this point, one sensation dominated all others: a dull, aching pain from the umbilicus down. The concrete paths through Newcastle had taken their toll on the cruciates; the heavy walking boots meant unrelenting pressure on the Achilles, and constant friction had several walkers suffering from blisters. You only had to glance at John Hudson to know that something was afoot(!). The team motto became, no pain, no gain.
The whole operation was conducted, thanks to mobile phone liaisons, with consummate military efficiency. In fact, it was some feat to bring all four groups together in Carlisle for the celebratory dinner (in what was, for my team, only our third day!). In the restaurant Casa Romana, the atmosphere was fantastic.
The mixture of students, patients, consultants and nurses and Prostate Research Campaign UK supporters encapsulated the diversity and warm spirit of integration that was so important to the team. We finally emerged triumphant, with the wind howling in our faces, on the west coast of England at Bowness on Solway. The sores were eroding ever deeper into the soles of our feet, but we had made it, each of us repeating Caesar's famous boast: 'Veni, vidi, vici.' We had conquered the Wall.
| The four teams | |||
| Pace-Setters Roger Kirby John Fitzpatrick John Dick Gill Dick Jennifer Sheldon Emma MacDonald Hugh Sharp Ted Clucas Iona White |
Young Guns Joe Kirby Nicholas Newman Dan Birley James Midmer Ollie Thompson James Burns John Hudson |
Seven Ages of Man Peter Amoroso Rex Willoughby Andrew Etherington Charles Larkum Jack Carr Nick Rogers Andrew Lamont Sue Lamont Anna Raine |
Legionaires John Anderson Roger Plail Nigel Offen Jane Dawoodi |