Welcome!

 Welcome to my blog!


In the long, hot summer of 2013, I completed a solo walk of 955 miles from John O'Groats to Land's End as a personal challenge and to raise money for Cancer Research UK. This led to me writing a book about my epic journey, 'Footsteps in Summer', and giving illustrated talks to a wide range of groups and clubs. So far, I've raised over £30,000 for this worthy cause, but the time has now come for me to undertake another charity walking challenge.

I was originally due to undertake this walk in 2020, but unfortunately COVID intervened and I had to postpone my journey. COVID permitting, 0n 14th May 2023 (hopefully dry, but not as hot as 2013!), I'll be beginning my Walk Around Wales journey along the entire Wales Coast path from Chester to Chepstow, then joining Offa's Dyke path to complete the journey back to Prestatyn on 15th July- a gruelling distance of over 1,050 miles. 

I've planned my route and booked 63 nights of accommodation, so my focus now is to get myself into reasonable shape for undertaking the walk. It will be tough going and I have to remind myself that it is ten years since I completed my previous adventure. I'm older, possibly wiser, but definitely not as fit!

I'm continuing to raise funds for Cancer Research UK - their valuable work has helped to significantly increase survival rates from cancer during my lifetime yet, with no government funding, they rely entirely on our donations. I've set up a new JustGiving page  (www.justgiving.com/fundraising/WalkAroundWales), so any donations will be much appreciated.

I'll be writing a daily blog during the walk (www.russellswalkaroundwales.blogspot.com), so you can follow my progress and comment as you wish. In due course, I'll also post updates on my preparation and will publish my final itinerary.

I'm looking forward to family and friends joining me at various stages of the route, whether to walk with me for a few days or a few hours, to meet up for dinner at the end of the day, or just to buy me a refreshing drink en route! If you're interested, just let me know and I will send you a copy of my itinerary.

In the meantime, it's back to the training for me!

Many thanks for your support.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 59 Newcastle in Clun to Welshpool (18.9 miles, cumulative 999.7)

Image
Apologies to the people trying to contact me yesterday - I had no wifi or phone reception at my B&B. Today's weather forecast was more rain. I feel as if I'm being punished for the endless weeks of sun I enjoyed earlier in my journey.  My B&B neighbour kindly gave me a lift back to the start of the footpath. I made very slow progess during the morning, walking just six miles in three hours. This was due to a steep climb at the start, then the infamous Switchbacks, a series of successive steep ascents and descents, which were even more challenging in wet conditions.  I commented yesterday about the stiles being replaced by gates. This clearly has not happened in the northern section of Offa's Dyke, where stiles are dominant, many in a poor state of repair. This only added to today's workload. From midday there were frequent heavy rain showers, so I added more items to my growing collection of wet clothes. Fortunately my hotel in Welshpool has a heated...
Read more

Day 63 Bodfari to Prestatyn (12.2 miles, cumulative 1,071.2) FINISHED!

Image
The last day! Shelley drove Gordon and me to the start of today's walk and I set off for the final time. We started with a long ascent, then zig-zagged our way through fields, moorland, woodland and country lanes, dodging some heavy showers on two occasions. Then Prestatyn came into view from above and we gradually descended into civilisation.  After 1,071 miles in 62 days, 4 hours and 45 minutes, I reached the end of my journey at the coast, having walked the perimeter of Wales. What an adventure! There are so many memories - 40 days of amazing weather, followed by a fair dose of rain, spectacular scenery, meeting interesting people en route for a few minutes or a few days, visits from family and friends, super accommodation, countless lasagne and chips dinners, steep hills, secluded bays, stunning cliffs, reliable trains and buses...... My body has coped admirably, with no injuries, no blisters, and no Covid. I've lost about a stone in weight during the journey. U...
Read more
Image
It's just over one month before the start of my big walking adventure around the entire border of Wales. This trip has been in the planning for so long, with the original walk due to take place in 2020, that it feels surreal finally to have reached this stage. The overall distance (1,050 miles) will be around 100 miles more than my last major walk between John O' Groats and Land's End (JOGLE) back in 2013. However, there will be significant differences in the two journeys: 1. The Walk Around Wales will follow just two defined footpaths - the Wales Coast Path and Offa's Dyke Path, whereas JOGLE offered complete freedom in the choice of route between the start and finish points. 2. The Walk Around Wales route will pass through dozens of coastal resorts, hopefully thronging with tourists willing to part with their cash by donating to my Cancer Research UK fundraising. In contrast, most of my JOGLE route passed through rural areas, so I had minimal human contact for long se...
Read more