Last weekend had a strong emphasis on charity. On Friday 19th I found myself walking the length of the Worcestershire Way (officially 31 miles of undulating Worcestershire countryside, but proved to be a mile longer according to GPS) for the annual St Richard’s Hospice challenge walk. John Woodcock had enticed me to join him in return for him coming to a dinner I was organising for the Nepal Earthquake Appeal. Thinking about it, I seem to have picked the short straw in this deal. Where is the hardship in eating a meal? Nevertheless, I agreed, on the understanding that I would not be seeking sponsorship at a time when I was wanting to encourage people to support the earthquake appeal; I would simply make a donation to St Richard’s.

I have often walked the Worcestershire Way, but over two days finishing the end of the first day at the Admiral Rodney pub in Berrow Green. Doing it in a day would seriously challenge my ability to walk past the Admiral Rodney and not go in to rehydrate on Butty Bach.

Gathering at St Richard’s at 4.45am in order to catch the bus provided to take us to Bewdley. Conversation, for the most part, was muted but there were one or two who were clearly more ‘morning’ people than others. It was quite a bright morning but there was a promise of heavy cloud developing in the morning, keeping temperatures down but without the chance of rain. Perfect conditions. The fact that it remained sunny all day, that it was quite warm and I was grateful to long stretches of walking in the shade and a hat when I wasn’t, goes to show that the forecasters for the 19th June got it very wrong.

There were 82 walkers in total. John and I had David Woodcock and Mike Brennen walking with us. We started walking at 5.45am and set ourselves a good pace. Navigation was never an issue, for not only is the route well waymarked, I have walked it so many times I know it with my eyes closed. Every so often a female voice emanated from John’s pocket telling us how far we had walked, our pace, the number of calories we had burned and the number of steps we had taken. This was encouraging, particularly as we seemed to be setting a pace of 17 minutes per mile. Even a few ups did not seem to diminish the pace that much. Hang on though, this was not a race. It is supposed to be a lovely country walk. So why did four people just run past us?

The climb up Abberley Hill, quite steep at times, slowed us down. It was from here that we had our first view of the finish, Malvern, the hills being a hazy lump in the distance. Then we had the mile undulating along the ridge, not making any forward progress but walking across our route rather than along it. At Abberley we were a third of the way. This was our first opportunity to take a break as the Abberley WI were providing tea and cakes in the Abberley School cricket pavilion. It was still only 9.00am and I was eating cake! While some sat down and took the weight off their feet I was reluctant to do so, knowing that it would make it much harder to get going again. There was a great atmosphere of being in this together. People were easy to talk to, the most often asked question being, “Have you done this before?” While there were some Worcestershire Way virgins, like myself, there were many who were repeaters, people dedicated to supporting St Richard’s.

Not over full with cake we started the second third with the steep pull up Sheep Hill. This led to one of the most beautiful sections of the walk, along the ridge overlooking the Teme Valley. In these conditions it was perfect. Once up the hill we were able to pick up the pace again and, although 17 minute miles were a thing of the past we were still managing sub 20 minute miles.

On the ridge there is a seat dedicated to the Martley Path-or-Nones, a fabulous resting point with stunning views across the Teme to Shelsley and Clifton. Two walkers were resting when we arrived; two walkers I had never met before. That did not stop me from telling them that their time was up and that they should bugger off. They did! After a short rest, a bite to eat, a drink and an appreciation of the view, we were off again. As we descended steeply to the river the knees began to feel the pain but, as with all the hills on this route, they are short lived and so is the pain.

Soon we were passing the Admiral Rodney and I wondered if this might not be a psychological hurdle for me. It proved not to be. I was feeling generally good and wanted to see this through to the end.

Lunch was at the Talbot at Knightwick, 21 miles into the walk. Two thirds completed. John and Mike’s wives, Chris and Geraldine, were there to meet us with a clean shirt for John and a selection of boots for them to change into if they so needed. It was also an opportunity to offload any unwanted kit we were carrying to lighten our loads.  A large buffet spread was set out for us but I was more interested in fluid, water, orange squash, anything to rehydrate. Beer was not a temptation at this stage. A massage service was available and David took advantage to have his legs pummeled ready for the final third. I changed my socks and the inner soles of my boots. While I was doing this a thought occurred to me. Why am I doing this? I don’t have any sponsors. Nobody is relying on me completing this walk in order to give me money. I am making a donation. If I am doing that I could sit at home all day and send a cheque. I must be mad. With those thoughts we set off for the last ten miles or so to Malvern.

The pace had slowed, not hugely, but sufficiently for me to notice that the voice from John’s pocket was not as encouraging as it might be. Before we reached Longley Green I began to visualise the village shop and its supply of Magnums. Meeting up with a fellow walker, I warned him that if he was planning to visit the shop for a Magnum, and it was the last one in the shop, I would have to kill him. The threat was enough to deter him from doing so. As it happened, there were plenty in stock and we allowed ourselves a brief rest while we savoured our Magnums!

The lump that is North Hill began to loom over us and the end was clearly in sight. We just had to climb over the Malverns and drop down into the town and, more particularly, the Red Lion. This was the hardest bit at the end of a long day. I took my sticks out ready. The flight of steps from lower West Malvern to upper West Malvern are a real killer and they are followed by a steep climb past the now closed Lamb Inn. It was here that I hit a wall. My pace slowed significantly. I had led all the way but now I was at the back, struggling to find the energy for the climb to the top of the ridge. As the path became less steep and eventually levelled out, I found my energy again and enjoyed the circumnavigation of North Hill. Here we paused for photos.

Finally we reached the point of descent, the knee jarring route down to the pub. It hurt but we knew that soon the pain would end, John’s blisters could have the pressure taken off them, David’s saw bits would no longer chafe. If Mike had any problems he kept them to himself. Our wives would be there at the end waiting to mop our brows, pat us on the back, fetch us pints, massage our sore bits. They would be there at our beck and call. And so they were, all except Chris, who was caught up in watching Andy Murray, much more important than seeing her husband and eldest son finish a 32.11 mile walk in twelve and half hours.

Having sat at the pub for an hour, getting up to go to the car was painful, not only to achieve but also to watch. And so it was for the next twenty four hours until my became accustomed to moving. They felt as though somebody had stamped on them. Despite the aches and pains, it was a great day out in perfect conditions. I don’t need to do it again, I have done it. Would I do it again, if asked? Probably, yes!

Still aching a little from Friday’s exertions, I organised a fundraising meal at Cromwells, a Nepali/Indian restaurant at Powick, just outside Worcester. I arrived an hour before the main body of guest in order to set things up to find a number of table occupied by people I didn’t know. While I was setting up other came in looking for a meal, and were accepted by the Nepali staff. There were still a few tables occupied when the main thrust of of my booking arrived between 7.00 and 7.30pm. It did not matter, as the sixty four people who came all knew each other but had not necessarily seen each other for a while. They were happy to crowd around the bar, and it was an impenetrable crowd for a while, have a drink or two and chat. Anna, my daughter, got trapped and could not easily move around the room to sell raffle tickets.

Eventually the tables all cleared and we were able to release the pressure around the bar as people sat down and Anna could move freely, making the most of the selling opportunity. It still took a while for the food to be brought to the buffet table. I was concerned that people would be feeling hungry but nobody seemed to mind and once the food did arrive and people began to taste its delights, any negative feelings I might have had soon disappeared. The food was stunning. So much so that Pradip declared it was the best authentic Nepali food he had tasted outside Nepal. High praise indeed. Nobody had a bad word to say about the food and when I offered the chance for people to return to the buffet table for more, many did.

Before we got down to the serious business of the evening we played the birthday game, which, if it had worked out properly would have had one winner. As it happened we ended up with four, who shared the massive box of Swiss chocolates with the whole room, although I think it bypassed me. The aim of this game was to raise some quick cash to give to Gill and Pradip for all the fabulous work they do with their charity, Jamarko.

I spoke briefly about the trust and showed the assembled crowd two short films of the trust’s day to day work in education and health. Gill Spilsbury, a good friend, spoke for a few minutes about her experiences of the earthquake and the impact it has had on peoples’ lives. I then showed a short, graphic film of the quake and some of the images that have since come out of Nepal. This was designed to be emotive just before I held an auction. I have seen the film many times but it never fails to draw upon my emotions.

The auction was approached light heartedly and we even got £50 for Kevin Poole’s flat cap that he bought on the Dales Way and that we pinched. We did have some special items, the best of which was a summer print by the Sherpa deaf and dumb artist Temba that had been signed by Ed Hillary, George Lowe, George Band, Mike Westmacott, Doug Scott, Stephen Venables, Chris Bonington and Rebecca Stephens, a venerable collection of Everest achievers.

We concluded the evening with a game of Heads and Tails for a bottle of wine, the proceeds of which also went to Jamarko before drawing the raffle with its wide selection of prizes.

Afterwards many people stood talking, reluctant to leave, but gradually the numbers thinned out. It was great seeing so many good friends in such a convivial atmosphere. While the shape of the room was not perfect for such an event, it was cosy and the food was truly exceptional. Financially, it was a huge success, raising approximately £4500 for the Himalayan Trust UK Earthquake Appeal. Thank you to all my friends who contributed in such a positive way.