WOODBOROUGH resident Marion Smith is making good progress on her epic walk from Land’s End to John O’Groats, despite a few injuries and mishaps along the way. Having set out from Land’s End on 11 March, she has currently walked as far as Wheaton Aston in Staffordshire, roughly between Telford and Cannock.
Smith is maintaining a blog of her journey, in which she is walking solo and camping overnight. The 900-mile hike is underway to mark her 70th birthday later this year and to raise money for two charities: Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance, and Cancer Research. She expects to take three months to complete the trek.
Her voyage so far has not been without mishap. On Day 8, with her head down, she walked straight into a road sign and reports that she thought she had broken her wrist in the subsequent fall. The next day a wrong turn led her into a bog, from which she could only proceed after leaving a boot behind in the mud.
Then, a police search for a missing walker was called off when Mrs Smith returned to the farm where she had stashed her rucksack while retracing a couple of miles to retrieve a lost map.
Most dramatically, a tumble caused by a loose bootlace left her bleeding from the face and with two black eyes, as the dramatic pictures on her blog show. In this, as with other adventures along the way, Marion reports being grateful for the help and generosity of strangers.
Her planned route north will take in her through the Peak District and along the Pennine Way to the Scottish border, then via the West Highland Way and the Great Glen to John O’Groats.
Follow Marion Smith’s progress on her blog, at http://www.marionsmith.biz/
Donations to the charities can be made via Justgiving:
http://www.justgiving.com/MarionSmith1 (Notts and Lincs Air Ambulance)
http://www.justgiving.com/MarionSmith (Cancer Research)
