Walking for the Lyndale School

[Mick R]

Hi all,

First of all - mods - if I'm doing something against the rules here, then please let me know

Two weeks tomorrow I'm heading for Scotland to walk the West Highland Way in order to raise money for a school in Eastham (the Lyndale School) where my friends' little girl is a pupil.

All the details are on the page on the link below, but basically my friends' little girl has microcephaly, and all of the pupils at the school have no independence, little communication, limited or no mobility and require adult support for all aspects of their lives in school. Some of them also have very severe and often life threatening medical conditions which require frequent medical support and emergency intervention from both educational and health trust staff.

I'm aiming to raise as much money as possible for the school which, I believe, often finds itself relying on this kind of thing to raise funds.

I'll say no more (except to apologise to all those who have already seen this), and the link is below if you have a few pennies to spare:

http://www.justgiving.com/whwforlyndaleschool

Cheers all,
Mick...

[Mick R]

Well, I’m back from (blisteringly hot and) sunny Scotland, with 100+ miles under my belt. Yes, along with my companions, I completed the West Highland Way (and a bit more as well), although it was not without its ups and downs.

A lengthy journey to Fort William (to drop a car off) and back to Glasgow (Milngavie) receded into memory as we sat outside the Carbeth Arms in the sun after putting away some hot grub, sinking a few beers, and all was well until we went down for breakfast on the Saturday morning to find Paul unable to stop expulsions from both ends. The cause was eventually settled on as a dirty glass from the pub the night before, as Paul battled on for the first five miles of the walk. Despite a dozen rest breaks in those first few hours, he was unable to prevent a further unexpected reappearance of breakfast in front of a number of girls walking the Way, and so we made a slight detour to the Glengoyne distillery and left him there to wait for a taxi.

As Steve, Chris and I continued, the heat rose steadily into the high 20’s, and by the time we’d reached Drymen, Chris was drained of all energy and also had to admit defeat and call a taxi. Steve and I gamely continued until the very end, and met up with Paul and Chris at Balmaha, only to find out that they had nabbed the bottom bunks.

With luck, and some more decent grub, everybody was feeling ok for the start of day 2, which passed with little incident. The temperature rose a little higher than the previous day, and by the time we reached Inversnaid I had developed the first of many blisters.

After popping the biggest blister I’d ever seen and applying some Compeed gel plasters, we set off on day three only for the temperature to reach 30oC by midday, and to stay up there until almost 5pm. This necessitated the intake of over 5 LITRES of water and Lucozade by myself, and I’m sure contributed to some seriously swollen feet, leading to a plethora of blisters fighting with each other for my attention, as well as broken nails and swollen toes.

By the start of day 4 I was practically unable to walk and was seriously concerned about my ability to finish the walk. But with the help of painkillers and £10 worth of gel plasters, allied to a slight drop in temperatures (only 23oC), I managed to hobble through to our next destination. The same scenario greeted me the following morning (after an evening spent with my feet in a bowl of salt water), but with the aid of the tablets and plasters, added to the fact that I seemed to find some sort of rhythm after a while, I managed to press on.

By the end of the fifth day, none of us had suffered a hangover (as we’d sensibly kept our alcohol intake to a minimum), but that evening the inevitable occurred, as we decided to try some fine single malts. Luckily only Paul had a hangover the next day, and the effects of the whisky did seem to help my feet once again, and day six started without me worrying about telephone numbers for taxis.

By the start of the last day, a 14 mile trek into Fort William, I was once again in some discomfort and discovered that if I half walked/half jogged the pain would decrease slightly. I also discovered (although don’t ask me how) that if I walked like Gaelon from Planet of the Apes, things were a tad easier. Steve helpfully pointed out that, had he seen anybody walking that way when he was back home, he would have a) crossed the street and b) phoned the authorities.

As we descended into Fort William, however, the realisation that we had beaten the West Highland Way was more than enough to make me forget about the blisters and the discoloured little toe which, even now, looks as though it’s about to drop off. Also, after a scorching week, the last two miles saw us totally drenched as a tropical rainstorm visited Fort William. It couldn’t dampen our spirits, mind, as we did away with the memories of six years earlier when we had only managed 40 miles before having to give up.

And so the challenge was accomplished, admittedly with me using the thought of the pupils at Lyndale School for inspiration during the most painful and difficult hours (although the last day saw them replaced as my inspiration by the thought of the lovely cold beer I was going to drink in Fort William that night).

As things stand, I am up to around £850 (including tax relief, with some more donations still to come in from other people who have been collecting (including the parents of the pupils at Lyndale). I’d like to give massive thanks to all those who have donated so far, your contributions are hugely appreciated by all at Lyndale School, and should any others wish to chip in, please do so at http://www.justgiving.com/whwforlyndaleschool

I may even speak to the headmistress to see if I can dip into the funds to buy myself a new pair of feet!!

[crucible77]

i personally think what youve done is fantastic, well done

[Valderie]

Well done Mick. I did The Coast to Coast (190 miles) a few years ago and hubby is talking about us doing the West Highland Way next year! After reading your report I think I might decline!
Pleased you raised so much money as well.