As most of you know Majella and myself have just completed a 10 mile walk along our local River Ancholme through Walk4Wildlife and in aid of Tiger Awareness projects.We had targeted to raise £500 and have surpassed that to our current total which stands at £625 :)
It all began in May when I came across a retweeted tweet about Walk4Wildlife Events from Mark.After checking the website and finding that the only walks were very far from us I suggested to Mark about organising a walk in North Lincolnshire along our river.He thought it a great idea and immediately added it to the list of walks on the website.We then came up with the date July 23rd for our walk to give us a good few weeks to fundraise and it filled in the gap between our holiday in Wales and our campaigning for Hen Harriers which was also shortly followed by the Birding festivals.The next step was to chose which of the five charities registered to fundraise for.As big Tiger fans we decided on Tiger Awareness.Of course we would love to be in the situation where we could fundraise and help protect every animal on the planet.The hope was that over the coming weeks more people would log in, see the available walk and register to walk with us, fundraising for their own choice of animal charity but in the end it turned out to be just the two of us.It would've been three if Mark hadn't recently damaged his back.Hope you're feeling better Mark :)
Tiger Awareness Founder Phil Davis became aware of our walk and very kindly sent us a couple of t-shirts which we proudly wore when doing a couple of carboots to boost the funds, and of course on the day of the walk.Two sponsorship forms were printed out, one for people we knew locally and one to be sent over to Ireland for Majella's family to fill in.We also created a JustGiving page to promote on social media.
So to the big day.......due to my Arthritis I always knew it would be a challenge and having had physio a few days earlier and my physiotherapist advising NOT to do the walk, it just made me more determined to get through it and raise that money whatever.The weather forecast had predicted a very warm day with temperatures reaching over 20c before 10am so to get a head start we set off earlier than planned at around 7.15am.I had already been up since 5am to empty my Moth Trap and get my body loosened up as best I could before starting the walk.
Setting off from Brigg
The first 2-3 miles were the easy ones.The newly installed cycle/footpath made walking with my stick pretty comfortable.We kept stopping to watch the insect life emerge from the vegetation into the morning sun.Skipper, Whites, Ringlets, Gatekeepers, Tortoiseshells and Red Admirals all appearing on the wing.Swans and Moorhen were busy on the river with their young and Majella had started the walk in Irish Mode(non-stop chatting ;)) so the first few miles quickly drifted behind us.
Tortoiseshell Butterfly
This Moorhen collected grass then settled back down on her 2 eggs.
The first part of the walk along the new cycle path.
Reaching Castlethorpe Bridge.
From Broughton Bridge it got a bit tougher, the cycle path gave way to a farm track which had become overgrown since we checked it out a few weeks previously.
Broughton bridge.
The grassy farm track.
Getting to the 3 mile marker.
With temperatures rising (both in the weather and in me) I was now becoming a walking attraction to the local biting flying brigade which wasn't helping my change of mood.Even the sight of Dragonflies zipping around us failed to stop my irritation.
Another bridge, the rail bridge as we get near to Bonby & Saxby.
Reaching half way :) Majella looks happier than me lol
We continued on, stopping regularly to top up on fluids and Kendall Mint Cake :) , passing another mile marker as we watched a pair of Kestrels hovering over the neighbouring field.A couple of miles later and we could finally see our end destination.The Cement Works we could now see in the distance was only a hundred yards from the pub we were heading for so gave us new hope we would actually make it.The only thing about walking on a straight path is you seem to walk for miles and never seem to get any closer to the building you are walking towards lol
Looking from Horkstow bridge towards South Ferriby and the Cement Works.
Half hour later and the Hope & Anchor was a most welcome sight.The only life to meet us were the Mute Swans on the estuary.
We headed into the shade of the pub, grabbed a couple of drinks(after paying for them ;)) and found an empty table outside.
Mission Accomplished!! :)
It did feel a bit strange doing a sponsored walk where there was no one to see us off and no one to see us at the finish so if we had just driven round in the car(which would have taken 15 minutes, not 5 hours) would anyone have been the wiser lol
As well as the mega importance of raising the money to help Tiger Awareness projects I personally wanted to prove that I could still do something useful and make a little 10 mile walk :)
Our JustGiving page is still running if anyone would still like to help Tigers and make sure you go and check out the amazing work Tiger Awareness do at ground level with communities in India.
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/StuartPike-MajellaFox
http://www.tigerawareness.co.uk/
I have to say a MASSIVE Thank you to my fiance Majella for agreeing to do this with me in the first place as it's not something I could've risked doing on my own.Love you loads :) x
Thank you also to everyone who sponsored, donated, retweeted, shared on Facebook and supported us with encouragement :) By working together we can make a difference and help save our planet and the amazing wildlife in it.
Thanks for reading :)
