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| JULIAN CLEGG AND ME, FOR THOSE WHO LIKE TWO EGGS FOR BREAKFAST |
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| SON DAVID AND ME AT THE SUMMIT OF MOEL SIABOD |
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| AN ICY SCRAMBLE DOWN TRYFAN IN SNOWDONIA |
Dad had been ill
for a while and was aged 81, so maybe it was time for him to leave us. However,
this was surely not the case for friend and neighbour Steve, whose wife Sarah
acted as Treasurer for my charity walk. Steve was just 55, my age, when he died
suddenly at home of a heart attack on December 9th. A social animal, he was a
founder member of the Bishop’s Waltham Rotary Club, one of my sponsors, and had
lived two doors from me for the past 21 years. The neighbourhood will never be
quite the same without him.
I lost my main
business client three months prior to my walk as a result of the recession and
have had very little work since I returned. I guess this is the rainy day for
which I put aside some savings. Life on a minimal income has not been so bad
and at least I won’t have any tax bills to pay.
Two months after my
last diary entry things relating to the walk are still happening. I have
continued to receive donations raising the current total to £7,700 - still
short of my £10,000 target but I haven’t given up yet. There are a few
collecting boxes still out there and some promises of further donations.
I was delighted to
have been invited to the BBC Radio Solent Xmas party on Xmas Eve and pleased to
meet so many other interesting and adventurous people. Host Julian Clegg
announced on-air that I was willing to give talks about my walk, and I reaffirm
that here. I am already committed to giving talks to several local groups and
presently have bookings through to March 2010. I don’t charge a fee, but leave
a large collecting bucket for the charities by the exit! My talk to Shedfield
Men’s Group on 1st December ’09 raised over £110.
Aside from that, I
have tried to keep up the exercise. My son David and I climbed the North Ridge
of Tryfan in Snowdonia on 28 November and Moel Siabod the following day. These
were icy climbs with snow up to a foot deep on the summits. I have a few plans
for 2010, which include walking in the Welsh Brecon Beacons in late January, a
3-day 100 km charity walk in Hampshire during April and a visit to the Cuillin
Ridge on the Isle of Skye in May. However, I see these activities as just a
means of keeping fit whilst I consider something much more significant. Watch
this space.