Lands End to John O'Groats Success!!

In the summer we told you how Hafod Staff - Ken Campbell and Pearl Hale were planning to cycle from Lands End to John O Groats to raise money for the Afghanistan Trust Charity.

Below is the story of the ride as told by Ken Campbell.

In August 2009 my nephew Kyle was killed while serving with the parachute regiment in Afghanistan. He was 21 years old. My sister, Kyle's mum, wanted to honour him by doing something extraordinary in his memory, while raising funds for the regiment's charity The Afghanistan Trust.

So on 30 July 2010 my sister, my brother-in-law, my partner Pearl Hale and me (four novice cyclists) stood with our bikes under a sign in Land's End pointing to John ‘O Groats at the other end of the country. Our route would take us a daunting 1004 miles along country lanes, cycle paths, minor and major roads, up and down hill and dale, over great glens and desolate moors, through towns, cities and villages to our destination in 16 days.

The trip took us from sea level to heights of 1141ft and down to sea level again. We experienced one end of Britain to the other in all of its glory and some of its grime, staying in a variety of hotels, motels, B&B's and hostels (one of them a castle in the Scottish Highlands).

We left Land's end in cool overcast conditions and arrived in John ‘O Groats in glorious sunshine. In between the sunshine, the wind blew and the rain fell, the mist came down and the fog swirled in (sometimes all on the same day). Whoever said the prevailing wind was going to be at our backs was dead wrong but no one said it was going to be easy. At one stage on the road to Tongue in the Scottish Highlands the wind blew so hard that we had to peddle downhill.

To keep our strength up we ate pasties in Cornwall, cream teas in Devon, Cumberland sausages (in Somerset), Mexican chicken (in Chester), fish and chips (in New Lanark) and pasta, lots of pasta. But no matter what we ate we were always ravenous after a long hard day in the saddle.

After four days of cycling on a dodgy knee Pearl was forced to retire when we reached Monmouth. We had travelled more than 260 miles together and losing Pearl 4 days in was not what any of us had expected.

No matter what we faced, how hard the hills were or how long the day was, we were amazed and astounded by the generosity of the people we met along the way. Special thanks go the landlady and locals in the Logan Rock Inn, St Levan in Cornwall (who gave us a memorable send off) and to the owner and patrons of the Tarbet Tea Rooms on the banks of Loch Lomond.

But it was the support we received from the parachute regiment and in particular ‘Athers' and ‘Stoddie' that was invaluable in our getting from end to end in one piece. The regiment's motto is ‘Utrinque Paratus' (‘Ready for Anything') and they certainly were.

Arriving in John ‘O Groats on the afternoon of 14 August the elation we felt was indescribable. Standing under the sign in John ‘O Groats pointing towards Land's End we could hardly believe what we had done and on only one puncture.

A few tears were shed as we loaded the bikes on the support vehicle for the drive home. We had most certainly done something extraordinary to honour an extraordinary young man.

We are continuing to raise funds for the Afghanistan Trust and welcome your support for a very worthy cause.

The Afghanistan Trust exists to help and support soldiers and their families who have served with the Parachute Regiment in Afghanistan and been wounded or killed as a consequence. To date Ken and Pearl have helped raise over £10,000 for the charity.

If you would like to make a donation to the Afghanistan Trust please contact Ken Campbell on - 029 2067 5800