Story
<p><strong>Walking Wainwright’s Coast-to- Coast route for the Rifles Regiment’s charities Care for Casualties campaign--85 miles completed in October 2010, and 110 miles on 12-19 May 2011.</strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> John Cohen, who served in the 4<sup>th</sup> (Vol) Bn The Royal Green Jackets (now the Rifles Regiment) 1966-1977, followed Alfred Wainwright’s 192 mile Coast-to-Coast walk (and a bit more) to raise money for the Rifles Regiment’s charities Care for Casualties campaign. You could say he has done the C2C for C4C. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I walked the route in two stages, doing the eastern part (85 miles) in 5 days in October 2010, and completed the western part (110 miles) over 8 days in May 2011. It was an unforgettable experience crossing so many different types of terrain in all sorts of weather, and meeting different people along the way. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I set out on 18 Oct last year on a bright day from the village of Reeth in the Yorkshire Dales carrying a rucksack with my essentials for the week, and reached Robin Hoods Bay on the North Sea coast in driving rain. The 85 mile route took me through the winding valley of the river Swale in the Yorkshire Dales, the picturesque Georgian town of Richmond, across the great flat farmland area of the Vale of Mowbray, and along the exhilarating switchback of the Cleveland escarpment. The wild remoteness of the North Yorkshire moors and the evidence of its industrial past was unforgettable. The Wain Stones towered dramatically above the ridgeline. Centuries old stone markers lined the heather upland route, and with ancient crosses they gave the place a special atmosphere.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Leaving Urra Moor, the route followed the track of an old railway built by the Victorians to extract ores from the moor, and across Danby and Glaisdale Moors into Glaisdale and Grosmont. It follows the river Esk which I crossed twice on stepping stones, and a third time through a ford. Consisting of random angular and slippery stones jutting up just clear of the fast flowing river, the ford was the biggest technical challenge of the week. I was thankful I had brought a walking pole with me for the first time as without it I would have certainly got a dunking. </p>
<p> The Esk Valley and Sleights and Low Moors dominated the last section of the route before it reached the North Sea, and followed the coast path for 4 miles to Robin Hoods Bay. The cliff top views were impressive in spite of the driving rain. As I sat down with a pint in the warmth of Wainwright's bar in the Bay Hotel I silently thanked AW for the enjoyment and challenge of the week, and thought of those who put themselves on the line day after day in Afghanistan, and now need our help. I can't wait to do the rest.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">Over 8 days in May 2011, I completed the remaining part, covering 110 miles over varied landscapes in (of course) varied weather. From the coastal cliffs of St Bees Head looking out across the Irish Sea, up & down the high passes and peaks of the Lake District, across the Yorkshire Dales and high moorland of the Pennines, finally reaching Reeth, my starting point in October. The routine on most days was continuous ascent (in parts very steep) for the first three or four hours, then up & down on the Lake District peak tops, then 2 -3 hour descents to habitation & bed. I did several peaks, including Red Pike, Hay Stacks </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Alfred Wainwright's favourite peak where his ashes are scattered), </span><span style="font-size: small;">Helm Crag & Kidsty Pike but not unfortunately Helvellyn as the cloud base came right down as I was climbing up and I wouldn't have seen a thing from the top, so I came back down. Crossing the Pennines was a different experience altogether and I managed to avoid sinking waist deep in bog--only going in up to my knees. Travelling across large areas of boggy upland moors with no reference points made navigation tricky in places, and of course the weather was determined to make itself felt, as it blew hard and wet for several days. But the sun did appear at the end, and the whole thing was a tremendous experience. I met several other walkers doing the same thing, and it was fun talking over the day when I met up with them by chance in the evenings. As I was on my own, I didn't have to wait for the slowest member of the party, so was able to keep up a reasonably quick pace while still enjoying the surroundings despite my 30 lb rucksack. But clambering over steep wet rock going up & down had to be done quite carefully. My good friend Danny joined me for the last 2 days from Kirkby Stephen to Reeth which made it a great way to finish. Although I've been back a couple of weeks, my mind is still up there... All of my supporters have been very generous and I predict I will have raised over £600 for The Rifles C4C. Thank you all very much!</span></p>
<p>The Rifles charities campaign Care for Casualties provides firstline support to those in the Regiment who have been injured on operational tours, and to the families of those killed in action. Over the last three years in Iraq and Afghanistan, 54 men have been killed and over 290 seriously injured. The campaign aims to ensure the charities are able to support these individuals during the course of their lives.</p>
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