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Total Raised of line for the ATSC: £2565
Total Raised For H4H: £2553 + Gift Aid
Ex Northern Frontier
Over the period of the 2 – 9 August 2010 a sponsored 110 mile battle march will be taking place along the complete length of the Antonine Wall which is 37 miles, and Hadrian’s Wall which is 73 miles. This is being organised by Sgt Angie Sowerby from the Royal Logistic Corp attached to Log Sup Branch, HQ 3 (UK) Divisional, Bulford.
This march will be in aid of “Help for Heroes’ (H4H)” and the “Army Target Shooting Club (ATSC)”. who will be converting some of their accommodation at Bisley to cater for injured Soldiers, so that they can continue to use these facilities for all types of sporting shooting and competition shooting.
Sgt Sowerby will be accompanied on this march by Sgt Kevin Sinclair from the Metropolitan Police (Feltham North Safer Neighbourhood Team), Miss Samantha Askew from Greenfield Comprehensive School, Newton Aycliffe, Co Durham and a new addition, Scooby a rescue dog adopted from the Dogs Trust. A small admin team will assist the group along the way lead By Chrissy Askew.
The 110 mile march, with camping along the way will begin on the Antonine Wall at Carriden on the Forth (East Scotland) and will finish on Hadrian’s Wall at Wallsend (North East England).
Starting at Carriden on the Forth the first 37 miles will be done covering 18 ½ miles a day over a 2 day period, ending at Old Kilpatrick on the Clyde (West Scotland). After a night’s sleep transport will move the group down to Hadrian’s Wall at Solway Firth (North West England), where the remaining 73 gruelling miles will commence, covering around 15-16 miles a day over a 5 day period finally ending at Wallsend (North East England).
To make this march even more challenging than it already is, Sgt Sowerby (only 5ft 3) will be completing the march wearing full Roman Legionary Battle Armour and Roman leather hobnailed sandals. The armour (Segmenta), shield, sword (Gladius type Pompeii), dagger and helmet are all made of brass and steel which weighs in excess of 30kg. Also being carried will be the primary weapon a heavy javelin (Puml) this is an additional 1.8kg. To complete this march carrying around 33kg in basic footwear, across very hilly and rough terrain will be extremely punishing on the body and the poor old feet over a substantial period of time.
By the end of the march she may be only 5ft! : (
Sgt Sowerby” I think every bit can make can make a difference, if I can help at least one injured fellow soldier then it will be worth it!”
“Also I hope the weather fairs or I will have very soggy socks!”
Sgt Sinclair will be completing the march wearing British Army modern day desert fighting order. This will include a fully loaded patrol pack, osprey body armour, water camel pack, desert assault vest and helmet including goggles. Due to the legality reasons a rifle cannot be carried but will be re-placed with a Help for Heroes flag. In total his complete kit will weigh around 30kg but will be much more balanced and more suitable footwear will be worn. However this will still be extremely punishing on his body especially being a rookie to carrying such weight for such a long distance.
This is going to be the longest beat of his life!
Sgt Sinclair “I fully appreciate what our armed forces are doing, and I know it will hurt completing this march but it will be worth every bit of it”
Samantha Askew aged 15 will be following in the footsteps on the march wearing British Army modern day woodland fighting order. She will also be wearing a fully loaded patrol pack, combat body armour, water camel pack, combat assault vest and helmet. Again the rifle will be re-placed with a Help for Heroes flag. In total her kit will weigh around 20kg. This walk is going to be extremely challenging for Samantha as she currently has never walked further than 25 miles.
She has youth on her side, but boy she is going to need it!
Sammy Askew “My brother and Aunty are soldiers and I am so proud of them, I am also proud of all our Soldiers in the army and want to help them the best I can, by doing this I think it will”
Scooby (Scoobalixium) a new comer to the group will be carrying his little working pack containing is fold up bowl and treats.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, together we can make a difference.
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Links:
http://www.justgiving.com/helpforheroes/raisemoney
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/international_events.html
http://www.roman-britain.org/frontiers/antonine.htm
http://www.romanbritain.org/hw/hw_history.htm
Antonine Wall
The Antonine Wall in Scotland was the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire. The barrier consisted of a line of auxiliary forts and fortlets connected by a continuous rampart wall and ditch. These entrenchments ran from Borrowstounness (Bo'ness or even Bridgeness) near Carriden in Edinburgh on the Firth of Forth, to Old Kilpatrick in the outskirts of Glasgow near Dumbarton on the Firth of Clyde.
The wall ran for 39 miles - exactly half the distance of Hadrian's defensive works further south - and passed along the central valley of Scotland formed by the River Kelvin in the west and the Bonny Water to the east. For the most part the defences were positioned to the south of these two streams, which themselves formed a natural line of defence against attack from the north.
http://www.roman-britain.org/frontiers/antonine.htm
Hadrian’s Wall
The Wall runs from the east to the west coasts of Britain, from Wallsend in Tyneside to Bowness-on-Solway in Cumbria, a distance of 80 Roman miles (73½ English miles or 117 kilometres).
The Wall conceived by Hadrian was to be ten feet wide and about fifteen feet high, faced front and rear with carefully cut stones set in mortar, with an infill of rubble and lime cement or sometimes, puddled clay. The front face of the wall sported a crenulated parapet, behind which the soldiers patrolled the wall along a paved rampart-walk.
The foundations of Hadrian's ten-foot wide Wall were laid from Newcastle-upon-Tyne eastward for 23 Roman miles to Chester’s in Northumberland, thereafter, apart from a few short lengths further west, the wall is reduced to eight or sometimes, six feet in width. We can assume that at some time during the early construction of the Wall, a decision was made to reduce its width, probably in order to speed-up the work.
http://www.romanbritain.org/hw/hw_history.htm
