Here is our walk write up! 

We were treated to a beautiful sunny evening as we set off on the walk. We quickly put to the back of our minds a short, worried conversation about whether there was a reason why this wasn’t a standard challenge that people do.

On arriving in Addingham, Andy wanted to go into the church and have a look at the 9^th century cross. On a standard challenge where we could have the capacity to end the challenge early by walking quickly, I would have been more of the mind that we should probably get going – but the beautiful and disturbing nature of this challenge meant we couldn’t reach our destination any quicker so should stop and smell the roses. Sadly for Andy, the church was shut.

The night drew in quickly and we found ourselves walking through the deeply forested Strid north of Bolton Abbey. Initial calculations that we would walk slower in the dark quashed: our first hour in the forest was probably our quickest, I think the primal urge to get out of the creepy wood overcame the need for careful foot work. My excitement about seeing lots of nocturnal wildlife – aka winter watch – was also swiftly crushed when I realised we couldn’t see anything. Slugs, however, were in abundance.

Things I didn’t know before the walk:

Navigating in the pitch black is incredibly challenging because you can’t see any helpful points of interest such as stiles, walls, buildings or paths.

Sheep can look very menacing because their eyes glow in the dark.

Cows also look menacing as their eyes also glow in the dark but luckily their movement was restricted to very slowly standing up.

You can fall asleep whilst you’re walking.

What really kept us going through the dark was (usually) unsociably loud music played from as speaker in Andy’s backpack. It felt very odd to be listening to loud 80s music whilst tromping through fields of sheep in the pitch dark – but it kept our spirits up and dancing.

Turning around just before reaching Kettlewell was really joyful – it felt like we had a fresh purpose, the sun was up and all we had to do was walk home. As the hours wound down, it became increasingly hard. A very lovely lady in Grassington dealt very admirably with me pouncing on her from behind and blurting about running out of water. 

She took us into her guest house, offered us a free breakfast which was declined for reasons that can only be put down to sleep deprivation. She brought us glasses of water, filled our bottles and gave us little packets biscuits and wished us well. We felt like she had saved our days, and told her so, because the nearest open shop was miles away. 

Embarrassment levels peaked when walk past an open shop 10 metres on from her guest house which google maps had told us wasn’t open until 9am.

Olive had told us it sounded quite depressing walking somewhere and turning around and walking back, but the revelation was we couldn’t actually see for 8 hours of the first leg so it felt like we were doing a circular as it was all new on the way back!

For the twitchers out there – two kingfishers, a tawny owl, a great spotted woodpecker, buzzards, herons, gooseanders, grey wagtails, dippers…

We had counted down the hours to walking in the daylight because we thought it would be plain sailing once we could see everything but we hadn’t anticipated how hard the last few hours would be. Time slowed, feet were very sore and conversation muted. When I was talking, Andy said it was like walking with the rain man as I obsessed about walk speed calculations, time and kilometres walked and remaining. Rain set in with 8 hours to go and my blistered, plastered toes were now soggy.

We really were buoyed by everyone’s support, donations and well wishes. Thank you so much for getting us round. I would whole heartedly recommend the challenge – you truly have the hills to yourself and all the hours in the day to enjoy them!

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After covid related postponements last year we are crossing fingers it's third time lucky with our walk.

This Thursday 17th August at 5pm we will be setting off on foot from our home in Ilkley and walking for 25 hours (heading along the Dales Way and turning back after 12 1/2 hours).

Parents we support often get very little sleep - either out looking for their child, waiting anxiously for them to come home, or unable to sleep due to trauma they are living through. But they keep going - and Pace is always there when they need them. 

Please support our walk and help us reach more families who desperately need our help.

" Without the help and support from Pace, I would not be here, it’s that simple. The fear was immense, there was no way I could see beyond the worst possible outcome. My Pace worker sorted everything. I could see light at the end of the tunnel. I was suicidal, without her help I would not be here.” Parent