I've just got back home after my 80-mile sponsored walk. The 9-day experience was wonderful: brilliant heat-wave sunshine, exquisite countryside and shady riverbank paths, plus the good company of the dozen walkers who joined me. I've added some photos to this page to record the 2014 Housman Walk ~ and the people who made it so good.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. Our nine-day sponsored walk aims to raise £5,000 for Book Aid. Book Aid creates  Children's Corners in public libraries in sub-Saharan Africa ~ because 'Books Change Lives'. 

So who was Laurence Housman? He was an artist and writer, though never achieving the fame of his elder brother, poet A E Housman. Laurence dedicated his considerable talents to the Votes for Women cause. In 1903, shortly before he got bitten by the suffrage bug, Laurence tramped from the south-west Midlands down to London, as a protest against modernity, speed & 'careering about in motor-cars'. Born in 1865, plans to mark his 150th anniversary gather pace.

Last year, I did a sponsored walk from West Yorkshire down to London, raising £3,500 for the British Thyroid Foundation. Long-distance walking is addictive. Inspired by Laurence Housman's witty letters written on the tramp, I determined to retrace his footsteps.

Book Aid. What charity would be closest to his heart? Literary and internationalist? When the Housman Society suggested Book Aid, I knew this was an inspired choice.

The sponsored walk is about 80 miles long. It starts on Friday 11 July, heading for London via the Cotswolds and Thames Path, ending at Laurence's home in Kensington on Saturday 19. Please join us for an hour, for a day or more. To find out more, please go to www.jliddington.org.uk & click on Housman Walk.

Donate. Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Just decide on the amount you want to give ~ then add a cheery message to speed us on.

Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.