Day 3 - Tower Tye - Carvoran.

Dear All,

Day 3 is over and WE ARE PAST HALF WAY!

The weather has again been good today and John and I set out from Tower Tye after a very fine breakfast at the Twice Brewed.

The first leg was a straight 7.5 miles to Housesteads, which we reached at about 12.30. After a very good little show we pushed on to Steel Rigg. All six of us went on this 3.1 mile leg, and we were joined by Dawn's parents and my own. It was really nice but very rugged terrain, and we were a bit slow in getting to Steel Rigg where we jumped into the cars and shot off down to Vindolanda.

Unfortunately we arrived about an hour later than intended, and so only stayed for an hour. For anyone who was expecting us but had to leave before we got there, we apologise and plead sore feet as an excuse. Still, those who stayed were rewarded by a good scrap between John and I, and we thank you very much for hanging around to wait for us. After we left Vindolanda John and I went back to Steel Rigg to begin today's last leg - Steel Rigg to Carvoran, six miles.

If we thought the 3 miles between Housesteads and Steel Rigg had been rugged, this last leg was a beast. What made it worse was that we were against the clock, as we only had three hours to complete it before the Twice Brewed stopped serving dinner at 8.00pm. We left Steel Rigg at 5.20, and damn me we got to Carvoran at 7.45!

It was a hard last leg due to the pace, but we got back for dinner - to the victor the spoils!

After 3 days we're all feeling it, sore feet all round now, but the best bit was that Kev was up to doing some of the walking today, and should be ok to do some of tomorrow's legs.

Tomorrow we're starting at Carvoran and ending in Carlisle, with shows at Carvoran and Birdoswald.

Very nearly reached our £1000.00 target online - which makes the sore feet worth it after all!

Blister count update:

Kev - many but slowly improving.
Stuart - None but feet hurt tonight!
John - None yet.
Ed - Three but very mild.

List of people / places to thank today:

The Twice Brewed Inn for being brilliant and giving us excellent food - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Vindolanda Trust for letting us display there today.
The English Heritage staff at Housesteads for throwing themselves behind us and being very supportive.
The many people we met today who gave us donations as we walked by - thanks to you all.

All the Best,

Stu, Kev, John, Dawn, Ed & Catriona,
Hadrian's help for Heroes.

Donate: www.justgiving.com/hadrianshelpforheroes

Day 2 – Harlow Hill – Tower Tye.

Dear All,

Sorry for the delay in posting, we suffered some connectivity issues at the Twice Brewed last night.

Today was a shorter day than yesterday – about 14 miles – but still a toughie. It began with a 6 mile hike from Harlow Hill to Portgate, and en-route we met a very nice gentleman who was once in the Coldstream Guards and was more than willing to force some money into our reluctant hands, and bought us a coffee at a roadside tea stop! At Portgate we were collected by Ed and taken to Corbridge for the first show of the day. It was a good fight, but the pommel of my sword sheared off under the stress and cut my hand. Not badly and the kids loved it – blood everywhere!

After the show we had a quick lunch and Kev set too sorting his feet out. They are blistered to hell and back and he had to sit out the afternoon session to let them heal a bit. His place on the march was taken by Powney the wonder legionary, and we were joined by Ed for a pleasant 6 miler to Chesters Fort. On the way we met some great folks, and picked up some more donations. Chesters was another good one, and this time we kept all our gear intact!

After leaving Chesters John and I, joined this time by Dawn, did the last 2 miles to Tower Tye where we ended the day, weary but triumphant.

Thanks to some fab donations we now have £970.00 on the Just Giving page, and we need to say thanks to a few people:

Everyone at English Heritage who helped us out at Corbridge and Chesters.

Betty and Henry from Haslingden for their generous offline donation.

Everyone else we met today who gave so generously.

Tomorrow promises to be a busy one – Housesteads and Vindolanda – two of the main sites of the whole Wall country – hope we’re up to it!

All the Best,

Stu, Kev, John, Dawn, Ed and Catriona:

Hadrian’s Help for Heroes.

Donate: www.justgiving.com/hadianshelpforheroes

Day 1: Wallsend-on-Tyne - Harlow Hill.

Dear All,

Please find attached a few images from the first day of the walk.

So, the die is cast and we have begun! The first day began full of hope and enthusiam. We got to Segedunum Fort just after 9.00, and got ourselves set up ready for site opening at 10.00, and awaited the crowds. The crowds were a bit slow in coming, but by 11.30 there were plenty of people around to watch us do our show. The fight went well, and all John Powney's training paid off and he performed like an old pro.

I also did a quick phone interiew with BBC Radio Newcastle, so the word of our exploits has spread even further.

At 1.00pm Kev and I set out on the 18 mile walk to Harlow Hill. The first 10 miles were knocked off in quick order, but the relentless pavemnt pounding soon took it's toll and we began to slow. We eventually rendezvoused with Dawn, Catriona, Ed and John at Heddon on the Wall, and trudged he last 4 miles very slowly together.

Today was not easy, and Kev and I were so glad to get to the end. But that's the hardest section out of the way, and the rest - more rural for the most part, should be a lot easier on the feet.

So as promised, here is the first days toll of blisters:

Stu: None (but feet feeling sore all the same)
Kev: Several (just off to self-harm in the loo)

Before we go any further, we need to thank a number of people:

The regulars at the Three Horseshoes in Sambrook for raising £72.12

The customers at Neil Gerrards Hair Studio in Bacup.

My Auntie Margaret and Uncle Jim in Wallsend for putting us up for the past two nights.

Everybody who has donated on the Just Giving site so far - we have over £800.00 in the kitty already.

So on to tomorow. Halow Hill to Chollerford, with stops at Corbridge and Chesters Fort. Bring it on!

All the Best.

Stuart Ivinson and Kevin Morley,
Hadrian's Help for Heroes.

DONATE: www.justgiving.com/hadrianshelpforheroes

D minus One and counting...

Dear All,

Well here we are in Wallsend, having driven up from Leeds earlier today.

We did a short interview this afternoon with BBC Radio Cumbria, so hopefully the word has spread a bit further.

Not much to say really, so will sign off. Should have a bit more to say tomorrow!

So, wish us luck, your best wishes will spur us on - but in five days time will it be "We came, we saw, we conquered," or will it be "We who are about to die salute you!"

it could depend on the weather!


All the Best.

Stuart Ivinson and Kevin Morley, Hadrian's Help for Heroes.

DONATE: www.justgiving.com/hadrianshelpforheroes

Getting closer!

Dear All,

We broke the £700.00 barrier over the weekend and are feeling pretty good about that - but we still want to make at least £1000.00., so more donations are definately required!

Only a couple of days to go before we start now and I must admit I'm getting just a bit too keyed up - I just want to get it over with now! We've spent god knows how long planning this and I just want to get on with it!!!

Kev assures me that his hand is getting better, but John Powney and I have been training hard so even if Kev is still too broken to fight, new recruit "Legionary Pounius" will keep me on my toes.

So wish us luck, and pray for better weather - I don't want to spend the whole march in low cloud and walking through a north-English monsoon!

All the Best.

Stuart Ivinson and Kevin Morley, Hadrian's Help for Heroes.

DONATE: www.justgiving.com/hadrianshelpforheroes

Oh Globbits!!!

Well,

With his legendary sense of good timing, Kevin managed to break his left hand today!

This is not brilliant, bit it could be worse. Al least it's his left hand, and he assures me it'll be fine for the walk itself, which begins 2 weeks tomorrow.

The main problem of course is that it's effectively kiboshed any further training for the combat demos, so we may need to have a bit of a rethink about that. Just to be on the safe side I think our faithful understudy John Powney will have to do a bit of intensive training with sword and board, just in case Kev's hand does not recover enough.

Oh well, these things happen!

All the Best.

Stuart Ivinson and Kevin Morley, Hadrian's Help for Heroes.

DONATE: www.justgiving.com/hadrianshelpforheroes

Update.

Dear All,

Just a quick update on how things are going.

After taking advice from a few people we have decided that the first day of the walk, through Wallsend and Newcastle, will not be done in kit. Therefore, once we're finished at Segedunum at about 12.00, we'll be getting back into our civvies and heading for the city limits as fast as we can.

Unfortunately due to Newcastle City Council's policy on charity collecting we cannot collect money on the street as we walk through town, so our lack of costume won't actually make much difference. If you're looking out for us, and you spot a small group of determined looking walkers in Help for Heroes T-shirts, that'll be us!

We've managed to get some more training done for the sword and shield fighting as well. I had intended to post some piccies of us in training but cleverly forgot my camera. Never mind, still a couple of weeks to go!

Donations have been flooding in to the Just Giving website as our publicity has cranked up a gear or two, let's hope the momentum continues up to the walk itself.

I'll try and post again a couple of time before we set off up to Wallsend on 29th.

Until then - All the Best.

Stuart Ivinson and Kevin Morley, Hadrian's Help for Heroes.

DONATE: www.justgiving.com/hadrianshelpforheroes