Kevan Palmer WOT trustee writes about his planned sponsored walk for the Trust.
On the 1st July this year I will begin a personal journey that I have wanted to undertake for a long time. That is to walk the 110 miles of the Britain's oldest path – the Icknield Way.
The path has origins that can be traced back at least to the Neolithic where it was thought to be a drovers route but it may pre date that and may have been used by Mesolithic hunter gatherers following deer migration routes. It is linked with Peddars Way in Norfolk and with the Ridgeway at the other end at Ivinghoe Beacon and forms a continuous track that runs from the Wash to the south coast diagonally across the country.
If the general history of the Icknield way wasn't enough of a draw in its self, then its link with my own family history certainly is. My father lived in Icklingham and the path went past the end of his garden. My formative years were spent watching and tracking wildlife on Tuddenham heath which the Icknield Way runs through. When I was 9 we moved to Bedfordshire and the path ran a few hundred metres away from my house and as a teenager I spent most of my weekends and school holidays at Whipsnade Zoo which borders the path.
As an adult my children all went to Icknield Lower School, right next to the path and for the last 10 years I have regularly walked my dogs along various sections of it.
So after walking most of it in stages over the last year, I have now decided to do it in one go over three or four days……..25-30 miles a day, and in the process raise some well needed funds for the Trust.
If you would like to sponsor my attempt you can do so by visiting my Just Giving page at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Kevan-Palmer
you can also donate using you mobile phone by simply texting "WTIW 71" then the amount to 70070.
I'll let you know how I get on in the next Newsletter.