Hospice walk sets new record

PICTURE GALLERIES/VIDEO
A WHOPPING 11,500 walkers braved torrential rain and wind which, at times, reached Gale Force 7, to take part in Sunday’s Walk the Wight, raising hundreds of thousands of pounds for the Island’s Earl Mountbatten Hospice.
There were terrific stories of strong winds, biting rain and muddy paths with walkers supporting each other as they made their way in what was considered one of the hardest walks in its 19-year history.
One walker, who had just returned from Everest Base Camp, said the weather on Tennyson Down was far worse than Everest.
Walker Estelle Rayment, of Seaview, and Lizzie Mitchell, of Bembridge, said: “Sometimes we were getting blown off course by the wind and had to dig our sticks in to keep us on the path.”
Kevin Wilson, of the IW Chamber of Commerce, Tourism and Industry, said: “I did the walk for the first time, with my wife, and our only thought was that it should have been renamed ‘Fly the Wight’.
“The wind was so strong, particularly on the Tennyson Trail approaching Freshwater Bay, that it was lifting some people off their feet. My wife, Lorna, did actually take off at one point!”
• Walk the Wight special pull-out in the Friday, May 22, edition of the County Press.

• Pictures from our online gallery www.iwcpgallery.co.uk below.
Click on the image for a larger version.


• Readers pictures from our online gallery www.iwcpgallery.co.uk below.
Click on the image for a larger version.