Saturday, 24 September 2011 00:00

Day 12 & 13 of the Barclays Corporate - Relay for CHICKS

The Final 2 Days of Mr Chicks Epic Journey

After his marathon journey the previous day Mr Chicks decided to have a bit of a lie in on Friday morning – the heavy pounding of mile after mile of either walking or cycling or running were starting to take their toll on his physical appearance (or am I getting confused with the guy in the "Name the Bear" competition!).

You can donate to the Devon & Cornwall Team ..., see the photos and read their blog to find out how they got on ...

With Rob, Paul Vicky and Steve all travelling from the furthest corners of the County, a prompt start at 10am for another few hours of cycling from the Exeter office to Bearslake (on the A386 road from Okehampton to Tavistock). 30 miles of undulating roads ahead - I know from previous experiences that Devon is definitely not flat & by all accounts this route confirmed that! You are on the edge of Dartmoor National Park not a place to take it easy & if the weather closes in pray you know where you are & have a support vehicle in sight.

3 hours later with a few sore legs Bearslake had been reached, minus one. Vicky kindly went back to look for Rob, who had conveniently found a short cut saving him a mile, but adding another 2 miles to Vicky's and Mr Chicks journey. – rather cunningly the finish point was Bearslake Inn, if ever there was encouragement needed to complete a leg this was it. Food & beer awaited (I think Mr Chicks behaved himself!).

Sat, 24th Sept

Saturday morning dawned on what was to be the final day of the relay (a relaxing 7 mile walk) – contrary to the weather forecasts the clouds were high with a hint of sunshine (raincoats would not be needed).

Mr Chicks was in high spirits (or was that because he'd had too much to drink the previous day?) home was in sight no more trekking along roads, cycle paths, canals & pavements but a well-earned rest at the Moorland Retreat.

We all met at the CHICKS premises to leave our cars there with the aim of getting a minibus to our walking start point at Bearslake Inn & then back to the CHICKS if that makes sense? 10 of us in total arrived ready for the off but no sign of Karen Hurn. Now for all of you that know Karen she is Mrs Barclays when it comes to community/fundraising activity so where was she? – with the phone reception poor we were unable to contact her. Given time was moving on we decided to board the minibus although not before Andy Dalley volunteered to wear Mr Chicks before realising he wasn't sure how he fitted him on. After some verbal advice that "you put it on like a bra" Andy had no further problems!?

With the minibus moving to the entrance gate we narrowly avoided colliding with a car driven by a lunatic driver who must have been doing over 70 miles on this narrow & peaceful Devon country lane - Karen had finally arrived!

No time to waste Karen decided to follow us to the starting point in her own car. Our route in the minibus took us into part of the Dartmoor National Park through rolling countryside with little tree foliage but plenty of sheep some who didn't want to move from the middle of the road. My thought process was that this seemed to be more than the 7 miles that we were driving! There was great banter in the minibus from the team mostly at Karen's expense even leading to one of the team "mooning" at Karen out of the minibus back window – Karen later claimed to have not witnessed the event which beggars believe given who it was (in terms of bottom size) but may be true as she failed to crash her car at the sight or maybe she is used to it?

Finally we arrived at Bearslake Inn (quite appropriately named coming to think of it in view of what I've just described) & the walk began.

Not more than 10 minutes into our stroll we came across a ford with seemingly no alternative route to go around – now whilst not the biggest of streams/river to cross the thought of having wet feet for the rest of the trek was beginning to cross a few people's minds. This Devon lot though are hardy souls & always up for a challenge, a quick sprint across the water by Steve Hocking & the rest followed or nearly – the sight of Mr Hocking giving a piggy back to Graham Austin & Andy Dalley will live long in the memory (photographic evidence is available subject to an appropriate CHICKS donation!).

Now if we thought that was funny we were all looking a bit sheepish when but a few yards further on we came across a stone bridge that we all could have used to avoid the ford. Life is so funny!

For what seemed the next 2/3 miles we trundled/waded on through what can only be described as an uphill river full of mud – I was beginning to wonder whether we should have re-named this walk the bog river trek. Finally we reached sturdy land on the outskirts of Lydford & tarmac roads – yippee.

Passing through the tranquil & picturesque village of Lydford full of what Andy Dalley called second holiday homes for those rich Londoners folk we came across what appeared to be the only pub in the village, The Castle Inn. This we used as a pit stop for appropriate facilities especially Karen who had been wanting a "break" since we started at Bearslake (she had already tried breaking down that pub's doors to get to their toilets before we'd even started).

You might not believe it but we didn't stop for a drink or to watch the conclusion of the New Zealand v France rugby game showing in the pub such was our commitment to completing this final walk!

The rest of the walk passed without incident despite one or two near misses at nearly getting lost.

After 2 hours & a bit walking we saw the entrance to CHICKS where we were enthusiastically greeted by 16 children & the support staff at CHICKS who had made special banners & balloons for our arrival – a poignant moment making everyone realise what CHICKS does for these kids bringing back their self-belief & ability to socialise with other children to name but two attributes.

Tea, cakes & biscuits were devoured along with Devon pasties (or where they Cornish ones?) by the walkers.

We then had a chance to look around the CHICKS premises from the offices, through to the main building, indoor swimming pool & "secret" disco/dance area, accommodation & new sports hall currently being built. It was great to see what all our donations will be used for. My memory of the tour was not so much what facilities were available but how happy all the children were, enthusiastic & motivated. A great testament to all the volunteers at CHICKS.

Regards

Richard Drewett
Associate Director