A Peterborough business woman who swapped her office for the wild hills, valleys and coasts of England to attempt 48 hikes in 48 counties in just six months, has completed her 24th county hike marking the halfway point of her epic challenge.
Over the last three months, Amanda Garratt, 53, who lives in Oundle has (with a few exceptions) walked solo, with her trusty Border Terrier Meg for company, across the beaches and cliff tops of Cornwall, through the waterfalls of County Durham and the beautiful coastline of Northumberland, to name but a few, before finishing with her halfway point walk in Cambridgeshire.
Amanda, who has recently enjoyed a well-deserved week away from her walks before she set off again on Monday 8th August for the second leg of her challenge, has raised more than £5,000 so far for Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice in memory of her best friend, Kath Leakey, who the charity helped care for in 2019.
“After losing Kath, living through a pandemic and spending the last three years or so experiencing the impacts of perimenopause, I re-evaluated what’s important in life,” Amanda said ahead of her challenge which kick-started on 29th April.
“Kath spent her final days in Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice in 2019. She was 49 when she died, just short of her 50th birthday. I had heard of Sue Ryder before, but with Kath being very poorly and spending time there, I discovered just what an amazing place it is with around the clock care provided by amazing people. The teams there were as supportive to Kath’s family and friends as they were to Kath too.”
Reflecting on all she has achieved so far, Amanda said: “I’ve visited and walked through some amazing counties and thrilling countryside and I have enjoyed pretty much every minute. I’ve since spent some time thinking about what I’ve achieved and experienced so far, and whether there is anything I would like to adjust or squeeze into the next three months, before I return to work.
“I didn’t quite appreciate the planning it’s taken to find appropriate walks and accommodation for some areas, how much fuel costs would increase, and also how much the extreme weather would result in having to go back to the drawing board to find walks suitable for Meg and me in the heat.
“My navigation skills have been mixed too, so I completed a navigation skills training day during my week at home, which was run by one of the outdoors leaders from the women’s adventure community I am part of, called Love Her Wild,” she added.
When asked what her highlight has been so far, Amanda said: “It’s so difficult to choose just one highlight, but if I absolutely had to pick a county I liked most, I would say Northumberland because of the variety of scenery. You’ve got a beautiful coastline – a friend and I walked over the peninsula to Lindisfarne which was a great experience although a bit of a race against the tide – but you also have the wild hills inland which can surprise you with unpredictable weather and challenging terrain.
“I absolutely love challenging walking too – hilly coastal paths and moorland for example. Cornwall was absolutely beautiful and being able to swim and paddle was lovely. The amazing views that you get in places like Yorkshire and Northumberland and any coastal paths are breath-taking. I love the feeling of being small and quite insignificant in the vast spaces, I find it very grounding and relaxing.
“Many things have triggered thoughts of Kath whilst I’ve been out and about. A favourite song of hers on a builder’s radio or particular birds that either she loved, or had always wanted to see, has meant that I’ve sometimes found myself going in the wrong direction, as we often did together.”
Amanda did her mid-way walk from Castor to Stamford on her birthday with some friends as well as Kath’s daughter Daisy. She said: “It was a really fun day. We walked 12 miles, although it was a bit hotter than the weather forecast had predicted so my mum had to come and rescue Meg at the halfway pit stop.
“Meg has really loved the adventuring, she’s very adaptable and she is very good at settling into new places. She’s enjoyed exploring new places and some longer walks, but does make her feelings known when she’s gone far enough or needs a rest day. Twelve miles is about her limit.”
It’s not only the scenery that Amanda has enjoyed in her jaunts around the 24 counties to date: “I’ve tried some delicious local delicacies that I have never come across before. My favourites have to be Fat Rascals in Yorkshire, which are a bit like a scone, but even more delicious, the enormous Bath Buns which are similar to a lighter brioche and Scone Pudding, a Lindisfarne speciality, which is a bit like bread and butter pudding but using leftover scones.”
Supporting Amanda in her fundraising and accompanying her on some of the hikes is Kath’s fellow best friend, Sammie Kelley, who recently retired from the Police Force after 30 years of service. As part of her fundraising efforts Sammie is aiming to run 300 miles in the same six-month period – after breaking her leg and undergoing reconstructive surgery in 2021.
“Sammie was at her running halfway point the same day I reached mine. She’s also training for the Great Eastern Run, in Peterborough, in October which she is running for Sue Ryder. She’s doing really well.”
The next leg of Amanda’s challenge will be the North West which will encompass Cheshire, Lancashire, Cumbria, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire and Derbyshire.
“The BBC have made a couple of series called ‘Walking With….’ which I watched during lockdown. One of the episodes was with broadcaster Nihal Arthanayake, who had just moved up to the North West. I can’t wait to visit some of his walk and look out across the vast open space from Arnside and Silverdale down over the Morecambe Bay, and watch the sunset from Morecambe in the evening.”
Talking about the money raised to date, Amanda added: “I am delighted and very grateful for the donations we’ve received and we still have three months to keep adding to that. Some people that I have met along the way have been really generous. The owners of Airbnbs I stayed at in Bridlington (East Riding of Yorkshire) and Wembury (Devon), and a couple Sammie and I met in Cornwall made donations, and several friends have been generous offering accommodation too, which has helped keep the costs down a bit.
“Again, I would like to thank my employer, BGL, for kindly allowing me the time out from work, and also providing double match funding for the first £2,000 raised before the end of April. That means for every £1 raised, BGL will give a further £2,” adds Amanda.
To donate to Amanda’s fundraising visit: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/amanda-garratt12.
For more information on Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice visit: www.sueryder.org/thorpe.
For more information on BGL visit: www.bglgroup.co.uk.
