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Trekking, 'Wandering Wyverns', Cornwall, Jul 2011, ID 1145

155 (Wessex) Transport Rgt

A group of 14 intrepid adventurers deployed to the UK’s most southerly point - The Lizard, in Cornwall on Sunday 17 July 2011. The rain was hammering it down, but with our spirits high, we were all excitedly looking forward to finding out what the coming days and 115 miles would bring as we trekked our way towards Plymouth, the hometown of our Regiment.

Starting at Lizard Point, we tried to dip our toes in the water to initiate the trek, however we were beaten by large waves and howling winds. We then started our long walk along the coastal path. When I say ‘walk’, that term should be used in the loosest of terms, as it was more a climb and descent on a constant basis. The route proved relentless and quickly tested everyone’s knees and constant movement in our boots on the descents caused blisters at a very early stage.

One thing that we discovered was that the Cornish Coast is nothing like the Norfolk Coast and we wished we were trekking the latter due to its flatness. The ups-and-down were a constant feature throughout the week. They had taken their toll on the exercise leader who had to pull out after ‘manning up’ too long on the relentless descents, resulting in “bad knees” becoming “no knees!”. We made it to our luxury field (luxury in the fact that it had been mown by sheep) on the first evening in time to meet up with the RLC TA Corps RSM. He was to be trekking with us for the next 24 hours and taking in some of the breath taking scenery as the weather cleared up.

Luckily, (for all!) half way through the walk we were able to camp in better equipped sites with such wonderful facilities such as showers; a massive morale boosting feature. The people in the campsites along the whole route were very appreciative of our efforts, a factor that kept the trekkers filled with pride, knowing that they had the backing of the British Public. They were really interested to hear about their local TA Logistic Regiment, and were impressed to see that we had people on the group who had recently returned from ops in Afghanistan. Their extraordinary generosity and friendliness always buoyed us back up again and we went off with a good breakfast in our bellies which kept us going for the next few miles.

On route, we had to cross a few rivers and estuaries by boat. On one occasion, the 2 min boat journey at Fowey turned into a half hour tour attraction as the Captain took us on a visit of the local sights and gave us a historical account of the part of the coast we were trekking. This was typical of the generosity the public showed us along the route.

Excellent navigation by WO2 (“no we’re not lost”) Gibbons provided a lovely rock climb which was so obviously on route along one of the beaches! Not long afterwards, we did find a (oh look, where did that come from) path and were able to get back on track. Pte Woody (rear-end-charlie) Woodhouse was glad to be back on track as it gave his knees a much needed break, before popping out on the next ascent. The CO and RSM had to go back to camp on an office call during the week. Was the CO so well informed that he managed to miss the hardest part of the trek?

Unlike last year when we were drowned rats, as we trekked on to Plymouth Hoe, this year the sun was out shining in force. To be able to walk on to the famous landmark as our families and friends awaited us was an experience that made us all feel extremely proud. We had trekked arguably some of the hardest coast in England and were all feeling it with every foot step, but it was an experience that will live with us for life and one we will no doubt reminisce about on next year’s trek!

Our utmost thanks go to the Ulysses Trust; without their help our exercise would not have been possible.

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Wandering Wyverns/Part of the group at the start, the UKs most Southerly point, The Lizard Wandering Wyverns/Some of the hectic coastline with its constant ups and downs Wandering Wyverns/Regimented camping.  Note the snorers tent kept some distance away at the end. Wandering Wyverns/Fantastic weather again! Wandering Wyverns/A possible seasick SPSI looking for a bucket Wandering Wyverns/Nearing the end of the trek, some of the group ask for some divine intervention to help their knees