"The person who risks nothing Has nothing Does nothing And is nothing.
They have forfeited their freedom. Only a person who risks is free"


My first long distance walking was with my brother Bruce, with whom I walked The Pennine Way, along the spine of England, and the West Highland Way in Scotland.

I became interested in trekking in remoter areas overseas when I was 48, and visited my son, Andrew, on his gap year in Tanzania. Together we climbed Kilimanjaro with a group of his African students. I was exhausted and suffered from altitude sickness, but I caught the bug! Below is a brief summary of the travels I have undertaken since.

1999 I climbed Gokyo Ri (18,000 ft) in the Himalayas to fulfil an ambition to see Everest from close at hand.   2001 I decided to raise funds for the children's charity Barnardos and walked the Inca Trail in Peru.   2002 I trekked across the Jordan Desert from the Dead Sea to Petra, raising funds for Barnardos, and another children's charity, Kith and Kids.   2003 Again for Barnardos, I trekked through the jungle in Thailand, following part of the route of the infamous Burma railway, and canoed back down the River Kwai.   2004 I spent the New Year with my partner Brenda, and our friends Julie and Brian, in New Zealand where we undertook the four day trek along the Keppler Track over the Southern Alps.   2004 In October of the same year I climbed Mount Sinai, in Egypt, and then trekked across the Sinai Desert to the Red Sea, once again for Barnardos.   2005 I decided to raise money for Cancer Research, my father having been diagnosed with the disease earlier that year. I trekked in the Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia, Southern Chile.   2006 In memory of my father, who we lost in May of that year, I climbed Jebel Toukbal, in the High Atlas Mountains, although we were unable to summit due to appalling weather conditions. On all of these trips I have met wonderful people and made some great friends. Among those I have stayed in particularly close contact with are Alan and Shirley, Cathy, Dharmesh, Anne, Rich, Tim, Phil, Lynne, Peter, Marcus, Mike, Chris, Jerome, Millie, Dina and John.