23. Alan Blake - Bench Talk with Jo Hilditch

Please welcome my oldest podcastee! At 90 years old Alan Blake was inspired by Captain Sir Tom Moore to go the extra mile. And so he has. Living on the banks of the River Wye in Hereford he decided to walk round his garden enough times to be the equivalent of the steps taken to to climb Mount Everest. That’s 556 circuits of his steep riverside garden - incredible! His wife Valerie suffers from Parkinsons so this is an obvious charity for Alan to support along with the Hereford Rotary and the parish of Burghill where he lived for many years. I first walked with him at the beginning of my tenure, so it was wonderful to be with him on the day he finished.

Our bench today is at his house, at the top of his garden, looking onto the River Wye just downstream of the Victoria Bridge - a good place to relax following his exhausting climb!

References:

Parkinsons: https://www.parkinsons.org.uk

Hereford Rotary Club: https://www.rotary-ribi.org/clubs/homepage.php?ClubID=605 and https://www.facebook.com/herefordcityrotaryclub/

Burghill Church - https://www.facebook.com/burghillchurch/

Hereford Cathedral - https://www.herefordcathedral.org

Mappa Mundi - https://www.themappamundi.co.uk

Black and White Village Trail - https://www.blackandwhitetrail.org

Visit Herefordshire - https://www.visitherefordshire.co.uk

DONATE TO ALAN - https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/louise-blake-1?utm_term=9ZNY38Y7