A team from the cancer support charity Macmillan stayed in our cottages over the weekend while they staged the Wye Valley Mighty Hike fund raiser on Saturday September 7th.
The hike started at Chepstow racecourse which is less than 10 minutes from us and finished at Monmouth Showground some 26 miles away up the Wye Valley. The route passed through Tintern.
The 250 hikers taking part started between 6:50am and 9:30am so it was an early start for our guests. The fastest hikes finished in 7.5 hours while the slower ones took more than 12 hours. But whatever the pace they travelled through the most glorious wooded landscape alongside the River Wye which is truly picturesque.
The word “picturesque” was invented to describe the area they walked through. The Reverend William Gilpin, clergyman, schoolmaster, writer and artist, used it to describe the area in his book “Observations on the River Wye’ in 1783 which described “that peculiar kind of beauty, which is agreeable in a picture.”
I have walked the route many times and it is always a joy and I am sure it was the same for the hikers on Saturday, but they had the added incentive and satisfaction of raising money for this very worthwhile charity.
As well as the entry fee the hikers had pledged to raise a minimum of £250 each so the event has raised a significant sum for this wonder organisation which from the moment someone is diagnosed with cancer offers emotional, physical and financial support, through treatment and beyond.
