Media coverage in Gibraltar

The media coverage in Gibraltar started today with a double page spread in the Gibraltar Magazine, a glossy which comes out once a month.  To see this go to: The Gibraltar Magazine  The article can be found in the April 2010 edition on pages 44/45. At the same time browse through the whole magazine which covers all aspects of Gibraltar life.  Gibraltar is a fantastic holiday destination and has a lot more to offer than just the famous Gibraltar Apes!

We have already done an interview for the Gibraltar Chronicle and this should be coming out in the next couple of weeks.  They will be covering the whole of the walk, probably on a weekly basis.

Only 18 more days to go!

Today, as we prepare for our departure to Spain, the Surrey Advertiser has carried an article about our walk, which we hope will keep interest in the walk alive locally!   We are now busy with our final preparations, making sure that all our equipment is ready, passports are handy etc, ready for our departure on Thursday.  A number of people who are supporting us have expressed interest in our equipment so we have decided to include this in a new page which you can access from this home page.  Just click on the heading "Equipment List".


Among those who have been giving us their support and encouragement is an old friend, Miles Macnair.  His mother Ruth, an accomplished author and painter, has a strong connection with Gibraltar.  In her book Witness to War, Ruth witnessed the opening shots of the Spanish Civil War. Her husband, Ian Macnair, was in command of a destroyer, HMS Shamrock, and he was ordered by the Admiralty to undertake a number of hazardous missions to rescue refugees from Malaga and Seville. She describes these experiences in 15 letters to her mother in England, alternating the alarms of war with charming domestic details, combined with the fears of a wife for a husband suddenly caught up in an alien conflict.  A talented artist, Ruth's letters are illustrated with her paintings and photographs of the time.


Recently Miles sent me a note on a charming postcard illustrating one of his mother's paintings.  It is of a small bridge in the village of Campamento, not far from Gibraltar.  Our walk will take us through Campamento and we hope it may take us right over that bridge!

It's a small world!

A few days ago I got an email from Hector Charvetto.  Among other things he told me that he is from Gibraltar and remembers seeing my brother William in around 1946/48, playing the guitar at the barber's shop near my house.  William would have been around 7/8 years old.  The barber was his first teacher!  After playing his first public concert at the age of 12 he was seen by Narciso Yepes, at the time one of the world's top classical guitarists, who became his mentor.  Urged on by him, William went on to study at the conservatory of music in Madrid.

Hector and his wife Jane had read about our proposed Walk for William 2010 in the local Surrey Herald newspaper.   Ana Maria and I met them for coffee and we reminisced about the old days in Gib!  Somehow the conversation turned to the Gibraltar Regiment and he was telling me that he had to do his military service at the age of 27 instead of 18 as he had been working at the Navy Dockyard and so was exempt from doing his service earlier.  As we talked it became clear that notwithstanding our age difference we had both served in the same intake, the 28th!  Last night he sent me a photo of the 28th, which I have reproduced here.  I'm the one in the top row!  Soldiers from the Gibraltar Regiment have distinguished themselves in Iraq and Afghanistan with several receiving decorations including a Military Cross.

(click on the photo to enlarge)

Robert & Ana Maria at Radio Wey

This morning Ana Maria and I did an interview on Radio Wey, the foremost hospital radio station in the United Kingdom. Started in 1965 it continues to go from strength to strength and plays a vital role in bringing music, interviews and news to hospitals and local communities.

Our interviewer was Steve Chambers.  Steve trained as an actor many many years ago, then he was employed by British Airways where he has recently finished a long career as a Cabin Service Director. (That’s the person who you normally approach to ask for an upgrade.)  Just when I needed one and he retires!

And before you ask, no , we did not talk about strikes! We talked instead about our walk and about the charities we are supporting.  At the same time we also managed to listen to some of William's music.  Our thanks to Steve and to all those volunteers who do such a splendid job at Radio Wey.  

To listen to Radio Wey on the internet go to: www.radiowey.co.uk. and click on "Listen Live"

St Patrick's Day

Yesterday, St Patrick's Day, we were visited by a Leprechaun in the form of our dear friend Greta.  As you may have guessed she is Irish, somewhat extrovert and totally mad!  We opened the front door and there she was, blowing madly on her flute!  We had spoken earlier that day and she must have sensed that we were slightly stressed trying to organise everything before we set off for Spain on 1st April.  We suspect that she came to remind us that the walk also has to be fun and must be thoroughly enjoyed, something that we are determined to do.

Greta walked with us on the Thames Path Walk in 2007 as well as providing logistical support and she was the nurse who looked after the terrible blisters I got on that walk.  She is a good friend, and a great traveller and adventurer.  Her last adventure a few months ago was climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.  The good news (this remains to be seen!) is that she and her friend Linda are going to join us in Ourense and will walk with us over 100 kms to Santiago de Compostela, one of the last stages of our epic walk.  I suspect she thinks we are not going to get that far, hence her offer.  Well, Greta, get your boots ready 'cause we intend to see you there, come what may!

If there are any other mad people out there who would like to keep us company on our walk, please get in touch.

32 days to go!

The countdown to the start of Walk for William 2010 continues.  In the meantime we are gearing up for some press coverage, which hopefully will create more awareness of the two charities we are supporting and boost donations.

We have been interviewed by the Surrey Herald and we expect a piece about the walk to go out in this or next week's edition.  We are confident that other Surrey newspapers will also cover the walk as they did back in 2007.

In Gibraltar, the monthly glossy Gibraltar Magazine will be running a spread in April and the Gibraltar Chronicle, one of Europe's oldest newspapers, will start its coverage around the end of March.

We are expecting most donations to come in as we get closer to the start and during the walk.  However, please feel free to start donating right now!  We are leaving for Spain on 1st April and it would give us a huge boost to see a healthy balance before we go!

Update

Our training continues to go well and we are now covering about 50 miles a week.  On the walk itself we will be covering about twice that distance weekly.  The weather has been kind to us and we haven't been rained upon although it is getting increasingly cold and the thermals have had to come out on a couple of occasions!

I have now started to carry my 10 kilo rucksack. My shoulder is still painful but bearable and Claire, my physio at the Weybridge Hospital, assures me that it is healing.  She is seen here with me outside the entrance to the Sam Beare Hospice, the charity we are supporting in the UK.

Ana Maria seems to be coping rather well with the increased walking schedule and does not seem fazed by the 50 miles she had to put in this last week!  She keeps asking me when we are going to do a "proper day's walk". Women in her family are made of sturdy stuff!

Donations have now started to trickle in even though we are still 40 days from the start of the walk, which is quite heartening.  It is good to know that we are not the only ones who have faith in our ability to do this walk!