A Cowes-born man, now living in Lincolnshire, is planning an especially arduous return to the Island this summer – on foot.
Eddie Ash will team up with friend John Levine to make the 300-plus mile trek from his home in Kirton-in-Lindsey, 20 miles north of Lincoln, to the Tennyson monument in Freshwater all in the aid of the Earl Mountbatten Hospice.
He plans to complete the walk in around 20 days, raising money for good causes, including Earl Mountbatten Hospice in Newport. The pair plan to cover around 15 to 20 miles a day, using existing walking trails where possible, and will stop overnight in B&Bs.
Eddie, 65 said:
“We don’t just want to travel between Lincolnshire and the Island via the shortest route by simply following A-roads and motorways, we want this to be enjoyable…a bit of an adventure.
“We are both really looking forward to it. It will be a challenge and further than either of us has ever walked before but we are picking our route to make sure it is as interesting as possible, as well as physically demanding.”
Born and educated in Cowes, Eddie grew up on the Island until leaving at the age of 18 to join the RAF. He later worked in sales and marketing before launching his own sales and management training company. A self-trained artist, specialising in aviation and Island scenes, Edward said there was a special reason why his walk, which begins on 7th June, will culminate at Freshwater’s Tennyson Monument on 22nd June.
Eddie added:
“Tennyson was born in Lincolnshire and came to live on the Island whereas I have taken the reverse path – I was born on the Island and live in Lincolnshire.”
Consequently Edward and John will mark the start of their trip with a photocall at the Tennyson monument outside Lincoln Cathedral and then again at the Tennyson Monument on Freshwater Down, having arrived on the Island via Wightlink’s Lymington to Yarmouth ferry. They are also delighted to be using the walk to raise money for Earl Mountbatten Hospice as well as St Barnabas Hospice in Lincs.
Fittingly, their final major training walk will be the Walk the Wight event on 11th May. Eddie regularly returns to the Island, where he has family, and is a seasoned ‘Walk the Wighter’.
He continued:
“Walk the Wight is a great event and will be an excellent warm up for the June walk from Lincoln – provided we don’t pick up any injuries.”
Interim Earl Mountbatten Hospice chief executive Jo Blackburn, said:
“We were all very impressed to hear of the challenges Eddie and John are taking up shortly. There can’t be many people using Walk the Wight as a warm-up exercise for a longer walk just weeks later.”
Anyone wishing to sponsor Eddie can email him at [email protected]. For information on Walk the Wight, see https://www.iwhospice.org/register-now-for-wtw.aspx
