Family celebrates after taking on its fourth fundraising walk
A Shropshire family has completed its annual charity walk, this time one of the four completing it barefoot.
The Thomson family, from Ellesmere, has raised over £8,000 in walks over the past three years and did the fourth between May 13-18.
Andrew and Mary Thomson started the walks four years ago.
Last year they were joined by their daughter, Lorna, who lives in London, and Jamie, who travelled from Australia.
Mr Thomson said: "Last year our son, Jamie, came from Australia to join us. He found it so rewarding that he expressed the wish to repeat the experience. So, although last year was intended to be our last, we decided to do a fourth walk in May this year.
"As myself and my wife are both 83 years old we walked shorter distances each day, and provided back-up for the younger pair."
The Thomson 30-mile walk took in the Shropshire Way from Bridges to Craven Arms.
Jamie said: "I walked the whole way barefoot and my parents and sister took turns to accompany me, wearing shoes/boots.
"Why barefoot? The four of us did a similar walk last year, raising money for Severn Hospice and Hordley Church. We did the Mary Jones Walk in North Wales. That walk attempts to retrace the route taken by Mary Jones when, in 1800 and aged 15, she walked from her tiny village to Bala to buy a Welsh language Bible, for which she had apparently saved for six years.
"Mary is said to have undertaken this journey barefoot, no doubt because she didn't have any suitable shoes. I was inspired to complete the Mary Jones Walk barefoot and trained for several months in order to be able to achieve this. I decided to build on this achievement by undertaking this year's walk barefoot.
"We were extremely lucky with the weather and didn't see any rain. The scenery ranged from pleasant to spectacular. Although I grew up in North Shropshire, I was not familiar with most of the areas we walked through. Particular highlights were the Stiperstones and Bury Ditches."
This year's walk raised money for Severn Hospice.
Mrs Thomson worked for the hospice in its early days in the 1980s and was one of the people who formed the Ellesmere support group in March 1990.
"Its staff provide wonderful end-of-life care for many in our community," she said.
Anyone who wants to donate to the walk can do so online at justgiving.com/page/andrew-thomson-29