Snow time!

Our fundraising efforts seem to have got off the ground this week. We've all had some donations in, I was ecstatic to receive 4 donations on just giving so my total on there now is £130. We had the Body Shop at Home party on Wednesday and that raised £176 so it feels like we're getting somewhere now. Lots of people bought a lucky square in advance of the party which raised £75 and 3 of them won £25 worth of Body Shop products each. Everyone who came to the party donated £2 each for a cuppa and a cake. My husband Rich had made scones which were a big hit with cream and jam, thanks Rich :) Everyone was entered into a drawer for the evening's makeover and Sinaed was the person who was chosen to be beautified!

We also had a raffle on the night and everyone there seemed to enjoy themselves. Many thanks to everyone who came and to those who contributed before the event.

This week's walk was a little bit shorter than we intended due to the weather. It's not very common to get snow in this area and really very uncommon to get snow in March! I'm sure when the Chester and Ellesmere Port Rotary clubs organised their Spring Fundraising Walk it didn't cross their minds we'd have had snow in the run up to it. We were determined that if it was going ahead we would be taking part so headed off to Chester Racecourse for the start this morning. Flora, Angela and I were well wrapped up for 1 degree temperature when we arrived. I was wearing 2 pairs of trousers (1 under the other, not one on each leg, that would be strange!), a vest that was long enough to keep my bum warm (I really object to having cold legs and bottom), T-shirt, hoodie, waterproof, hat, scarf and gloves. We were a bit disappointed when we registered to find that the organisers were suggesting that everyone stuck to the 4.5 mile walk as some of the 7 mile route we had intended to do wasn't great due to the snow. The amount of snow around varied hugely as you can see from the photos below which show the racecourse and it's surrounding path which was pretty clear:

Unfortunately the turn out was quite poor so we weren't exactly walking with a crowd. However, it was a pleasant route and an invigorating walk out in the fresh air. The route took us round the edge of the racecourse then out and towards the city centre alongside the River Dee. We then crossed over the river and carried on along the tow path before turning towards Handbridge, back over the river and finally back to the racecourse.

We had to take the odd detour to avoid weather related obstacles:

That little stream in front of the river is where we're meant to be walking! Due to the cold we were quite glad when we made it back to the racecourse and got our entry form stamped to prove we'd finished and picked up our certificates. I'm collecting certificates to prove I've actually got off my derriere and done things!

Excuse my dreadful hat hair and please remember I look fatter than usual because I've got multiple layers of clothes on! In fact on the subject of fatness, I was very cheerful this week as I've lost 5% of my weight since joining Weight Watchers at the beginning of Feb. I'm hoping to be a bit less of a fatty by the time it's graduation in July, then lose some more before we go to Jordan. We've followed the first 5 weeks of the training programme for the trek since registering and move on to the next phase this week. For the next 5 weeks we need to do:

Day 1: 40 mins aerobic training and 3 x 15 reps strength training
Day 2: 10 mins hill/stair climbing
Day 3: 40 mins aerobic training and 3 x 15 reps strength training
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: 40 mins aerobic training
Day 6: Rest
Day 7: Trek for 4 hours

With all that we should be getting fitter and trimmer by the day!

TTFN, Pauline.

Clatterbridge Cancer Centre and Bunnies running!

Last week I said I'd give you some information about Clatterbridge Cancer Centre where I've worked for over 20 years, so here it comes. Just so you know, I was asked by a patient today how long I'd been working in radiotherapy. When I told him that it had been 20 something years and I'd received my 20 years service award last year for sticking around for so long, he said he couldn't believe it because I didn't look old enough. God bless him, that man went straight to the top of my Christmas card list!!!  

Here's some info from CCC:

The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist cancer hospital located in Wirral, Merseyside, with a satellite radiotherapy centre in nearby Liverpool. It is one of the largest cancer centres in the UK with more than 8,000 new patients registered each year.

 

Overview

The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS specialist cancer treatment facilities in the UK – employing 860 staff and treating more than 27,000 patients a year. Based in Wirral, it serves a population of 2.3 million across Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales, the Isle of Man and parts of Lancashire.

 

The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre delivers treatments to patients through radiotherapy and chemotherapy services, and has a dedicated cancer rehabilitation team. It also has a sophisticated diagnostic imaging department and is currently the only provider of proton therapy in the UK. With the support of the Teenage Cancer Trust Clatterbridge hosts the region’s Teenage and Young Adult Unit.

 

Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Liverpool
The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre opened its first radiotherapy satellite centre in Liverpool on 14 February 2011, in order to reduce travel times to patients living north of the River Mersey.

 

Foundation Trust status

The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre became a Foundation Trust on 1 August 2006. As a result of its Foundation Trust status, local people, patients, carers and staff can become members and elect representatives to serve on a Council of Governors for the Trust.

Over 5,500 people have applied to become members of The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust.

 

Hospitals addresses

 

The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust
Clatterbridge Road
Wirral

Merseyside
CH63 4JY

0151 334 1155

The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust Liverpool
Lower Lane

Fazakerley
Liverpool

Merseyside
L9 7BA

0151 514 2800

 

History

The Centre’s roots date back over a century to the Liverpool Hospital for Cancer and Diseases of the Skin, set up by James Seaton Smythe, a prominent surgeon. He founded the institution in 1862 and seven years later bequeathed the hospital the sum of £10,000.

In 1882 the hospital moved to a new site in Liverpool and was renamed The Radium Institute, and gradually the Centre grew to be one of two major radiotherapy centres in north-west England.

In the early 1950s a decision was taken to relocate services away from Liverpool city centre to Clatterbridge. The unit was opened in March 1958 and was known as Clatterbridge Hospital West – Radiotherapy Unit. The three wards housed 70 patient beds, and the linear accelerator treated between 60 and 80 patients a day. Demand for radiotherapy increased rapidly and by the mid 1960s up to 90 patients a day were being treated on the linear accelerator.

By 1974 the Centre changed its name to the Mersey Regional Centre for Radiotherapy and Oncology. By 1980 patient numbers were still rising and a decision was taken to undertake large-scale expansion at the unit. A new imaging facility was built, with a CT scanner installed in 1984 and the Gamma camera in 1988. The Medical Research Council chose Clatterbridge as the centre at which a Cyclotron would be installed for Proton and Neutron trials. This was installed in 1984.

 

Papillon – Contact Radiotherapy

The RT 50 Papillon machine at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre is the first of its kind in the world. The machine allows the revival of interest in contact radiotherapy for patients with early low rectal tumours. There is increasing interest in Papillon as an alternative treatment option as it avoids major surgery and permanent stoma which is still regarded (at present) as the standard treatment for these patients.

 

Cyclotron

The Douglas Cyclotron is the only proton therapy facility of its kind in the United Kingdom. It is a national facility which treats cancers within the eye. Patients are referred from all over the United Kingdom and Ireland, with a smaller number from mainland Europe and other continents.
All patients requiring proton therapy for eye disease are referred to the service by eye tumour specialists at the following four ophthalmological tumour centres:

London (St Bartholomew’s Hospital)
Liverpool (St Paul's Eye Unit)
Sheffield (Royal Hallamshire Hospital)
Glasgow (Gartnavel General Hospital)

Fundraising

The hospital charity, ‘The Clatterbridge Cancer Charity’ is the only charity that raises funds to directly benefit the patients of The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre.

The Clatterbridge Cancer Charity wants to ensure the hospital can offer the most up-to-date treatment, support vital research, treat patients with world-class equipment and provide extra support services that may otherwise be unavailable.

To find out more about The Clatterbridge Cancer Charity’ visit www.yourclatterbridge.org.uk

 

Having been born and brought up in Bebington, Clatterbridge has been part of my life. My Mum did her nurse training at Clatterbridge School of Nursing in the late 1950/60's and she returned to work at Clatterbridge as a phlebotomist when I was 10 years old. She used to talk about the patients she met when taking blood samples for in patients who were receiving courses of radiotherapy. I remember the Super Scanner appeal when the money was raised to buy the first CT scanner for the unit in 1984 (I was still at school). The rest of the Clatterbridge site was Bebington's general hospital until 1979(ish) when Arrowe Park hospital opened. I had my appendix taken out at Clatterbridge one Friday evening in April 1980, I had a great time staying on Wendy ward which is now part of the St John's Hospice buildings.

When I visited the radiotherapy department at Cookridge Hospital when I was applying to train as a therapeutic radiographer I remember not being terribly surprised by anything I saw, I think I was just used to the idea of radiotherapy. What did surprise me about Cookridge was the fear the name of the hospital aroused in people living in West Yorkshire. It seemed really strange that a hospital could have such a strong association with cancer that the local population would be terrified if they were referred there. What I had failed to realise about Clatterbridge, was that it aroused the same feelings in people from Liverpool and North Wales. My view of a friendly DGH was only applicable to Bebington/Wirral residents and unfortunately the rest of Clatterbridge's wider catchment area was just as terrified as the people being referred in to Cookridge. Hopefully in the last 20+ years cancer has become a slightly less daunting illness and certainly my own experience is that our patients often find that their fears were unfounded and Clatterbridge Cancer Centre is a pleasant friendly hospital full of hope rather than doom and gloom. 

When I transferred to Clatterbridge to complete my training the thing that did amaze me was the Neutron treatment facility which was part of the Cyclotron Unit. Having got used to normal linear accelerators which, were then and are still the machines which deliver the majority of external beam radiotherapy the neutron machine seemed absolutely massive. Due to the size of the gantry there was a pit under the floor and the floor could be withdrawn to allow the machine to rotate round and underneath the patient lying on the treatment couch. The neutron treatment unit was decommisioned when it was decided that side effects caused by this type of treatment were too severe and this ended neutron treatment in the U.K.. This type of treatment is still delivered in other parts of the world.

Bomford, C.K., Kunkler, I.H. and Sherriff, S.B. (1993)

It would seem moving floors were relatively common before my time in radiotherapy due to the size of linear accelerators but I had never seen anything like it! In fact the picture below shows a treatment machine with a floor which could be dropped out of the way to allow the machine to rotate, apparently patient's slippers had to be retrieved from the pit on a regular basis. Fortunately the patients weren't in them when they slid down the angled floor! When I first saw this photo I thought the machine must have been from the 1950's. However, I'm reliably informed that it was still operational in the 1980's.

Back in the day it wasn't unusual at all for Linear Accelerators (linacs) to still be running 20 years post installation. These days the expected life span of a linac is about 10 years. Due to the complexity of the machinery and the rapidly changing technology available in radiotherapy I don't think our shiny Novalis machine which was installed in the Aintree satellite centre will still be treating patients in 2030!

The Novalis linear accelerator

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2011/02/07/2-3m-brain-tumour-machine-unveiled-at-clatterbridge-cancer-centre-in-liverpool-99623-28124031/

This news article has a little film which shows one of our consultant clinical oncologists, Dr Haylock, discussing the advantages of the Novalis machine:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-12377388

I think that's enough plugging of Clatterbridge Cancer Centre for now! I'll fill you in on the exciting news about our fitness efforts this week.

Angela and Flora spent Sunday morning up to their knees in mud trekking around Thurstaston. Despite the weather they covered 7 miles, including a trespassing incident! Apparently this photo was taken before the mud bath! Angela certainly looks well dressed for the weather.

 

I wasn't able to join them as I had headed off to Llandudno for the Bunny Fun Run. I have to confess I was NOT looking forward to it. My prep hadn't gone quite as well as I'd hoped due to the fact that i just couldn't bring myself to go out and run in public! I did try to run on the treadmill at the gym but I was TERRIFIED of falling off!!! I have a long history of falling over, so this was not an unfounded concern! I consulted with my children about what i should wear, they're still at school and are occasionally forced to take part in the dreaded cross country so they had at least some ideas about appropriate dress. Oddly enough I don't have a wardrobe full of running clothes, strange hey!?!?!? I'd got dressed as they advised and set off for North Wales in plenty of time. It was a lovely cold but very bright sunny morning when I left the Wirral. Then after I hit the coast road it started raining, then sleet and finally snow. At that point, it dawned on me that I'd forgotten a waterproof. School boy error!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was tipping down with rain when i arrived so I sat in the car for a while praying it would ease off. Fortunately for me, a miracle happened, the rain eased and actually stopped before the run and only started again as it was finishing. Someone was smiling on us for sure. Everyone taking part was issued with a set of bunny ears and face painting was optional :)

Here's me, very obviously UNCOMFORTABLE!!!! I wasn't bothered about looking silly wearing bunny ears and face paint. It was the prospect of public running that was making me cringe.

I was surrounded by happy smiley people all having a laugh and I was TERRIFIED!!!! I was a bit less rigid after we'd done a warm up and I actually did run some of it, honest I did! It was 4km (2.5 miles in old money) from one end of Llandudno prom to the other and back again. There were lots of people taking part, serious (ish) runners, families with dogs, young and old and it was really good fun. There was a big group all dressed as rabbits who were there raising money in the name of a friend who was cared for in the hospice.



http://stdavidshospice.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Bunny.jpg

First through the finishing post was Chris, Moyra's husband. He's been running competitively since he was 9 years old, he did it in 17 minutes and that included a cheery wave at all of us whom he passed on his way back down the prom. I took 34 minutes to do it, strangely enough I haven't been running competitively or otherwise since childhood! In fact I'm fairly sure I haven't run in public since I was at school. For me just breaking my own law and actually running where a whole bunch of people could see me was a HUGE achievement. So yay me!!! :)))) I even beat a few people, admittedly most of those I passed looked about 6 years old, but take it from me, the 6 year olds in North Wales are really fit!!!!

Here's the proof that I actually did run and made it across the finishing line:

Does my bum look big in this???? ;)

I even got a certificate!!!!

Some of my fellow radiographers are a lot less fat and unfit than I am and a number of them completed the Liverpool Half Marathon on Sunday. I'm seriously impressed by them, not only do they run in public but they do it for a long time and quite fast too!!! Here's Lucy after completing the 13 mile course, looking as fresh as a daisy:

Well done guys, I think you're all amazing :)

I think that'll do for now. I'll try to think of an exciting subject for next weeks update.

A little bit about us

As promised I'll tell you a little bit about me, Angela and Flora.

We're all Therapeutic Radiographers, a professional title which is usually met with a blank stare when you tell people that's what you do. Here comes the careers info: Radiographers are split into two separate professions linked by commonalities, like working with radiation, but substantially different otherwise. Diagnostic radiographers are the people you will have met if you've ever had an X-ray or a scan of any sort. They're trained to use a range of imaging modalities to assist in the diagnosis and ongoing assessment of illnesses and also in happier situations like Ultrasound scans in pregnancy. Therapeutic radiographers are trained to plan and deliver Radiotherapy, using high energy X-rays mostly to treat cancer, although we occasionally treat non-malignant conditions. If you're filled with a desire to become a radiographer have a look at these websites:

http://www.sor.org/about-radiography

http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/explore-by-career/allied-health-professions/careers-in-the-allied-health-professions/radiographer/

Angela and Flora have been qualified radiographers for longer than I have and have worked in radiotherapy in the U.K. and overseas. They both worked in the Radiotherapy Department at Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, which until recently was known as Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology and prior to 1992 was Mersey Regional Centre for Radiotherapy and Oncology. After successful clinical careers, both now work as lecturers in Radiotherapy at the University of Liverpool. They both live on the Wirral and continue to have ties with CCC as a third of Liverpool University's Radiotherapy students train at CCC and Liverpool University also offer degree and masters level module in association with CCC ( http://www.liv.ac.uk/health-sciences/ )

I'm a lot less exciting than Flora and Angela. Not only have I never worked overseas, I'm so geographically static, I was actually born at Clatterbridge Hospital. It's true! Maybe you're getting a picture about why I think a desert trek in Jordan is such a thrilling prospect? Anyway, I did manage to move off the Wirral for 4 years of my life and during that time I bombed out of a Business Studies degree and saw radiotherapy advertised in the job centre in Huddersfield. I applied to the School of Radiotherapy at Cookridge Hospital in Leeds and, for goodness knows what reason, they let me on to their course. I ran into grant problems in the 2nd year and transferred to Clatterbridge for the last year of my training because I could then live with my Mum and Dad in Bebington and would be able to afford to finish my training. I was very lucky to have Angela as my Clinical Tutor when I arrived at Clatterbridge and after a final year of training I qualified as a radiographer in 1992. Apart from a year's secondment when i worked at a large district general in the Liverpool area as a Research Practitioner, I've worked at Clatterbridge ever since. In 2005 I got the job of Clinical Tutor and have acted as line manager, clinical teacher and general mopper up for the Liverpool University Undergraduate Radiographers on clinical placement at CCC from thereon.

I'm not sure about Flora but I know that Angela and I (like an awful lot of people) have both experienced loved ones being diagnosed with and treated for cancer. Some of the care they received has been delivered by a variety of departments at CCC and I think it's true to say all 3 of us feel passionately that the care given to cancer patients at CCC should be as good as the best available in the U.K. and  elsewhere in the world. My Dad was unfortunate enough to be diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2004, which was treated with radiotherapy at CCC in 2005, following 6 months of hormone treatment. This seemed to go well, but unfortunately he was diagnosed with a new primary tumour in his bowel in 2006. This was quite advanced when diagnosed and aggressive, despite the best efforts of those looking after him, Dad died as a result of the bowel tumour in March 2007. His palliative care was delivered by St John's Hospice in Bebington ( http://www.wirralhospice.org/ ) which is another amazing cancer care organisation, which we were immensely grateful to in the last few weeks of Dad's life.

So against that background all 3 of us are really excited to be raising money for Clatterbridge Cancer Charity and fully support their work to 'offer the most up to date treatment, support vital research, treat our patients with world class equipment and provide life-changing support services that would otherwise be unavailable' ( http://www.clatterbridgecc.org.uk/ )

We've all continued with our training schedules and Flora has trekked up the Great Orme in Llandudno this weekend:

The view on my walk this morning was slightly less picturesque!

I consoled myself with the thought that slipping and sliding through a load of mud was good for my core stability :)

Not that much like a desert though!

I was very brave and went to spinning again on Friday as my bottom felt pretty much recovered from the last session. This time it was a different teacher and she had a 'whole body exercise' approach to the whole pedalling like a mad thing training session. She got us going pedalling away on our static bikes and then introduced CHEST PRESSES. Yes, you heard me right!!!! For anyone who hasn't experienced the delights of spinning, picture this scene: You're 11 years old and furiously pedalling along on your BMX. I have no idea what this would feel like as I never had a BMX, I was deprived! Although, thinking about it, it was Choppers that were the height of fashion when I was a kid. I didn't have one of those either, see what I mean about being deprived? I had a proper girl's Raleigh Shopper type bike with a basket on the front. How could I have got my cookery ingredients to school on a Chopper for goodness sake!?!?! Anyway, I digress. So you're going like the clappers, standing up, pedalling uphill on your BMX and you suddenly decide it would be a great idea to start lunging, like a woodpecker on steroids, over your handlebars whilst continuing to pedal. The entire class was doing this, it was the strangest sight and all this time the instructor was at the front shouting and throwing her arms around like a conductor in an asylum! I was watching them with amazed fascination as there was NO way I'm fit enough to pedal and impersonate a woodpecker at the same time. Obviously I'll be going back next week, who wouldn't?!?!?

Hopefully next Friday's session won't leave me too physically disadvantaged on Sunday as I'm 'running' in the Bunny fun run on Llandudno pier which is in aid of St David's Hospice. My lovely colleague Moyra, who is a nurse lecturer in Clinical Education at CCC, invited me to join her as she's been a supporter of St Davids Hospice for a number of years. I thought I'd make a personal donation and use it as one of my targets for my training. Unfortunately I haven't got to grips with the whole 'running' thing as much as I'd hoped so I think I will run some of it, but there'll be a fair amount of walking and gasping for breath going on! However, they give you bunny ears to wear so YAY!!!!! I will, of course, supply photos of the aforementioned bunny ears and 'running' combo next Sunday.

As well as posting the usual thrilling training related photos, next week I'll tell you a bit more about the history of Clatterbridge Cancer Centre.

TTFN, Pauline.

p.s. I forgot to say a big thanks to my lovely family for their Mother's day present of a donation to my fundraising :)

Crikey, what have I got myself into?!?!?

The route from the Dead Sea to Petra

Britain V Cancer: The Jordan Desert Trek 15 - 22 November 2013

Okay, so this is what I'll be doing in November to raise money for Clatterbridge Cancer Charity http://www.clatterbridgecc.org.uk/

The blurb about it says:

'The Jordan Desert Trek entails five days of trekking starting at the Dead Sea and finishing in the red rock city of Petra. Accompanied by Bedouin guides you will trek through mountain and desert terrain using ancient trails. You will sleep under the stars en route to the beautiful city of Petra'

Which all sounds lovely! Then when the trek info turned up, it said that day 3 (day 2 of actual trekking) involves 8 hours of trekking up hill!! HORROR!!!! I needed to make sure you knew about that because I'm still traumatised!

The image below shows the route from the Dead Sea to Petra but it comes out as 154 Km which is an awfully long way and (I hope) further than we have to trek. Hence I guess why we trek for 8 hours uphill into the Black mountains (have I mentioned that already?) to go more as the crow flies?



So what on earth was I thinking when I decided that I should spend the week before my 45th birthday trogging across desert, mountain, valleys, donkey trails etc to travel from the Dead Sea to one of Unesco's Wonders of the World? 

Well the story kind of starts last November shortly before my 44th birthday. I was feeling pretty grotty and worn out and decided I'd have to do something to improve my fitness and general wellbeing as I was struggling to figure out how I was going to manage to keep going to work for another 20 days never mind 20 years (or more, depending on the pension situation!). So I joined our local sports centre but was so knackered I debated whether to ask if I could do the over 50's exercise classes. I went to Tai Chi but the flippin warm up nearly finished me off, all I could do to start with was aquarobics which is great for people like me who have NO co-ordination as most of you is underwater so no-one can see when you keep going wrong. So I carried on with that and started to feel a bit more human although I was still a big fatty and kept getting fatter and fatter!! So then I decided to join Weight Watchers to try to shift some of the flab. So there I was (and am); fat, unfit and heading for 45.

I'd been debating organising a girlie trip to Venice for my 45th birthday, then completely by chance I saw a flyer at work for the Britain V Cancer Jordan desert and found myself unexpectedly excited about the possibility of doing a fundraising challenge and having what qualifies for me as an adventure, instead of a girlie trip. So after consulting my husband (he said don't go), my friend Clare who has done the Grand Canyon and Machu Picchu for charity (she said GO FOR IT!) and the fundraising folk at Clatterbridge Cancer Charity (who said do it, but they get paid to say that, Iol) I registered to join the trek. There was a possibility I might know a couple of people who had also registered but I wouldn't find out for definite until after I'd signed up, but I decided I didn't care whether I knew anyone or not. After I'd registered I was VERY excited and told anyone who would listen. To my immense joy, 2 of the colleagues I bored to death with my excited witterings decided they wanted to come, so Flora Al-Samarraie and Angela Cross are coming too!

The Treasury at Petra

We started 2 weeks ago with roughly 6 months to fundraise and 9 months to train to make sure we don't cark it in the desert! We're all raising money for Clatterbridge Cancer Charity and each need to raise £2.5K by the beginning of September. We're planning lots of different fundraising events to raise at least £7,500 between us. I've decided to start small and have organised a Body Shop party for March 20th to get things started. I'm also planning a party night, Rock and Roll Bingo, a group abseilling trip and an Arabian Nights themed Dine at Mine (apparently it's entirely ethical to make people pay to come and eat at your house!!!!!). Flora and Angela are also busy planning ways to raise as much cash as possible.

Our fitness training began last week with a 3 hour walk along the Wirral Way and we've all started exercise classes of different descriptions. Angela and Flora are going to Zumba classes but I'd just fall over so I haven't tried that! For the first time ever I went to a spinning class. They call it Revolutions at our local sports centre and it proved to be just as dangerous for my health as a real revolution!!! I used to like riding my bike but haven't ridden full pelt or stood up on a bike to ride up a hill since I was about 11. It turned out that spinning involves pedalling furiously like a demented 10 year old on a BMX and I came to the realisation part way through that the (apparently) nice instructor lady was actually trying to kill me!!! I've booked to go again this Friday but have had to leave it 2 weeks for my bottom to recover.
We completed our 2nd training walk/hike/trek today accompanied by my dogs who have spent the rest of the day sleeping, it's alright for some!

The 3 of us, plus dogs, walked locally on the Wirral from Storeton Woods, though Brimstage, to Thornton Hough, circled back round to Brimstage (just in time for the Country Mouse opening for cuppas) then through Storeton village and back through Storeton woods to our starting point. 7.8 miles in 3 hours ish (plus cuppa time).

The terrain varied from soggy fields (here's me, my dogs and Angela on a slightly drier section) to dry fields, woods, roads, paths and quite a lot of stiles. We didn't actually find any desert but we'll keep looking.

 

Here's Flora having a great time being dragged along by the dogs :)

Cuppa time at Brimstage, I'm assuming there are Tea Shops in the desert?

So that's about it for now. Our news is bound to be thrilling, so I'll keep posting about our fundraising and fitness efforts over the coming months and I'll tell you a bit more about why we want to raise money for Clatterbridge Cancer Charity.

TTFN, Pauline.