About the Walk

The Coast to Coast Walk

 30th April – 15th May 2007

“….taking steps for seafarers”

Two parishioners from St Wilfrid’s parish Haltwhistle (which is linked with St John of Beverley parish, Haydon Bridge, Hexham), are planning to complete the Coast to Coast Walk this summer.

Walking from west to east, (St Bee’s in Cumbria, to Robin Hood’s Bay in Yorkshire, a distance of 197 miles) they will symbolically join the Irish Sea with the North Sea, and at the same time raise money through sponsorship for the Apostleship of the Sea (AOS), the Catholic ministry to seafarers, and help to raise awareness of the importance of seafarers to us in our daily lives.

Veronica and Eddie Yarwood are both experienced walkers, having completed many of the established routes in various parts of the country; the Weaver’s Way in Norfolk (62 miles), the Peddar’s Way & Norfolk Coastal Path (also Norfolk – 97 miles), plus the St Cuthbert’s Way and the Dales Way. Some of these walks have been sponsored raising much needed funds for charities such as MENCAP and HAWC (Help Adolescents with Cancer) and the local Haltwhistle Girl Guides. However, this is Veronica and Eddie’s most ambitious project to date and both are currently in a regime of training to ensure that they are fully prepared when they begin the walk at the end of April.

Asked why they were taking on such a challenge, Eddie, a former Civil servant explained.

“My love of walking goes back to my youth when I first became involved with my brother and other boy scouts in the Peak District. My interest continued into later life and, having developed, map reading skills I subsequently looked to devise my own walks and take on some of the more challenging ones around the country. After we were married, Veronica continued her own interest in walking and it is now a major pastime which we can enjoy together”.

The pair plan to set off on Monday 30th April and will tackle the walk in stages of around 12 miles per day, staying in overnight accommodation en-route, all of which has been booked in advance, and hope to arrive in Robin Hood’s Bay on Tuesday 15th May. “I’m under no illusion…” adds Eddie, “It’s going to be tough!”
 
The decision to offer the opportunity of sponsorship to the Apostleship of the Sea was apparently an easy one to make. Veronica, a former Probation Officer outlines the reason,

“I have always been interested in the sea, and this was heightened following a visit to Teesport on a Kingdom Tour some years ago, arranged by Bernadette Askins, the Ecumenical Officer for the Hexham & Newcastle diocese. The tour really made an impression on me; we went on board a large roll-on roll-off ferry and  met seafarers working on board. They were very pleased to see us and made us very welcome. It was great to talk to them about their families back home. Seafarers lead such a difficult life, away from loved ones for up to nine months at a time; they suffer loneliness, isolation and sometimes ill treatment and abuse, and all to keep the shelves of our supermarkets filled with all the goods and produce we take for granted. The Apostleship of the Sea does a great job in caring for seafarers, many of whom are Catholic, so we decided that it is this organisation which should benefit from any sponsorship monies raised to help with their work”.

The Coast to Coast route begins in the Lancaster diocese and finishes in the Middlesbrough diocese. Parishes en-route will be made aware of Veronica and Eddie’s great quest and asked to pray that their strength, courage and perseverance will be sustained throughout the entire walk.

Please support Veronica and Eddie as they take steps to complete the 197 mile Coast to Coast Walk to raise funds for the Apostleship of the Sea, the Catholic Ministry to seafarers. Sponsorship Forms can be downloaded from this site.

We wish Veronica and Eddie the best of luck in their preparations, and of course with the walk itself.