Aylesbury walker, 82, completes 4,500 mile RNLI station trek
Walker, 82, completes 4,500-mile RNLI station trek
12 minutes ago
Share
Save
Martin Heath & Annabel Amos
BBC News, Buckinghamshire
Share
Save
Pip Murrison/BBC
Derek Adams visited his last lifeboat in Aith on the West Shetland mainland
An 82-year-old man has completed an epic 4,500 mile (7,242km) walk along Britain's coastline, stopping at every lifeboat station on the way.
Derek Adams, originally from Northampton but now living in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, started his expedition in June, 2022.
He visited his 238th lifeboat station on Tuesday.
He has so far raised more than £10,000 for the lifeboat charity, the RNLI, Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation.
Lewis Lifeboat
He met up with the lifeboat crew in Lerwick, Shetland, on the last day of his walk
Mr Adams wanted to complete his extraordinary odyssey before he was 85, and he has achieved it at just 82, walking for a month each year.
He said: "I have now visited every lifeboat station in England, Scotland and Wales on the mainland coastline so that's fantastic - 4,200 miles and smiling all the way."
Asked if he felt as fit as a fiddle, he said: "I do actually, perhaps a very old one - a Stradivarius - my legs are superb."
Derek Adams
Mr Adams enjoyed meeting all kinds of people during his trek
When he was younger, he often completed charity walks and other long journeys by sleeping out overnight.
He now allows himself the luxury of a warm and dry hotel room and has been offered free accommodation by a well-known hotel chain.
Derek Adams
Derek Adams visited 238 lifeboats during his journey
Derek Adams
Derek Adams attended Sunday services at several different churches during the trek
As a church-goer, he has attended services wherever he happened to be on a Sunday morning and is often asked to speak to the congregation.
He said: "It's just wonderful because they haven't heard me before so most of them invite me to say a few words and then, about an hour later, they think 'well, that was interesting, wasn't it? I need a coffee!'"
Derek Adams
Derek Adams covered the English, Scottish and Welsh coastlines during the walk
He found he needed a coffee on the last morning of his walk, and one of the "little angels" who have "popped up all over the place" during his journey came to the rescue with a cup.
It turned out the angel's name was also Derek - "They're always kind people, these Dereks," mused Mr Adams.
As well as raising money, he hopes his cheerful approach will inspire others: "Look after each other, smile a lot, it doesn't cost anything but it's very, very infectious."
Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
6 hours ago
- Daily Mail
The Preview: Clarke and his Scotland players must put on big-boy pants and embrace Liechtenstein friendly
If there was any lingering doubt as to the wisdom and success of the Nations League, these bleak end-of-season Scotland internationals have surely ended it. Who in their right minds wants to go back to those dark days when every other Scotland match seemed to be a sparsely-attended experiment that invariably ended in defeat? A traumatic flashback arrived in the shape of a 3-1 loss to Iceland on Friday night, the first of two friendlies scheduled to make up for the absence of a World Cup qualifier during this international break. Now Scotland's players and supporters must go to Liechtenstein, take a deep breath and pretend that they wouldn't rather be sunning themselves on a beach somewhere. Or, at least, contesting a competitive game – if not a World Cup qualifier (Scotland's four-team group doesn't start till September), then perhaps a Nations League tie that offers a better gauge of where they are at. One thing's for sure: these meaningless yawnfests bring out the worst in Scotland, who have somehow contrived to win only one of their last 10 friendlies. And that was against Gibraltar. Northern Ireland and Finland are among the teams Steve Clarke and his players have failed to beat during that sequence. They scarcely need to be reminded that adding Liechtenstein to the list is unthinkable. After all, here is a side who stand 205th in the FIFA rankings, 161 places below Scotland. The Nations League has enabled them to play more frequently against teams of similar stature, but still they have struggled to win games. In their last 47 internationals, they have produced just one victory – a 1-0 triumph at home to Hong Kong last October. Liechtenstein haven't won a competitive match in five years. They have already lost the first three of their World Cup qualifying campaign, against North Macedonia, Kazakhstan and Wales, who knocked three goals past them in Cardiff on Friday. Their next outing in Group J will be against Belgium in September. The temptation is to assume that nothing can be gained from so skewed a fixture. That Clarke and his bedraggled squad are on a hiding to nothing. That, in the circumstances, they would be better with no game at all than one that has the potential to inflict upon them even deeper humiliation. But there is, in these dog days of Clarke's six-year tenure, an opportunity of sorts. While anything other than a victory would make the pressure on him almost unbearable, a convincing win would take the edge off increasingly vehement calls for his dismissal and ensure that Scotland don't head into the World Cup qualifying campaign with their confidence completely shot. Most of us have reached the conclusion that Clarke has been in the job long enough. With four wins in 21 games, as well as an end-of-days feel about the team, he isn't anyone's idea of the perfect man to lead Scotland into their Group C opener against Denmark this autumn. But the reality is that he is unlikely to have his contract terminated before then. So we all, players included, might as well put on our big-boy pants and see what can be salvaged from Clarke's remaining months in the job. In the first instance, that means puffing out the chest and recognising that there is, against our better judgement, something to be gleaned from a bounce game in Liechtenstein two weeks after the season was supposed to have ended. Like recording the victory that would improve Scotland's record, at least on paper (two defeats in seven wouldn't be so bad). And blooding one or two newcomers. If Lennon Miller can't get his first Scotland start in a training exercise against Liechtenstein, when can he? It means resting the big guns such as Scott McTominay, Andy Robertson and John McGinn, whose seasons at the highest level have taken a mental and physical toll. And seeing if, for the first time in a year, a striker can score for Scotland. George Hirst got himself into good positions against Iceland and deserves another chance. More than anything, it means ditching the back five and reverting to the four-man defence that performed well enough in parts of the last Nations League campaign. In a game like this, there is no need for three centre-halves. Nor should there be any obligation to accommodate both Robertson and Kieran Tierney. So it makes sense to pick a flat back four, not least because it is the system that will suit winger Ben Doak, Scotland's brightest prospect, when he returns from injury. This last, grudging game of a grim international season is no more a big night than the Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz is one of the game's great amphitheatres. It's not the World Cup. It's not even the Nations League. But it's incumbent upon Clarke and the players he picks to get as much as they possibly can from it.
The Guardian
9 hours ago
- The Guardian
It's just not cricket to call cycling ‘extreme'
Simon Burnton (England cricketers forced into emergency travel plans before third West Indies ODI, 3 June) describes the 'extreme measures' that the England cricket players took in cycling, using buses and walking to the Oval to avoid heavy traffic. Excuse me, but what's extreme about not driving?Peter KaanExeter The correspondence on the Caribbean origins of rum (6 June) reminded me of my experience of this as a sailing ship crew on St Vincent in 1975. From a small village bar we were able to regularly buy Mount Bentinck triple distilled rum at 180% proof. It cost 50p if you took your own bottle. We bought a large carboy for the crew cabin. I have no recollection of the Caribbean after BarnardWivenhoe, Essex Given that Reform UK is not in government, it seems rather wasteful for Zia Yusuf to return to lead a 'Doge' team (7 June) . Perhaps heading a department of party efficiency might be more WoodPeterborough I was taught that time flies like an arrow, and fruit flies like a banana … not a kiwi (Letters, 3 June).Liz McInnes Rossendale, Lancashire Hatred of the term 'train station' impacts me as well (Letters, 6 June).Brian ThomasMarden, Kent Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
The Sun
12 hours ago
- The Sun
Molly Mae reveals secret struggle over reunion with Tommy Fury as pair enjoy romantic staycation weekend with baby Bambi
MOLLY Mae has admitted there's certain aspects of reuniting with Tommy Fury that she's struggling to deal with in the spotlight. The Love Island icon and Maebe mogul finally confirmed she was back together with Tommy after a one-year break in May, after hiding their rekindled romance for months. 9 9 With their relationship now out in the open, Molly and Tommy have been enjoying a string of breaks together, enjoying a 'staycation' this weekend in the Cotswolds with their daughter, Bambi. But as the pair took some time away at a 17th century estate complete with a swimming pool, Molly uploaded a new vlog on her YouTube channel talking about life lately. In it, she admits that it's been strange adjusting to life publicly again with Tommy, and found herself struggling during a trip to Disneyland in Paris. 'Disneyland was just like… I don't want to say not enjoyable, because we had a lovely time,' she told the camera, adding: 'Disneyland was just, we went at the wrong time.' Explaining the family took the trip during the half-term holidays, Molly said she was joined by Tommy and Bambi, as well as a group of loved one. However, she found herself unable to enjoy the trip to its fullest after spotting other people at the park filming them and taking photos. While she tried to make light of the situation – saying she made sure she posed or stared at them so they realised later they had been caught out taking sneaky pictures – Molly said it was hard especially with their daughter around. 'At Disneyland, when I was with Bambi, it's quite hard to navigate that,' she said. 'When you have a toddler, you're out with your partner, and there's already a little bit of a new thing that you're back out together, and you're trying to navigate that, and then you can see people looking and staring and filming. 'It was my birthday as well, and it was just like… kind of tricky to figure out if we were having boundaries, or there weren't any boundaries.' Molly Mae and Tommy Fury 'confirm' reunion as they BOTH share snaps from holiday 'I won't be in a rush to go back anywhere as busy and as public and as crazy as that, because we should have known better, really,' she declared. 'I think we feel it more now, because obviously going out together now, it is a bit.. not anxiety inducing, I don't know what the word for it is, it's just a bit like new territory. 'Because for people it's a bit like taboo, I don't know, but if people see us out, it's like 'oh, like let's film!' 'I don't know – I just think I maybe felt it a bit more this time,' she noted. 9 9 9 After posting the vlog, Molly and Tommy whisked themselves away to a romantic "staycation" for the weekend. Holing up in the Cotswolds, Molly looked happy as she cuddled up next to Tommy during some downtime. Returning from a trip to St Tropez for work, Molly decided she needed some family time – with Bambi quickly taking to the hotel pool. Sharing one adorable snap, Molly said of her little one: "Telling this girl she can't go swimming when she sees a pool is like trying to put toothpaste back in the tube. Never going to happen!" However she noted it wasn't as glam as it looked, with Molly noting "It was freezing". 9 9 9
