Royal Tank Regiment Veterans raise £4625 for Dorset Charity #Willdoes
Two army veterans who call themselves the ‘Hairy Veterans’ have raised £4625 for Dorset charity #Willdoes by completing a three-day trek traversing 65 miles of The Wessex Ridgeway and camping out in torrential rain in May 2024.
Mike and Dave Roberts (no relation) started their hike in the village of Ashmore situated on the Dorset/Wiltshire border and made the gruelling journey across Dorset finally finishing in the beautiful seaside town of Lyme Regis located on the Devon/Dorset border.
Dave said: "The Hairy Veterans is all about advocating positive mental health by pursuing outdoor activity. The whole experience has been very rewarding, spending time in the beautiful countryside with your best friend for a good cause, for me, it doesn’t get any better.”
The ex-Royal Armoured Corps who served together on operational duty in Iraq and Afghanistan were supported by a number of local companies with Babcock and AFC Bournemouth giving large donations.
“We have been blown away by the support - a special thank you to Busy Birds for keeping us fed along the way and to an old comrade of ours, Steve Mosley, who gave up his entire Bank Holiday weekend to support us by supplying admin, transport and medical cover. This is the second challenge we have completed for charity, and we are already talking about the next!”
The former soldiers who have remained best friends since leaving the army started a social media page to record their passion for outdoor adventure and history but realised something was missing and decided to start raising money for worthy causes, advocate positive mental health and raise awareness of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Lesley Paddy, the founder of #Willdoes said: “To See Mike and Dave arrive in Lyme Regis brought tears to my eyes. The support and kindness that they’ve shown to the charity has been incredible. What an amazing show of resilience on what couldn't have been a worse weekend to take on the Wessex Ridgeway. My son Will, after which the charity is named, would have been so proud.”
Ex-Royal Armoured Corp Mike said: “Day one was by far the toughest for me, the terrain was very unforgiving and the route took us up and over some very serious hills, such as Hambledon and Hod, both ancient hill forts, but the hardest was the climb up Okeford Hill! I must admit though that the views were stunning and at the top we could see all over the Blackmore Vale, we could even see into the neighbouring counties of Somerset and Wiltshire!”
Dave said: "Although I had completed a fair amount of training in the build up to our hike, the terrain in my home county of Essex is for the most part flat and the steep Dorset hills came as a bit of a shock to my legs! It really was a case of head down and punch for the summit on some of the big hills. Although the views and the historical landscape were always a welcome reward when at the top.”
By the end of day one Mike and Dave had completed 25 miles and it was time to move into their night time location for some well-earned rest, however, they knew what was coming and at 0100hrs the sound of raindrops hitting the tent signified what would be an absolute barrage of torrential rain that would not give up until mid-afternoon of day two!
Mike said: “I actually enjoyed hiking in the rain, at least it kept us cool! It did make map reading slightly more difficult though as a thick blanket of fog rolled up through the Cerne Valley and map reference points on the ground became increasing difficult to see! The weather battered us as we followed the Wessex Ridgeway as it snaked through Sydling St Nicholas, Maiden Newton and onwards towards Beaminster.”
Dave said: "Day two was a challenge with the torrential weather from the moment we set off, even with all of our waterproof kit and boots, we were soaked within a couple of miles! Trying to dry and carry out any ‘foot admin’ in such conditions is near on impossible, luckily the weather did improve later in the afternoon. A highlight for me on day two was a short stop at the medieval church in the village of Maiden Newton with its original door dating back to the Anglo Saxon period.”
Mike and Dave set up base camp at the end of day two just north of Beaminster after hiking another 21 miles.
Mike said: “We were starting to suffer now, Dave was struggling with an old knee injury, and I had bad blisters on a number of toes, which is ironic considering that I never suffered from a single blister throughout my 22 years serving in the military!”
On day three the 'Hairy Veterans' found the elevation dropping off slightly as they started their climb down to sea level. However, they still had two final obstacles in their way before reaching the finish point on the beach at Lyme Regis, Lewesdon Hill and Coney Castle.
Dave said: "Our first glimpse of Lyme Regis was a very welcome sight indeed! Although it was slightly deceiving as there was still a lot of very difficult terrain and miles in front of us! The last 4 or 5 miles were the toughest for me, the fatigue had really started to set in with old injuries complaining all the way, but keeping our thoughts very much on why we were doing it and the great charity kept us going.”
At around 1700, Mike and Dave finally crossed the finish line at Lyme Regis beach having raised £4625.00 for #Willdoes.
