IT’S a right royal progress for two supporters of Redditch charity Where Next who are following in the footsteps of King Charles II by tackling the long distance Monarch’s Way path.
Trustee Pippa Brook and Jane Twynam, wife of the charity’s chair Tim, are walking the 615 mile route in aid of Where Next and the MND Association, which is dedicated to fighting Motor Neurone Disease.
The causes are dear to both their hearts as former Where Next trustee Margaret Hazel died of MND and so all funds raised will be split 50:50 between the two charities.
The Monarch’s Way is steeped in history, based as it is on the flight of Charles II whose father, Charles I, was beheaded by the Parliamentarians in 1649.
Charles II took to his heels nearly 370 years ago after his forces were defeated by Oliver Cromwell’s army at the Battle of Worcester in 1651.
Aged just 21, he spent the next six weeks hotly pursued by the Roundheads, in a roundabout route that took him north before heading south via Bromsgrove, Redditch, Alcester and Stratford, through the Cotswolds to the south coast and finally Shoreham and safety overseas.
He was later to return to rule the country after the collapse of the English Commonwealth.
The Monarch’s Way takes in Edgioake Lane in Astwood Bank which is where some of Where Next’s supporters gathered to cheer the two walkers on.
They’d already clocked up 200 miles, although unlike Charles they plan to walk the route one day a week, and expect to finish in the spring.
People can donate to their cause by signing up to http://www.giveasyoulive.com/ and nominating Where Next.
