Aged 72, Chair of the Trustees of the Flavel Ian Downing wanted a physical challenge and to raise money for the Flavel Centre Trust so he teamed up with a friend to walk Hadrian’s Wall.

Ian explained: “Some inconsiderate people built Newcastle over part of the wall.

“I I knew that there was a part of Newcastle called Wallsend and never really thought about the name of it, but that that's where the the wall started or finished, depending on which direction you're going in, so we started at Wall's End.

We walked along the Tyne in Newcastle with no remains of the wall then up onto the hills to the west of the city and did begin to discover bits of the wall.

“They demolished the wall to build a military road in the 18th century because they wanted to keep the Scots out again.

“When you get up into the hills, you find more of the old parts of the wall.

“Some of it has been significantly reduced in size and scale because the locals use it as a great source of rocks to build their houses and their farm walls, but there are still some quite substantial parts of the wall that remain.

“We were very lucky with the weather and I managed to raise through my Just Giving page just over £1,600 to date.

“We've also got another trustee, Paul Smith, who is walking 200 tors on Dartmoor to raise money. So he too has a Just Giving page and it would be great to get some sponsors for that.

“He's not likely to do 200 in one go but his aim is to get it finished by the autumn of next year and I I will be joining him on some of the tour walks because I do love Dartmoor walking.”