The Walkers

Frances is English born and who has continued to spend much of her time in the UK, has for many years talked about walking the length of Britain.  Frances has a horticulture qualification, has worked in a number of industries and anticipates completing her Master of Fine Arts degree this year. The opportunity to walk from Lands end to John O’Groates surfaced this year when Yvonne, a very good friend also announced her desire to also do the walk and husband Richard was able to allocate sufficient time to support the project. Frances believes supporting the Fistula Foundation and in helping the large number of women affected by this curable condition is a great cause.

After working for 34 years with the Australian Trade Commission(Austrade) , including assignments as Trade Commisioner in Bangkok, Manila and Consul General and Trade Commissioner in Toronto, Tasmanian born David decided to move on and in mid February this year retired from the organisation to pursue new challenges.
Austrade work has taken him to many countries and so the offer of more travel and the invitation to see new parts of the world and join his sister, Yvonne, on a walk from one end of Britain to the other, to celebrate her “milestone” birthday, was readily accepted. The walk will be a wonderful transition from working life and provide an exciting new challenge – it promises to be a great and rewarding adventure. It will take him away from his passion for ocean swims for a while and the bright lights of Sydney but will be an ideal “long” break to contemplate future plans.
News of the walk has created much interest, if not envy, amongst David’s friends and former work colleagues and it is hoped this website will enable the sharing of our experiences as we trek the 1850 kilometres from Land’s End to John O’Groats.

Yvonne had been determined for some time to celebrate a significant milestone in her life by making an epic journey. A keen sportswoman and passionate bowls enthusiast she was keen to follow in the footsteps of another Tasmanian Bill Emmerton, many years before, in completing the "End to End" - albeit in a less gruelling fashion. She was excited to discover that Frances also harboured a similar insane desire and plans were soon underway. Brother David's redtirement could not have been more opportune and she was delighted when he also agreed to "come along for the ride". Yvonne will be taking leave of absence after 23 years from her publishing consultancy business to attempt the journey and is looking forward to enjoying not only the enormous variety of terrains and landscapes on the way, but also the opportunity to refresh and revitalise. Yvonne has long been an admirer of the inspirational work undertaken by Dr Catherine Hamlin and her late husband Dr Reg Hamlin with the women of Ethiopia at the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital, and she is using her journey as an opportunity to raise funds towards this very worthy cause.

Support Services

Richard remains very active as a company director for a number of companies but this year has been able to allocate the time and has elected to give up his ski season to accompany the group. Richard has enjoyed a lot of UK walking over the years and is looking forward to ensuring the group has the support it requires. No doubt he will be relying on mobile broadband to keep in touch with activities back in Australia and perhaps play a little golf along the way.