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Two close friends and keen walkers will be walking 220 miles between 25 castles in Kent to raise funds for Sands, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity and Muscular Dystrophy UK.

Christopher Howard, 66, and David Roberts, 70, will commence their walk on Wednesday 27th April and will finish on Sunday 22nd May 2016, starting and finishing at Whitstable Castle. This is in support of a relative with muscular dystrophy and in memory of a baby grand-daughter that died at birth.

Over the 20 days of walking, they will pass some of England’s finest Castles; Deal, Dover, Sissinghurst, Scotney, Hever, Lullingstone, Rochester, Leeds and Canterbury.

“Kent is a wonderful county, with miles and miles of ancient byways and footpaths, it would be a shame not to use them, especially as we like walking. And better still to feel that we are helping others less able than ourselves to benefit in some small way from our indulgence," says Christopher.

They have a target of £10,000 but have already raised over £5,000 for their chosen charities. 

The pair have already ‘road tested’ the unique route they have designed to link some of the finest castles in England. There are a range of walks along the route, with some suiting all abilities and some are wheelchair accessible.  Maps include advice to how to get the most out of the walks and heritage sites, along the way.

They are inviting everyone to join them on one of their choice of walks to enable these charities to continue their vital work.

If you cannot walk on any of the days with Chris and David, for £10 you can purchase all of the maps and walk at another time.

Carolyn Bray, Fundraising Manager at Sands said:  

“I met Chris and David last year when they were both still test-walking the Kent’s Castles route and I was touched by what truly lovely gentlemen they are; I can’t stress enough how in awe of the incredible amount of time and effort that they have put into and organising this event. 

“It’s such a unique way to raise vital funds and awareness of both the beneficiary charities and we can’t thank them enough for their commitment and efforts.  Sands relies almost solely on the generosity of out supporters.”

Anneke Liefting, Regional Development Manager at Muscular Dystrophy UK said:

“It has been an absolute pleasure supporting and getting to know Chris and David over the past 9 months. Their passion for both charities as well as walking has truly inspired me. The amount of time and energy the both of them have put into organising this walk and gathering donations has shown that is has definitely payed off. I cannot wait to walk with them on parts of their walk and support them to reach their target.”

For more information please email Chris and David on walkingkentcastles8@gmail.com.  

To join them please visit https://www.uk-sands.org/get-involved/events/2016-03-07/walking-kents-castles  or www.musculardystrophyuk.org/events/walking-kents-castles

If you don’t want to take part, but would like to sponsor Chris and David, you can do so on by visiting their VirginMoneyGiving page.

ENDS

Notes to editors

80% of proceeds will go to Muscular Dystrophy UK, towards research into Limb Girdle muscular dystrophy, and 20% to Sands, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity.

For further information, please contact the Sands press office on 020 3598 1959 or media@uk-sands.org.

Walking Kent’s Castles – Itinerary

Please see below for an estimated itinerary for Chris and David’s walk. Please only use as an approximate guide.

No.

Date

Description

Miles

Appox

Estimated

duration

Drop off point

Grid Ref

 

 

All walks start at 10 am.

 

 

 

1

Wed 27 April

Whitstable Castle to Reculver Castle*

8

4h

Castle car park

 TR 113 671

2

Thur 28 April

Reculver Castle to Richborough Castle

12

6h

Reculver car park

TR 226 692

3

Sat 30 April

Richborough to Walmer Castle via Sandown and Deal Castle and on to

St Margarets Bay*

13

6.5h

Castle car park (EH)

TR 322 598

4

Sun 1 May

St Margaret’s Bay  via Dover Castle to Battle of Britain War Memorial 

10.5

5h

St Margaret’s Bay car park TR 368 444

5

Mon 2nd

Battle of Britain War Memorial to Lympne Castle via Castle Hill and Saltwood Castle

10.25

5.5h

Memorial car park

TR 245 380

6

Tue 3rd

Lympne Castle to St Mary’s Church Kenardington via Warehorne

12.5

6.5h

Castle car park

TR 118 346

7

Thur 5th

St Mary’s church Kenardington  to Sissinghurst Castle

14

7h

Church car park

TQ 974 320

8

Fri 6th

Sissinghurst Castle to Scotney Castle

10

5h

Castle car park (NT)

TQ 808 383

9

Sat 7th

Scotney Castle to Brenchley with loop to Castle Hill

8.7

4.5

Castle car park (NT)

TQ 686 351

10

Sun 8th

Brenchley to Tonbridge Castle

7.6

3.5h

Village car park

TQ 679 471

11

Tue 10th

Tonbridge Castle to Hever Castle via Chiddingstone Castle

10

5h

Castle car park

TQ 588 465

12

Wed 11th

Hever Castle to St Mary’s Church at Sundridge Place

9

4.5h

Castle car park

TQ 475 451

13

Thur 12th

St Mary’s church at Sundridge Place to Eynsford Castle via Lullingstone Castle

9.75

5h

Church car park

TQ 486 549

14

Sat 14th

Eynsford Castle to Cobham

10

5h

Village Hall car park

TQ 543 658

15

Sun 15th

Cobham to Cooling Castle

9.5

4.5h

The Leather Bottle car park TQ 669 684

16

Mon 16th

Cooling Castle to Rochester Castle via Upnor Castle

7

3.5h

St Jame’s Church Cooling TQ 753 758

17

Tue 17th

Rochester Castle to Allington Castle

10

5h

Castle riverside

TQ 740 687

18

Thur 19th

Allington Castle to Harrietsham via Leeds Castle

11

5.5h

Castle car park

TQ 748 576

19

Fri 20th

Harrietsham to Eastwell Manor

12

6h

Harrietsham station car park TQ 866 529

20

Sat 21st

Eastwell Manor to Canterbury Castle via Chilham Castle*

13

6.5h

Eastwell Manor

TR 015 475

21

Sun 22nd

Canterbury Castle to Whitstable Castle*

9

4.5h

Rosemary Lane car park TR 145 574

*Accessible walkways suitable for powered chairs. The walks were tested in October 2015

ROUTE 1: Whitstable to Reculver Castle

ROUTE 3: This walk is accessible from Deal seafront to Sandown Castle, Deal Castle and Walmer Castle

ROUTE 20: It is accessible from Chilham Castle as there are lanes and roads to go along. From Chartham Church it's all footpaths /tracks but powered chair friendly.

ROUTE 21: This walk is accessible from Kent College Events car park and Main car park where there are disabled toilets and tea/coffee will be available from the College Chapel from 10.30am on Sunday the 22nd of May ONLY.

(EH) - English Heritage  (NT) - National Trust

Events

Whitstable Castle will be waving them off on Wednesday 27th April at 9:45am.

Deal Castle have the Ashford Concert Band playing around noon on Saturday 30th April.

Leeds Castle will be having a BBQ Banquet Thursday 19th May, 3pm to 7pm.  Tickets £15 from R&B Star Electrical.

St Alphege Church in Whitstable will be hosting a charity concert Saturday 21st May at 7:30pm.

Kent College Canterbury are hosting morning refreshments in the Chapel Sunday 22nd May at 10:30am.

Then back at the start, Whitstable Castle will host a Welcome Home Mad Hatter’s Tea Party at 2pm.

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