Driffield Man Walks A Thousand Kilometres For St Catherines

A Driffield pensioner has tackled 1,000km of Spanish trails to raise money for St Catherines Hospice.

Stuart Nelson has a love of exploring rare trails around the world.

He says it's helped him enjoy his retirement.

" I've been doing these really long treks ever since I retired 10 years ago. I follow old pilgrimage trails all over the world. I've done many through Spain where they're called Caminos, I've walked from Scotland all the way to Rome. I've walked from Rome to Jerusalem. Walking all of these really old trails that have. Some of them are over a thousand years old. And I decided to have a go at some of those, which nobody's been walking along since the 11th century.

"Oh, I didn't really have many paths to follow, but it's something I just enjoy."

Stuart feels the history involved is astonishing:

 "These are trails which people have walked for well over a thousand years. You're really following in the footsteps of, in some cases, even as far back as the Roman legions, as they walked their way all the way through France and Spain and what have you.

"You're in touch with antiquity and there's a wonderful, cosmopolitan side to this. You're meeting people from France, from Spain, from Italy, from the United States, from Australia. People flock to these, they're not very well known in this country, other than the Caminos."

He says it's important to support good causes:

" Every year I've always supported a charity. I'm a member of the Driffield Probus Club and this year the Driffield Probus Club is supporting the St. Catherine's Hospice, and in particular for a cuddle bed I wanted to support the charity for that reason.

 "If any of your listeners wish to  you can read my blog, which is the Man in the Blue Blazer on Facebook. And you can see every day I wrote a blog, told everybody about what was going on. If that gives you a chuckle, then please feel free to go onto my just giving page. Stuart Nelson, the Unknown Caminos, and you can find me and add money to the very worthy cause of St. Catherine's Hospice. And also you can send money to St. Catherine's Hospice and say, this is for Stuart, because he made me laugh in his blog." 

Stuart revealed the trek took him a month and a half:

 "I did it in 46 days, which was actually one day less than I'd originally planned. I started in Bayan in France.

"I took a very unknown route called the Camino Baan, which takes you through the Pyrenees, through some beautiful valleys and through the mountains to Pamona. And then from Pamplona, I followed a route that hasn't been new since the 11th century to places like Victoria Gases Miranda Depro Campbell.

"I was in the mountains of Cria, and let me tell you, they asked. Stunningly beautiful. You really cannot imagine just how wonderful it is to see these deep valleys and all of the wild flowers. And I had raptors screeching above my head.

"I was listening to skylarks in the morning as they rose into the air. It was just fantastic." 

Despite his love of walking, Stuart admitted it hasn't all been plain sailing:

 "Occasionally I went wrong and sometimes it was because the mist had descended on me in the mountains and I took a wrong path. And it rained quite hard at times. You, this is the northern coast of Spain and you've got lots of atlantic gales coming in. So it dropped a lot of rain on me and then on other days it was getting up to 35 degrees and it could be really quite difficult.

"I'm not exactly a spring chicken and yes, it took it out of me at times, climbing up some of those steep hills, especially in those temperatures. And the one good thing I always knew was that there would be a village, and always there would be in the morning, a cafe on Leche. When I finished, I would always enjoy a vesa. I would always enjoy an ice cold beer."

Stuart says he intends to keep walking for as long as he can and has set some goals for years to come:

" I have a number of projects before I finally have to hang up my boots. I try to do one of these Caminos at least once a year, sometimes twice, but I really want to go back to Japan. There is the oldest pilgrimage trail in the world, which is called the Shikoku, the Temple of the 88 Temples of Shikoku. I have walked them once, but I want to do them once more and thought finish off with what is called a Kao codo, and that's what I'm planning for next year.

"I'm just going to keep going. I'll be 73 in a few days and don't intend giving this up for the next, I don't know, at least 10 and possibly 20 years. There'll always be something on the horizon and if you really want a life of some adventure you've got to take the first step.

"You've got to get out there and no matter how old you are, make an effort to see this world. 'cause it really is beautiful and the people you will meet and all of the interaction you will have with people from all over the world. If you have a good doing something like this, or even. Just walk around Driffield or Bridlington or Scarborough, the North Yorkshire Moors' are on our doorstep and you have wonderful trails there and it's amazing the people you see, the interaction you get. It's what keeps me going." 

You can donate by clicking here.