Seven IS my lucky number

My application to walk the Great Wall of China - one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, was accepted on the basis of my fundraising effort "Seven Steps to China". Since then, everything seems to have revolved around the number 7.

7 Years with Elior, 7 Challenges in 7 Months, 7 Training Walks, Cloud 7 Challenge, 7 Thousand ft ascent, 7 (Chinese) Wispas Promotion, and next year's 007 Competition...... etc.

So imagine my delight when I went to Old Trafford on Saturday to watch Manchester United play Blackburn Rovers, and see the Reds put 7 goals past the bemused visitors! YES!!

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Earlier in the week I joined fellow trekkers at another Springboard meeting in London. I had offered to host the event at Waterstones in Piccadilly Circus, one of Elior's most successful venues. The fifth floor of Waterstones bookstore comprises a restaurant - '5th View', a bar and cocktail bar. It's well worth a visit! http://www.5thview.co.uk/
The Elior team at Waterstones looked after us really well, and the tasty food went down a treat! As for the meeting - everyone is getting excited about the challenge, however the realisation that we still have a lot of money to raise is keeping us 'focussed'.

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While I was going through 'My Pictures' on my PC last week, I realised that I have a huge amount of older photographs in albums and boxes, so when I saw a nifty litttle scanner in Costco today, I bought it. Although the resolution isn't huge, it's very fast and convenient, so I'll be digitising my collection in my spare time - if I get any! In the meantime, and ending on the theme I started with, here are some scans from a Charity Challenge I completed in 1993 - Seven Challenges in Seven Days, which raised £3,500 for Christie's. Mind you, I was fitter, slimmer and less 'follically challenged' then!

Time Flies

The week started with 2 days in Glasgow for the Elior Roadshow and some client meetings. I decided to take the train for a change, which turned out to be a great decision. The Motorway through the Borders was 'challenging' by all accounts, so it was very pleasant to look out of the train to see the views below:

This Saturday we went to hear our daughter Claire play her saxophone in a concert at Sheffield University. It was a great evening, and we were extremely proud to hear the results of her dedication to her music. Our son John, joined us for the evening to make it another memorable night. On the drive home over the dark and dismal Snake Pass, I got to thinking about how they've both developed (so quickly!) into highly talented individuals. Fortunately for us, and thanks to the example set by my own Mum who was a keen photographer, we have many photos to look back on.
John:

 Claire:

Now I feel a bit older, but very content!

Stepping it up!

In a move to improve my stamina I got the cross trainer out of mothballs this week. This was originally an investment about five years ago to get fit for skiing, but it hasn't had a huge amount of use. The great thing about the cross trainer is that it's 'low impact', so a little easier on the joints, and it develops the right muscles for hill walking (and skiing, of course). I've given my legs quite a lot of abuse over the years (not so much now!) with plenty of road cycling, mountain biking, cross country running, skiing, rugby and hill walking.

For this week's training walk we went to one of my favourite areas - Castleton in Derbyshire. The road through Winnat's Pass is stunning, but not for the feint-hearted in winter!

It was a great turnout, with Iain coming down from Scotland, Andy & Paul from the Midlands and the team from Macclesfield. We set out from the interestingly-named cavern - see below! :-)

It was a great day with a fair amount of sunshine, but a bit chilly up on the tops. We covered just short of 10 miles and over 2,500ft of ascent, finishing with mulled wine & mince pies in Castleton village. The walk took in Peveril Castle, Mam Tor, Hollin's Cross, Back Tor and Lose Hill. Excellent Views!

Looking back to Peveril Castle

 


On the way up Mam Tor (Mam Tor picture below)



Mam Tor Summit



Back Tor with Lose Hill behind

Back Tor

Climbing Back Tor

Those who don't suffer from vertigo!

Looking back at part of the route, including Mam Tor in the distance

Thanks to the team for coming along on this challenging walk, and hopefully they will forgive me for their aching limbs!

I took the photo below just for my daughter, Claire. Look, I found One Tree Hill!

Chocolate Heaven

My office currently looks like a chocolate factory. And there was me trying to get fit for the challenge!

Let me explain......as a result of the 'Chinese Wispas' promotion across my contracts, the wonderful team at Cadbury have kindly donated 1,728 bars of chocolate (Dairy Milk, Wispa and Twirl) to my fundraising effort.

These will ALL be sold to the chocaholics working in Elior at bargain prices. The sale should raise over £600... if I don't get tempted to eat them myself!

Unfortunately, I have always had a weakness for the stuff. It didn't help spending my formative years living above my grandmother's sweet shop in a small Cheshire village.

Before I could even walk, I was found by my parents in the middle of the night, sitting on the floor of the shop surrounded by half-eaten chocolate bars. The fact that I had managed to climb out of my cot, and make my way down a steep flight of stairs into the shop horrified mum & dad, but it did show remarkable cunning and tenacity on my part! Chocolate does that to you.

As you can see though, I was a very happy child. No idea what I was doing sitting in a bucket, but I was obviously having fun. My father used to take a Mars Bar to work every day. He'd keep it in his pocket, and the softer & more battered it became, the more he loved it!

The family addiction tradition continued with my own son, John, becoming a chocolate aficianado.

Here he is (quite a few years ago) keeping his chocolate-coated hands & face well away from 'Rommel' one of my in-law's dogs. Rommel and his brother Monty were Rhodesian Ridgeback / Great Dane crossbreeds, and they also had a penchant for chocolate - or any other food for that matter.

Even though the dogs were much bigger than John, he wouldn't let them near his food. Chocolate does that to you!





On the theme of dogs & chocolate, here's a great photo of my friend's dog 'Brown Thing' on a walk up Ben Nevis. It was thick snow up on the summit, and he had a great time charging around in it.

Autumn Leaves and a Dizzy Blonde

A hectic week followed by an even more manic weekend! Met with the Springboard / Great Wall of China team on Thursday night at drp group offices in central London.

I was late arriving at Covent Garden tube station, and the queue for the lifts up to street level was horrendous, so I decided to take the other option - a spiral staircase of 195 steps "For Emergency Use Only".

I set off like a gazelle, wondering why others were taking their time. Two minutes later, I realised that the 'emergency use' might be for the paramedics I would need if I didn't slow down!! Got there, hot & seriously out of breath to discover that I was one of the first to arrive! Still, it was good training for the challenge.

The meeting was enlightening, with Chad from 'Charity Challenge' explaining the details of our trek in March next year. All I will say for now is that it sounds exciting but tough.

Spent Friday in London with Angie, one of my Ops Managers from Sunderland. We were visiting some of our 'heritage' catering sites in advance of taking a client to see them. Lots more walking, with the longest trek between the Tower of London & Southwark Cathedral. Angie is a true Geordie who finds London 'a bit full-on, like'. Her love of the City was heightened by the ad below, which is currently plastered across the tube trains & stations!  I can't publish her comments...

On to the subject of this weeks Blog, there can't be a better time of year to walk around Goyt Valley in the Peak District, with thousands of trees reflecting their multiple colours in the reservoirs below. The weather was great to start with, and although the cloud was low, we only got a few spots of rain towards the end of our 11 mile walk.

The steep climb up to the 'Cat & Fiddle', England's second highest pub, was made worthwhile by the hot chocolate for the girls, coffee for Paul and a pint of 'Dizzy Blonde' for me.

No jokes about the bobble hat, please - no hair = cold head.