Aldbourne teenagers are cold, but smiling (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Aldbourne teenagers are cold, but smiling

7:00am Friday 26th February 2010 in

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Teenagers tackling the 88-mile Ridgeway long distance footpath had last night passed the halfway stage and were in good spirits after their first showers since they set off on Sunday.

The five young men from Aldbourne are keeping to their daily task of completing 14.5miles despite the going being very muddy and hilly.

Matt Gibbs, 19, James Keen, 19, David Osborne, 18, Adam Wise, 17, and Jack Matthews, 16 are raising funds for Leukaemia in Children, Wiltshire Age Ambulance and Charlie’s Charity, a sports fund set up in memory of Charlie Lamb, 18, from East Grafton, who died in a car crash last September.

They are back-packing the entire 88 miles of the Ridgeway from Ivinghoe in Buckinghamshire to Overton Hill near Marlborough.

They will then walk to Aldbourne, making 100 miles in total.

Yesterday the group set off from Streatley in Berkshire, where they spent a night in a youth hostel and had their first warm beds and showers since leaving Aldbourne.

A few of the group have developed blisters, but their biggest problem was the weight of their back packs.

They have now arranged for family to meet them daily to take the back packs by car.

Mr Gibbs, who works in Membury service area, said the friends – all members of the award-winning Ald-bourne Youth Council – were all in good spirits.

“We are on target to get back to Aldbourne on Saturday,” he said, adding: “Sleeping in tents is not too bad, despite the cold, but it was nice to get to the hostel.”