The National 3 Peaks Challenge In Aid Of The West Yorkshire Forget-Me-Not Trust

The Team comprised: Caroline Latham, Martin Latham, Mark Storer, Tony Bullock, Michael Cox, Richard Greening, Des Holden, Antoine Lanquetin
Support was provided by: Eric Blackmoor, Hugh Crossley

It must be a little known fact that all of life’s great adventures start with a few people idling an evening away sitting in a warm room where they serve alcohol.

In a time long forgotten (February) sitting in the bar as usual after our regular Wednesday night practice at the Lodge of Peace 149 we had finished putting the world to rights and sorted out the England football teams problems and moved on to things we had done in our former lives (pre masonry). A few of the junior brethren were talking about mountain bike races they had competed in and certain hills they had careered down at breath taking speeds. Not to be left out, I unfortunately at this time mentioned that a number of years ago I had organised and done the National Three Peaks Challenge. The what? The National Three Peaks Challenge. You have 24 hours to climb up and drive between the highest point in England, Scotland and Wales. Instead of falling on deaf ears and being paid just a bit of lip service the questions started to come thick and fast and before the evening was out it was decided that this was something we must do. The following Wednesday we again reconvened to the bar and instead of sorting out the state of sport in Britain I was immediately set upon by people waving diaries at me saying what date are we doing the walk. I didn’t think you were serious I said after picking myself up. I proceeded, with great gusto, for the next half an hour doing my best to put them off this crazy idea. They were having none of it. Diaries were opened and the date was set.

7 of the walkers are junior brethren of the Lodge of Peace and the eighth is my daughter, sent along to keep an eye on the old man. The drivers were willing volunteers, our Worshipful Master Mr. Eric Blackmore and our Senior Warden Mr Hugh Crossley.

For reasons best known to myself it was decided to do the challenge in the opposite direction to how everyone else does it. We were to start at Snowdon, drive up to Scafell Pike in the South Lakes and on to Ben Nevis. Dates and numbers being set a 15 seat minibus was hired and a cosy little hotel was booked in Betws y Coed. No pulling out now, it’s just got serious.

After minutes of training had been put in by the team the day finally arrived. We all met at the arranged time on Friday night, 5pm, and the minibus turned up 2 hours later. First problem, less drinking time at the other end. Having loaded all the gear on to the bus and ourselves a distant memory came flooding back to me, if you ever do this again get a bigger bus. Too late now, never mind. Having finally set off, the task of sorting out the sleeping arrangements was still to be decided. Who was bunking with who? Easy, who snores and who doesn’t. This now sorted, a call to the hotel to tell them we are running a bit late was made and to make sure we were okay for an evening meal. Sorry we stop serving at 9pm and the restaurant is full anyway. We duly arrive and check into our rooms and set of for down town Betws y Coed in search of our evening meal. The decision of where to eat was made easy by virtue of the fact that there was only one place open still serving food. A good night was had and lights were out by midnight. Breakfast was a feast on Saturday morning. Good job because it was going to be the last hot food we would see for 24 hours. We all climbed aboard the bus and were driven to the base of Snowdon for the start of our challenge. 9.15am we set off on a perfect walking day. Clear skies and a gentle breeze. 4 hours was the target time to get up and down the 1085 meters of Snowdon and this was achieved with the minimum of fuss by all the team. Back on the bus still full of enthusiasm it was now the turn of the drivers to do their bit. A target time of 4 hours to get from Snowdon to the far side of Scafell Pike. It’s a long way once you get off the M6 and we got to our destination about 30 minutes behind schedule and this was only after some sterling work by our 2 off road specialists. Out of the bus we had some time to make up. Scafell Pike is the smallest of the three peaks at only 978 meters but it is the hardest of the three to climb. Our target time now cut down to 3 1/2hours it was going to be a good effort to get us back on track. Everyone dug in deep and made it to the top without a break. A quick photograph and back down again. Hugh and Eric had sorted out some boiling water for a quick cup of tea and it was back on the bus at just gone 9pm, back on schedule, ready for a long 6 hour drive up to Fort William. Any thoughts of getting a bit of sleep on this stage of the journey were quickly put paid to when we left the motorway behind just before Loch Lomond. Eric and Hugh had very quickly turned into the world minibus rally champions and were taking hairpin bends and roundabouts as if they weren’t there. We arrived at Fort William at 2.15am. Three quarters of an hour ahead of schedule. I have never seen so many people so keen to leave the comfort of a nice warm bus at that time of night before. By the light of a very bright moon we donned our packs and made ourselves ready for the last climb whilst the infamous Scottish gnats made a tasty meal out of us. Ben Nevis, 1344 meters high, lay in wait. Just as our body clocks were telling us it was time for bed we set off out of the car park leaving Eric and Hugh to get some well earned sleep. The track up Ben Nevis is well laid and easy to follow so we were able to walk without the aid of torches for the first hour or so. As we climbed we watched a glorious sun rise coming up over the hills behind us. The other thing about the path up Ben Nevis is that it goes on for ever. At about 6am I was hoping that we would be close to the summit but the climb was proving to be a bit more arduous for a few members of our team. At 6.45am we still had another 30 minutes to reach the top as a group so the decision was taken to split up and those that were able go on ahead, get their photograph taken at the top and get back to the bottom as quick as they could. Four members of the team took this on and made it back to the bus inside the 24 hour target. The other four members carried on at their own pace to the top, took their photographs and made it back to the bus in under 26 hours. Still no mean achievement. All that was left to do was to make our weary trip back home. After a very pleasant and much slower journey over Glen Coe and past Loch Lomond a steady rain had set in once we were on the motorway and the bus that was too small suddenly felt comfortable for a few hours whilst our bodies finally gave in to sleep.

It was decided right from the start that we would make this a sponsored event. Our chosen charity is The West Yorkshire Forget-Me-Not Trust whose aim is to build a children’s hospice in Kirklees to serve the families of terminally ill or palliative care children. We wish them every success with their venture and hope the money we raise, approximately £3000. goes a small way towards there ultimate goal.

nb On Ben Nevis GPS Signal was lost after 4 miles due to battery failure hence the flat speed line after that point

The National 3 Peaks Challenge
Saturday 23rd / Sunday 24th July 2005

The aim was to climb
Snowdon 3560ft, Scafell Pike 3208ft, Ben Nevis 4409ft in 24 hours. The actual time taken to complete this challenge was 23 HOURS 50 MINUTES

The expected amount of Money we hope to raise is £3000,00 Once all the monies have been collected this figure will be confirmed
in aid of THE WEST YORKSHIRE FORGET-ME-NOT TRUST whose aim is to build a
Children's Hospice In Kirklees to serve the families of terminally ill or palliative care children The team would like to say a big thank you to all our sponsors

Timetable	Planned Start	Actual Start	Planned Finish	Actual Finish
Snowdon	10:00	09:15	14:00	12:39
Travel to Scafell Pike	14:00	13:15	18:00	17:30
Scafell Pike	18:00	17:38	22:00	20:58
Travel to Ben Nevis	22:00	21:30	04:00	02:45
Ben Nevis	04:00	03:00	10:00	09:05