Glenn Sargent and Jason Smith called into the farm last night to spend the night. The two friends from Barrow in the lake district have set out on an adventure to paddle in a kayak and canoe all the way from the River Ribble in Preston right the way down to Stone in Stafford, a distance of 117 miles where Glenn will be reunited with his fiance.
Jason contacted me a couple of weeks ago asking if it would be okay to camp for the night on the farm as he saw it was along their route and would make a handy stopping point at the end of their first day on the water.
It was a pretty tough start to their journey where they had to battle their way against the receding tide up the River Douglas hampered by a heavy rain storm.
Glenn said that it looked easy on the map but paddling up river against the tide made it necessary for them to both jump into the canoe and tow the kayak behind them.
Putting their tent up in our poly tunnel gave them a reasonably dry and comfortable nights sleep. We brought them some towels from home and lent them our stove so it was easier for them to cook their evening meal.
So today they start the next leg of their journey down the Rufford Line to the Leeds to Liverpool canal where they will head through Wigan to camp tonight outside a pub in Ashton-in-Makerfield.
Glenn said that the two of them had been thinking about doing this kind of trip for a while and he fancied an adventure after he had been laid up with a broken ankle. The premature death from cancer of one of Glenn’s footballing friends, Gareth Brown, gave them the extra motivation to make it happen.
Glenn is raising money for Cancer Research UK through the JustGiving site at: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/glenn-sargent1?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=fundraisingpage&utm_content=Glenn-Sargent1&utm_campaign=pfp-share
They hope to complete their journey on Friday night at The Star Pub in Stone, Staffordshire. Glenn’s fiance’s parents used to run the pub and he will be reunited with her for a celebration of their journey.
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- Canoe pair’s Facebook page.
Update Friday 18th of August
I am pleased to say that Jason and Glenn succesfully finished their journey. Here is a screenshot of their Facebook page:
Canoe pair’s Facebook page.