Page 135 - MERCIAN Eagle 2011

Lichfield Branch – Three Peaks Challenge
On the 9 April a group of 24 members and friends of the Lichfield Branch of
the Staffordshire Regiment set off from Lichfield Social Club to tackle the Three Peaks Challenge. This event was thought of by the older members of the branch, led by Derrick Flemmings and was first talked about in November. The branch wanted to do something to support our troops overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan, and maybe help some of the returning injured soldiers.
The day started on the Social Club car- park, arranging kit, picking up vans and saying goodbye to wives and children. The drive to Ben Nevis was a long 7 hour one but the mix of old soldiers with their warped sense of humour, coupled with the brilliant friends of the branch made the journey seem easy.
Night fell as we entered the camp at the base of Ben Nevis and started to pitch the tents for what would
be our last sleep for
photos of the brilliant views, as well as take on water, then pack back on again and off. The crowning glory was reaching the summit of Nevis, where again a buzz of excitement hung over the summit.
I produced from my pack a bottle of champagne and someone else pulled out a Cuban cigar and we presented it to Gaz Brook for his birthday...he was chuffed.
Scafell Pike
Scafell Pike was the mountain we had
to tackle in the dark, and l don’t think anybody was looking forward to this one. Before the event we had contacted one of our old friends, Pete Dillion, who is now one of the chief mountain guides in the Lake District and known to many branch members, to assist us on the night climb. We met him on the car park and once
all the vans had arrived, and the men
We all met on the car park and again the two groups were formed, one to climb the miners track and one to take the pig track. The going was hard and everyone was now feeling it. Jason Allen and Shawn Carpenter were suffering with their knees and Carl Newbold with his lungs which were scarred by illness some years ago. But all the lads kept on and the end was in sight.
On reaching the summit of Snowdon, the last 50 metres was a frenzy of civilians, as well as soldiers trying to scramble a small icy path. Eventually we got through and made our way to the summit. As we stood on top looking over the whole of the Snowdon mountain range, huge pride took over as to what we had achieved; the only problem was we had to get back down. The ascent was painful to all l think but by taking the shortest route, the impact on our bodies was less. Finally we hit the car park and even though l thought that there would be a massive celebration, the guys just wanted to get on the bus and go home.
We stopped at the local shop on the way back and l treated the guys to a well deserved 24 cans of lager.
Lichfield White Hart
On our return to Lichfield we went back to The White Hart where a buffet had been laid on by my wife (Debbie Bradshaw), with the support of wives and girlfriends and children and a very drunk Dennis Smart. The reception as we stepped off those mini buses was absolutely heart warming and a sight to remember.
Most men that got off the mini buses could hardly walk, but a few swift pints seemed to sort out the problem and most only stayed an hour before slowly drifting off home.
As a branch we think we may have raised over £12,000 for The Help for Heroes Charity and as Vice Chairman
l would like to thank everyone from
our drivers, support staff, Association members, friends and everyone who participated in the challenge; we should all be very proud of what we achieved that weekend, not only raising the money but completing personal goals whilst doing a gruelling challenge.
I know this weekend will stay with me for a very long time.
Dave Bradshaw
Vice Chairman, Lichfield Branch
Morning broke at the
camp site and an air
of excitement had hit
us, as well as the thought of having one of Brian Terry’s cooked breakfasts, which one gentleman (Garry Brook) managed
to plough through at least three helpings closely followed by Jason Cabrera and his amazing egg eating competition with himself (8 l think). The men were now all packed and ready to start the climb, lead by Brian McMulkin, but one last thing before we left camp was the singing of Happy Birthday to Gaz Brook who was 38 that day.
The start of Ben Nevis was a gruelling climb up what seemed an endless set of stairs and quite quickly men began to feel this (including myself) and it was clear that the training on Cannock Chase had helped but not much. Soon two groups formed and the first group lead by Jason Cabrera and Roy Parsons moved at what seemed a blistering pace, while the rest of us tried to adapt the Sunday morning stroll approach to try to get used to the mountain.
We stopped in numerous places to get
to climb the different route, which was
a nearly vertical climb up an area called brown tonge, which again, took its toll on the men.
Again the lead group broke away, finding the paths for the rest of us to follow, and by the time we reached the summit, knees and legs felt like we could take no more. On the top Paul Cretella of 2 Para, who had come all the way from the USA with his wife, Clarrisa to take part went into cramp spasms to the amusement of all.
The descent was more painful than coming up the mountain, and once again you could see on the faces of the men that they were really hurting, but finally we reached the mini buses and jumped on board ready for Snowdon.
Snowdon
Through the night we had been in constant contact with Carl Lester who is a former STAFFORD and his son Zac, who had agreed to take us up the mountain.
were kitted out we
proceeded to start the climb. It became quite apparent that from the outset we had picked a bad night on Scafell, as the mountain was in full flood from the thaw of the snow and had changed dramatically from our previous training trip. Once a few bearings had been taken we proceeded
24 hours. We pre- booked the Ben Nevis Lodge prior to leaving Lichfield and all 24 of us sat down for a meal followed by a few good pints in the bar after.
Most men that got off the mini buses could hardly walk, but a few swift pints seemed to sort out the problem
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
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