Cecelia conquers 1,000-mile trek in memory of her mum
A Bath woman has completed a mammoth challenge in honour of her “loving” mum, who passed away in 2017.
Cecelia Bradley hiked the length of the UK, from Land’s End to John O’groats, to raise money for the hospice that cared for her mother, Clare, in her final weeks.
With her partner Conor, the 25-year-old covered more than 1,000 miles, staying mostly in campsites and living out of a rucksack.
Now back home in Bath, she has had a chance to reflect on her journey and said it gave her a “new perspective on life”. The young geologist has also raised more than £2,000 for St Peter’s Hospice, smashing through her £500 goal.
She said: “I just wanted to do something active to support the place that cared for mum so well. The staff at St Peter’s Hospice were really amazing, they provided so much support for Mum and for our family, but it’s really expensive to run, so I wanted to help them support future patients as they go through a devastating period of their life.
“Before doing this hike, I had never done something on this scale before. I’d walked maybe 13 miles in a day, tops. So doing 27 miles some days, with a 15-kilo rucksack, was a whole different challenge.
“There were some days when I found it really tough and thinking about my mum kept me going. She was diagnosed with cancer just a few months before she died, so I think I was in denial that it was happening until she was gone.”
In a tribute on the St Peter’s Hospice website, Clare has been described as “quite possibly the nicest person you could meet. She was a loving wife, mother and sister and she will be greatly missed by all of those left behind. Taken from us far too early.
There were some days when I found it really tough and thinking about my mum kept me going
Cecelia Bradley
“Clare loved her family and loved her work. She always saw the best in people and was always happy to help. She overcame problems with her health and didn’t let these things define her.
“She loved to travel and loved to take photographs which she enjoyed sharing. When the acers were red at Westonbirt this was one of her favourite places to be.”
Cecelia and Conor set off from Land’s End on April 25 and headed
along the South West Coast Path as far as Exmoor. From there, they turned north towards Bristol and dipped into Wales to pick up the Offa’s Dyke Path.
This led them into Staffordshire and the Midlands, from which they joined the Pennine Way and headed north. Once in Scotland, they found the West Highland Way and followed it as far as Fort William.
After that, they had to cross the north Highlands. “That was the most difficult part because it was off the path and more on mountain tracks,” Cecelia explained.
Finally, after traversing the farmland of Caithness, she and Conor reached John O’groats on Friday, July 8. Cecelia said she would never forget the amazing people she had met along the way.
“We mostly camped in campsites and the odd B&B on days when it had been really wet and our stuff needed to dry out. Often, complete strangers would offer us a place to stay, there was so much generosity, I couldn’t believe it.
“They bought us snacks and gave money to the charity, and I had some really lovely conversations with strangers. I even bumped into a guy who was 87 and doing the same route as us,” she said.
Four weeks on, Cecelia added that she “definitely missed” the nomadic way of life she had enjoyed for three months. “You get ‘hiker’s blues.’ I miss the peacefulness of those beautiful places and I want to do something else now,” she said.