‘End to End’ challenge for gamekeepers

On 1 April, Helen Benson set off from Castle Mey, near John O’groats, on the first leg of her Conquering Castles Challenge in aid of the Gamekeepers’ Welfare Trust, which she runs. She is attempting to complete the ‘End to End’ – from John O’groats to Land’s End – travelling by vehicles used by gamekeepers.

On route she will be hoping aboard gun buses, quad bikes, Argocats, a Highland pony, a boat, a Series I Land Rover, an Austin A35 van, a tractor and a bicycle once used by a former keeper on the Sandringham estate.

From Castle Mey in Caithness, Benson travels to Balmoral, then down to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh before heading off to Carnarvon Castle in Wales, Highgrove House and then through the Duchy of Cornwall to Land’s End. Then it’s back up to Windsor and off to Sandringham in Norfolk for the finish of the 1,500-mile journey across Britain’s Royal Estates.

“I’m hoping it will take me no more than a fortnight and the whole trip can be completed via Britain’s keeper network,” she said; her husband and two sons are gamekeepers on Yorkshire estates. She will be accompanied by Smartie, her border terrier.

Last summer, Benson, a grandmother of seven, travelled 545 miles around the perimeter of Yorkshire in a tractor to raise funds for the Farming Community Network.

The trip is one of many events planned for the Year of the Gamekeeper 2020, a multi-organisational initiative to raise the profile of gamekeepers and sustain the long-term future of the Gamekeepers’ Welfare Trust. To donate, visit: justgiving. com/campaign/ GWTYOTG2020

Follow Helen Benson’s progress on Facebook. Go to: Gwtconquering Castleschallenge