During our 50-year marriage, I caught Cheran's enthusiasm for many things, but one of my own passions that Cheran picked up and keenly shared was my love of walking.  Whenever we went on holiday we managed to do some great day walks, especially along the English coast.  These were very enjoyable but, ever since I retired in 1994, I nursed an ambition to do one really long walk - the whole 630-mile South West Coast Path, from Minehead to Poole Harbour.  I accepted that Cheran's health would prevent her from doing all of that long walk, but she actively encouraged my own ambition, and bought all the necessary maps and guide books to give me as Christmas and birthday presents. 

In 1999, when I passed age 60, we travelled to Cornwall for the first time, and a day's hike along that rugged coast convinced us both that Millennium year must be the time for me to begin that long walk.  I was further encouraged when Cheran kindly offered to drive the car to meet me at the finish of each day when there were no local buses.  And so I was able to complete that walk between 2000 and 2005, over ten separate holidays.  We made base camp each time at various self-catering holiday parks along the way, and I walked the path in 57 days, confident in the knowledge that I would be able to get back to base each night, by either bus or car.

I never could have done that without Cheran's willing and loving support.  On most days, she would appear with that unforgettable smile, not just at the end of the day but often at various points along the way, carefully timed for us to have coffee, packed lunch or cream tea together, and to catch up on our adventures so far.  You can see from the accompanying photographs how much she enjoyed all this.

Thanks to there being buses in some places, Cheran was able to join me for some parts of the walk: in fact, she managed 90 miles of it.  She encouraged me every day and, right at the end, invested me with a celebratory garland and kiss.  Among her own personal highlights were visiting many RNLI lifeboat stations while I was walking and, of course, savouring those delicious West Country cream teas.  Her proudest moment, one that she often mentioned in later years, came in 2005 when she drove our car up the very steep gradients and hairpin bends of Porlock Hill in Somerset.  Not long after that, she gave up driving altogether, but continually boasted afterwards that she had retired 'at the top'.

Cheran really caught the walking bug during this time.  In the years from 2003 to 2007, she meticulously and enthusiastically planned a series of 59 daily hikes for us along the south coast, using public transport.  In those five years we walked every mile of the coasts of Sussex, Kent, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, a total of very nearly 500 miles.

Well done, Cheran, and thank you for all your loving support. xx