Four Dunstable Explorer Scouts have conquered Hadrian’s Wall, blisters, a fear of cows and a knee injury to complete the final challenge for Scouting’s top honour, their Queen’s Scout Award. They trained for nearly a year for the back-breaking effort needed to complete the 84-mile hike in six days over some of the roughest terrain Britain has to offer. Led by Tom Rochester, 18, the team included Jack Woolnough, 18, Ian Wilson, 17 and Jonny Pratt, 17 from the Red Explorer Unit in Dunstable.

Starting in September last year, the team trained regularly in the hills around Dunstable as well as hikes in the Peak District. But the uplands of Bedfordshire were no match for the rock strewn heights of Northumbria. Even the names told there own story. Back home they ventured out into the Chiltern Hills, Dunstable Downs and Sharpenhoe Clappers. Hadrian’s Wall, on the other hand, was built across places like Crindle Dyke, Beggars Bogg, Cuddy’s Cragg and the fearsome Steel Rigg and Winshields. These are locations not for the faint hearted.

Then there was the kit, all 22kg (48lbs) of it. Each Scout carried all he needed in a large rucksack which seemed to grow heavier by the minute. Inside (and outside) there were cooking utensils, food, water, clothing, a tent, a sleeping bag and a first aid outfit. And the team set themselves the daily target of 15 miles in eight hours, a day’s march for a Roman soldier.

Tom said, “We started at Wallsend, the Eastern end of the wall, and then had the boring concrete jungle of Newcastle to follow before our first stop at Wylam in the countryside. That was when we discovered that Jack had a fear of cows. So we set up an Indian enclosure camp with Jack’s tent protected in the middle. He survived the night and we soon left the inquisitive cows behind and replaced them with sheep which ran away.

“Day two was when the torrential rain came but we battled on and dried out overnight. By day three we all had blisters. And we strapped up Jonny’s right knee for the third time. It was an old sports injury and he was under doctor’s orders to take it easy so we let him make the pace. The third day and the following day were the hardest. We camped at Wall near to the Roman camp of Chesters and then hit the rock strewn crags of the hike rising to over 1000 feet near to Steel Rigg. It was awesome. The wind never stopped and the rough pathway along side the wall made balancing a real feat of will power. This was where the stamina building training helped as we dropped down steep gullies like Sycamore Gap followed by a near vertical climb. And it went on for mile after mile.

“For six days we lived on a high carb diet of boil in the bag sausages and beans for breakfast, followed by a lunch of pitta bread and pate, corned beef and jelly. Dinner was another handy boil in the bag beef stew and dumplings. Not the high life but it kept us going. By the time dinner was over we all just clambered into our sleeping bags and went to sleep for a good eight hours.

“The highlights of the hike were all the many people we met along the way who wished us well. They included the District Commissioner of Hexham who came to our camp at Wall to see how we were getting along. We never saw a Roman Centurion but heard of one in the area called Marcus Aufidius Maximus, a fearsome brute by all account. Then there was the scenery. Even in our worst state the views took our breath away. And we came to realise the superb fitness of the Roman soldiers who had to accept these conditions all the year round.

“Day five we spent in Carlisle and at the end of day six we finally walked in to the little bus shelter that was our winning post at Bowness-in-Solway where we just sat and stared at the view. By a little bit of mental arithmetic we worked out that we had taken over 150,000 steps from our start in Wallsend, had climbed enough steep crags to reach the summit of Ben Nevis and now knew the names of all the awesome landmarks along the route.”

At the end of their challenge, the four Explorer Scouts were picked up by Mervyn and Alison Wilson, Ian’s parents, for the journey home and a well earned rest. The planning and completion of the Hadrian’s Wall challenge was the final step on the way to their well earned Queen’s Scout Award.

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