A PENISTONE man has completed more than half of his 7,500-mile journey around the UK coastline and enjoyed a drink with a fellow coastwalker at the weekend.
Jim Morton, 61, has walked more than 4,260 miles over the last 278 days in an effort to fulfil his lifelong ambition and to raise money for the Gurkha Welfare Trust, having raised almost £9,000 for the charity so far.
Jim met Chris Howard, a dad-of-three from Cambridge, on his travels in Fife, Scotland, at the weekend when – despite Chris being 61 miles behind Jim in their coastal challenge – their paths briefly overlapped.
“It’s still going really well,” said Jim.
“My feet are fine and I feel good when I’m walking.
“But at the end of the day when I sit down, and then have to get back up even to walk across a room, my legs go so stiff because they’re so used to keeping moving now.
“It really was special meeting up with Chris.
“He’s half my age and he’s rowed the Atlantic, so he’s much quicker than me, but we’ve become great friends and message each other every day.”
Often joined and supported by his wife Sue, Jim said the walk is something he’s wanted to do since the age of eight.
“The Scottish people have been lovely, and we couldn’t believe the generosity of a lady near St Andrew’s last week.
“She invited us to stay with her for five nights and couldn’t do enough for us.
“My next exciting milestone will be returning to England having completed the Scottish coastline in a couple of weeks.”
