Nine brave souls put on their walking boots for the 3rd time to take part in the 13-mile Midnight Madness Dartmoor Walk on Saturday 18th July 2015. We took part in the event to raise money for The Fishermen’s Mission – a charity we strongly support year on year. The Paramount 21 team has so far raised a total of £378.75 (donations can still be made after the event) and had a cracking time doing it.
Big thanks and well done to the whole team Sylvia, Paul, Emma, Jack, Julie, Hannah, Scott, Rachel and Helen. In their own midnight madness words:
“The journey kicked off with a 1.5km uphill trek to the first checkpoint – not good to start! This hill also included two stiles which were actually about 6ft high.
Spirits were then lifted in the second leg when we thought we had come across an ice cream van en route, but it actually turned out to be an ambulance which was most disappointing! We’re not sure why we thought there was an ice cream van in operation at 11pm – perhaps we were just hopeful.
Journey to checkpoint 3 (Rock Plantation) was hard work. It included 2km along a narrow, rocky, boggy bridle path in the woods, which seemed to go on for ever without any indication we were still on the right track. We then walked through Withill Farm, spied a pub in front of us but then were cruelly diverted in another direction!
Checkpoint 3 to 4 (Swelltor Quarry) included 2 big hills one on the road and then one on a grassy, fern bank. We were pretty tired by this time so this one was hard.
The last leg from 4 to the end was pretty straight and flat, but seemed to go on for ever and ever and ever – 2.5km to be precise. This was the old, dismantled railway back to Princetown. This was used by the Quarry and although flat, was quite disconcerting in the dark as it dropped off sharply on both sides, so no wandering about – just marching home as quickly as our little legs would carry us.
On arrival at Princetown the Dartmoor Search & Rescue Team were on hand to provide hot drinks and a pasty! This was much welcomed and a big thanks to the team for hosting the event.
All in all we had a great time and can’t wait to do it again next year. It is important for us at Paramount to raise money for such a great charity and, of course, take part in events as a team.”
The Fishermen’s Mission provides emergency and welfare support to fishermen and their families 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They receive no government or Lottery funding and rely almost entirely upon voluntary contributions to fund their activities. Deep sea fishing is the UKs most dangerous peacetime occupation and each year, on average, 15 vessels are lost and 65 fishermen are killed or seriously injured.
