Three Peaks Stories

The ThreePeaksChallenge.com Walk is a fund raising walk across the peaks of Pen-y-ghent Whernside and Ingleborough in the Yorkshire Dales, and other locations in support of the Dave Owens and Frank Goodall Memorial Fund

Throughout the few years that we’ve been doing the walk, as with any event there are always a few stories to be told. Here’s just a few of the stories that have come out of the walks so far. (If you have any to tell, mail them in to us and if we have space we’ll post them up on the site). Mail to webeditor@threepeakschallenge.com

If you stop and think why we give either our time or donations to charity you're immediately confronted with differing considerations. Maybe most of us are actually good hearted souls who take pleasure in sharing with others. Perhaps we simply find it easier to carry out a charitable task, or give money which comes easier to us than facing the real problems head on. Or maybe we simply feel a deep sense of guilt when we see others who are considerably less fortunate than ourselves. There will certainly be other reasons.

In 2003 Amy Shaw was eleven years old and probably never considered any of the above reasons when she took her part in this event. Amy is the granddaughter of Frank Goodall, who with Dave Owens are the named persons to whom the The Three Peaks Challenge Memorial Fund is dedicated. When she heard of the walk she asked her father to take her to The Three Peaks so that she could participate in the walk in support of a memorial fund in her grandfathers name. Unfortunately she couldn't make the four o clock Saturday morning start as all the others, but she and her father arrived later in the day and walked the peak of Pen-y-ghent, and in so doing she raised £140.00 for the charity fund
Well done Amy.

In May of 2004 I received an email from Chris Davies. Chris had been looking on the web and found our site and sent the message...
“ I have just read your web page with details of your achievement in 2003, well done! As a T-cell Lymphoma and stem-cell transfer survivor (five years on) I applaud your efforts in raising the profile of cancer treatment, thank you”.
I wrote back thanking Chris, and stating that I simply drove the support team bus and did the website, and that I would pass the comments onto Gerard who organises the event. Chris responded...
“ Phil: Many thanks for taking the trouble to reply. I actually found your site by accident. I was looking for information on the 'other' three Peaks event i.e. Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon. Still, I was more than pleased to hear of your fund-raising efforts, especially for a disease which almost killed me and which I am now using every day to capacity to put it behind me. Keep up the good work - updating the website and driving the bus are absolutely vital to the overall effort! “

It puts into perspective what the fund raising is all about I suppose. Anyway, thanks Chris.

Phil Lynskey

Elizabeth Medcalf had noticed a poor (but very much alive) sheep lying with it’s neck stuck through a gate. Elizabeth, who is closely associated to the ‘livestock industry’ tried a rescue attempt to pull the stranded sheep from its enclosure.

Sadly the task proved too much for the sheep who on release gasped it’s last breath. The walkers had no alternative but to carry on leaving the poor (and now very much dead) sheep to rest in peace.