Our newest Ely Scheme challenge – ‘Dawn to Dusk’ – was a resounding success!
The two-day walking challenge saw 27 students in Years 11-13 taking on the North Norfolk Coastal Path on Saturday 31st September and Sunday 1st October.
Working together in small teams, the pupils’ mission was to walk as far as they could each day. The expedition was organised through our dedicated outdoor education programme, Ely Scheme, and each day the students had 10 hours of walking time.
The five teams started their routes on Saturday morning from the village of Mundesley, and they headed west along the Coastal Path, through Cromer and Sheringham.
James Houlston, who is our Director of Outdoor Education, said: “Most of the Coastal Path runs through the dramatic landscape of the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and the weather did not disappoint, which made the walking conditions perfect. After a long day of walking on the Saturday, students enjoyed a well-deserved fish and chip supper at our overnight accommodation in Blakeney, before heading to bed early, with their alarms set for 6am the following morning.
“On Sunday morning, after a few moans and groans about various aches and pains, the groups departed Blakeney at 7.30am for their second day of the challenge. Students headed towards Wells-next-the-Sea, followed by Holkham Gap. By this point, some of the teams had (quite understandably) slowed down, and decided to enjoy a more leisurely second day of walking. However, two groups were determined to get as far as they could. They finished at 5.30pm near Holme-next-the-Sea after completing 46-kilometres on day two alone.
“All of the students were excellent. Not only did they work well within their teams, but individually, they each had their own challenges to face, which meant they had to really push through their physical and mental boundaries to see how far they could get. They were well mannered and good humoured.
“Special mention must go to the two groups who completed 89-kilometres and 90-kilometres, respectively, over the two days, which is on average more than a marathon distance each day!
“I would also like to thank Tim Wyndham-Smith for his planning and preparations in the build-up to this trip, and all of the staff who supported the challenge over the weekend.”
Students who took on the challenge, in no particular order, were: Noelia Escudero-Salazar, Matthew Jackson, Thomas Kirkpatrick, Elizabeth Raynes, Jack Tisi, Cecily Perceval-Maxwell, Patrick Townley, Kseniia Kiniashova, Alexander New, Travis Bierton, Jacob Coe, Max Hatton, Hector Hughes, Benedict Rose, Rowley Black, Ted Hall, Jack Hammond, Zach Hewlett, Evan Jiang, Stephanie Birkwood, Amber Davison, Lacey Holdaway, Mienke Putter, Phoebe Thurlow, Lara Wells, Ada Liu, and Emily Zheng.
The winning teams will be announced in an assembly later this term!