Today is the day – the start of my walk up the Thames, and I just wanted to take a moment to reflect on the reasons behind my adventure.

It started out as a walk with my old dog Charlie a beautiful Hungarian Vizsla with whom I’d have loved to walk from St Jean Pied de Port to Santiago de Compostela, but it was never to be, she grew old and so did I. However, I recall one holiday in the Pyrenees Tania and I took with the dogs, so at least Charlie got to cross the Camino somewhere and may even have walked a little of the path of St James.

So the ‘model’ was downscaled to a walk up the Thames and walking with Henny will be a delight, she’s not Charlie, but she’s an amazing dog, full of character, with a great sense of humour and she is without doubt a loyal friend, a very special friend.

But this weeks walk is not really about me, though it will give me plenty of time for reflection and memories of my own, it is however, about raising money for Cancer Research UK and the amazing work that goes into fighting a disease which has crossed us all at one time or another, and continues to do so.

It’s about family, friends and colleagues. Those who’s lives were cut short by this disease and those who survived and may with great relief call themselves a ‘survivor’.

I guess it’s the same for my peers, the older I get the more people I know with Cancer, the more frequently it crosses my path, the more friends and family we lose to Cancer, and the more I am in touch with the mortality of others and indeed my own. Life is short, and that’s acceptable but why should we accept that it can be cruelly cut shorter than it’s typical expectancy – Cancer Research UK does not accept this and works to find solutions that will restore life expectancy to normal levels.

So many people to think of today, I’m afraid to commit them to print for fear of the length of my list and for even more fear of forgetting a name. Names have come at me every day and I’m sure more will emerge this coming week, so for now my thoughts are of;

John Norris, Ian Howe, John Collins, Neil Young, Ted Bowcher, Hazel Bryant, Mrs Morgan, Roger Nicks, Leslie Ingram, John Cunliffe, Peter Clarke, Mrs Symons and my short list of survivors, Nick Fletcher, Stephen Edgell and my beautiful daughter Jessica who was diagnosed & treated so quickly by chance and which came as a great relief for all her friends and family.

That’s who & what this trip is really about – this is what will provide the motivation each day to go and walk on my creaky hips and knees and to rub fabric against my blisters. But whilst remembering these wonderful people, family, friends and customers, I will tell you of some of my memories of the various places I visit along the River Thames as I walk the path that crosses my life.

Wish me luck …