Colin Belsey checks his route outside Ripon Cathedral, which will benefit from his efforts

FORMER police officer Colin Belsey may have pounded out a fair few miles during the course of his professional life, but the gruelling challenge which the recently retired sergeant in the Jersey force has now set himself is way beyond the demands of a watchful beat through the streets of St Helier.

On Saturday, 10 april, Colin (50) will take the first tentative steps on a walk of more than 1,000 miles from Land’s End to John O’Groats – a trek which he hopes to complete towards the end of July.

‘It is something that I have always wanted to do when time finally allowed,’ he said.
After hanging up his uniform last summer, Colin headed north for a new home in Ripon with his wife, Wendy. There he became a part-time verger at the town’s
famous cathedral – and it is the cathedral that will now benefit from his efforts.

‘I had always intended to do this walk purely as a personal challenge,’ he explained, ‘but Ripon Cathedral is in the process of raising £350,000 to restore its organ, so I have been persuaded to use the walk as a means of helping to boost the funds,’ he said.

And there is a further relevant connection here, because during his time in the Island, Colin was a familiar face – and voice – on Jersey’s music scene, most notably, perhaps as a founder-member of the Harmony Men. Next May his erstwhile singing colleagues will travel up to Ripon to give a concert in the cathedral and hear for themselves the glory of the great 19th century instrument.

No stranger to long-distance walking – he walked the Pennine Way in 1977 – Colin warmed up for his epic jaunt by setting off for a week’s stroll around the Scilly Islands
in the company of his wife on Good Friday. Having now decided on his chosen route to the tip of Scotland, he hopes to achieve a distance of 13 miles a day.

‘I plan to stay in bed and breakfast places along the way or, if all else fails, sleep
under the stars,’ he said. ‘I also hope to sample the odd pint or two of real ale as I head north.’

By way of a lap of honour, as it were, the apparently indefatigable Colin then plans to walk the length of Shetland after reaching John O’Groats – a further 79 miles and two weeks of foot-slogging. In total, he will have covered a distance of 1,210 miles.

‘I expect the whole trip to take four months to complete,’ he said. ‘I will, of course, miss my regular choral singing, but no doubt there will be opportunities for the occasional solo to keep me going!’

Anyone who would like to support Colin Belsey in his efforts may do so by donating online at http://www.justgiving.com/Colin-Belsey or by sending a cheque made payable to Ripon Cathedral Development Fund to: Mr C Belsey, 26 Brewery Lane, Ripon, North Yorkshire, HG4 1PL.