The history of our challenge walks in words and pictures
Up to date financial details and other information about our fundraising activities
Annual financial details of the totals raised from our Walkers and Corporate Sponsors
Information about The Three Peaks Challenge Walk and the surrounding countryside
Information about The Chatsworth Challenge Walk, and the Chatsworth area.
Preparation, Hints & Tips
Handy tips and sound advice for tackling those demanding challenge walks
Some interesting features associated with our walks
Information about us and why we raise the sponsored funds
All the other bits we couldn’t fit in anywhere else
chatsworth challenge
chatsworthchallenge.com
three peaks
challenge
threepeakschallenge.com
chatsworthchallenge.com and threepeakschallenge.com are organisers of sponsored challenge walks to raise money for the Dave Owens and Frank Goodall Memorial Fund in support of nominated charities to fund cancer research, prevention, and treatment.
Total funds raised so far
£191,964.35
including... ThreePeaksChallenge
The four charities we currently represent. All of the money raised on our walks go to the four listed cancer charities to fund the research, prev-ention, and treatment of cancer.
More information >>
2017 Walk : Chatsworth Challenge
chatsworthchallenge.com are organisers of fund raising challenge walks in support of the Dave Owens and Frank Goodall Memorial Fund to raise monies for nominated charities in support of cancer research, prevention, and treatment.
Page Acknowledgements
Text : Philip Lynskey : Gerard Mitchell
Images : Philip Lynskey: Gerard Mitchell: Chris Morgan
© www.chatsworthchallenge.com
amount raised to date after current walk year
For any visitors coming to this site for the first time, please note that our annual Chatsworth Challenge Walk is open to anyone who wishes to take part.
Are you visiting this site
for the first time ?
It’s great day out for families and friends to enjoy the open air and a view of some marvellous countryside in Chatsworth, and, you’ll be part of a very worthwhile and enjoyable fundraising event.
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4. Nora and Cassidy stop to strike a pose at Beeley (click to enlarge)
5. Mark outside the Devonshire Arms at Beeley with a superbly packaged roast ham sandwich (local honey roast ham with whole grain mustard on wholemeal if Gerard is correct. (click to enlarge).
7. Lucy, Craig and Luke show off their Chatsworth Challenge Certificates of Completion (click to enlarge).
6. Some of the walkers take a rest at the top of Beeley woods (click to enlarge)
8. Gerard Meets Charity Representatives, Liz, Stacey, and Lynne to present the donation cheques (click to enlarge).
9. Chatsworth Horse Trials (click to enlarge).
10. Chatsworth Horse Trials (click to enlarge).
2. Eleanor, Holly, and Gracie serve up flapjacks and brownies before setting off. (click to enlarge)
3. The late arrivals for the 9 mile walk (click to enlarge)
1. The traditional 9 mile starting lineup
Although, sadly there aren’t any photographs available, earlier in the day (at 06-00 hrs) the 22 mile walkers left this same spot where we now see the main body of the 9 mile walk assembling for their 11-15 start. It’s always good to feel the real family atmosphere of this walk with all the children and dogs taking part. With 32 starters it’s a great turnout but due to heavy traffic conditions around the Chatsworth Park area there are still a number of walkers who have yet to arrive.
2. Flapjacks at 11.00 hrs
How can any walk get underway without the prior distribution of flapjack and brownies (I’m not 100% sure that they were brownies though they were definitely brownish).
Here we see Eleanor, Holly and Gracie distributing the goodies, while Margaret and Leanne supervise. Many thanks to Paul Mackie for producing the excellent confectionary through his own culinary skills. I can say that with confidence as I tried at least one of each.
3. The 9 mile walk stragglers
By 11-30 the balance of the 9 mile walkers have arrived and are ready for the off. It isn’t really fair to call them stragglers as this year’s walk did coincide with the Chatsworth Horse Trials and the traffic was really heavy. However knowing the people in this group as I do I strongly suspect they will have been already flirting with being late as they left home! The Chatsworth Horse trials are a very prestigious event and do attract a lot of spectators, but more about that later.
Saturday 13th May 2017, the day of our 15th annual sponsored fundraising walks in and around Chatsworth House in the Derbyshire Peak District. The event raised another excellent total of £14,023.51. This takes the accumulated fund total for all our walks to date to £175,248.80.
All monies received go to the Dave Owens and Frank Goodall Memorial Fund, and as with every other year, every penny of the sponsorship money raised in our walks is donated to our four nominated cancer charities.
Our trusty, dependable, and un-failing event organiser Gerard Mitchell has documented the events of the day over recent years, but this year we thought the time had come to gracefully retire Gerard from his duties to make way for a new face who can bring their own written interpretation of the days events to these pages. It’s time for a change we thought, new ideas, brighten things up a bit, a fresh and witty approach to the account of the day ... that sort of thing!
However, when J. K. Rowling, Wilbur Smith, and Stephen Fry all said ‘bugger off’ to our generous invitation to write the walk narrative, it was decided to re-award the task to our trusty, dependable, and un-failing, newly appointed Chief Staff Writer Gerard Mitchell, for his bright, fresh and witty approach. See below as he takes us through the day. (PL)
Newly appointed Chief Staff Writer Gerard Mitchell
4. Nora & Cassidy at Beeley
Nora and Cassidy have made the three miles to Beeley without looking as though they have left Baslow High Street (or Kensington High Street by the look of them).
With shoes still in pristine condition they must have been carefully dodging the cow/sheep/deer pats in the fields passing Chatsworth House. Well done girls, you are actually making it look like the proverbial stroll in the park.
5. Mark’s takeaway sandwich
Due to the staggered starting times the 22 and 9 mile walks have now come together outside The Devonshire Arms in the lovely little village of Beeley. The Devonshire is a typical pub of that area. It provides great ales served in a great atmosphere coupled with very good customer service.
Still feeling his breakfast, Mark ordered a sandwich to take with him (local honey roast ham with whole grain mustard on wholemeal I believe), but we couldn’t believe the work that went into the packaging. What a work of art!
6. Taking a rest at top of Beeley woods
It looks as though the pull up through the woods from Beeley might have taken its toll on this group. They have therefore earned their well-earned rest in this leafy glade. Clare, James and Stella must have made it to the top first to blag the seats on the stone; perhaps it’s Mark, Martin and Simon’s turn next.
Either way there’s still another steep climb to get to the top but Leah and Rachel look as though they have the measure of it. In the foreground Oscar is looking as though he could do it all again yet Simon might have other thoughts.
7. Certificates of Completion
It’s getting towards mid-afternoon and Lucy, Craig, and Luke have already checked-out back in Baslow and received their certificates and Dave Owens & Frank Goodall Memorial Fund key rings. This year Cancer Research UK, Macmillan Cancer Support and Marie Curie all donated small carrier bags containing various goodies.
The bags also contained some valuable cancer awareness information leaflets. I wish we had a photograph of everyone receiving their certificates but as the checking-out desk is always hard pressed we haven’t. It is something I will look into for the future.
8. Our Charity Representatives
It is now mid-October and the cheque's are ready for the charity representatives to collect. The cheque to The Oesophageal Patients Association was sent to them by post.
Pictured are Liz Howlett of Marie Curie, Stacey Rhodes of Macmillan Cancer Care and Lynne Desborough of Cancer Research UK.
I have only involved the charities directly for the last two years but I certainly wish I had done it sooner. These three have been a big help and have come up with some really
excellent ideas to freshen up the event, so thank you to the three of you for that. I should also like to thank my daughter Clare and her partner Martin for their help and input over the last two walks.
9. & 10. The Chatsworth Horse Trials
The annual Chatsworth Horse trials are a three-day event of world-class equestrian sport. It includes dressage, show jumping, and cross-country events. The cast is made up of heavy shire horses, Shetland ponies and everything else in between (Llamas perhaps? - Ed).
The general opinion amongst our walkers seemed to be that walking through the event (keeping strictly to the public paths of course) added to our walk too. The good news is that it will coincide with our 2018 walk too.
The Devonshire Arms at Beeley.
This busy pub is a popular stopping off point for all our walkers.
Due to the staggered start times of the event, this is where the 9 mile walkers and the 22 mile walkers meet up for a drink and a short rest before heading back to Baslow.
Comments from the Charity Organisations we support
Below is a collection of just some of the many kind comments we have received from the recipient charities we support through the Dave Owens and Frank Goodall Memorial Fund. The value of every participant’s work in raising monies for the fund can be readily seen in their thanks.
Thank you so much for fundraising for Cancer Research UK, and your recent donation of £4,207.05 raised by those taking part in the Chatsworth Challenge Walk 2017.
With your continued support we will beat cancer sooner.
Lynne Desborough
Local Fundraising Manager
Thank you so much to everyone at the Dave Owens and Frank Goodall Memorial Fund for holding your annual event and raising an amazing £4,207.05.
Thank you once again for being part of Team Macmillan.
Chloe Parford
Support Donations Team
I wanted to personally write to say a huge thank you for your hugely generous donations of £4,207.05 to Marie Curie, and for the incredible support that you have once again given us this year as part of the Dave Owens and Frank Goodall 2017 Chatsworth Challenge.
Liz Howlett
Fundraising Manager
Oesophageal Patients Assc.
We are writing to express our sincere thanks for yet another donation we have received from you and your teams. We were so pleased to have received a massive £1,402.36.
Thank you so much for your kind donations for all of these years.
From the OPA
Copies of all letters we receive from the charities can be seen on our Downloads Page >
Your challenge is to turn up, have a great day out, and raise valuable funds in support of our supported cancer charities
Our challenge walks are over 9 or 22 miles in the beautiful countryside around Chatsworth House in Derbyshire. All we require is that you raise sponsorship for our charities, Can you take the challenge?
Each year we donate specific allocations to the charities we support from the total funds raised from the annual sponsored walk.
This is currently 30% to each of the three main cancer charities, and 10% to the Oesophageal Patients Association.
Follow these links to the main areas associated with our event fundraising
