"Fat to Fittie"

There’s a beautiful seaside town in Yorkshire called Whitby, famous for many things, one of which is a hundred and ninety nine steps that lead to a church and Abbey. Mentioned in Bram Stokers book Dracula, they’ve seen lots of people ascend them for many reasons, brides have been carried up and others have hopped, but now, some crippled idiot has struggled his way to the top, all in the name of charity. Originally it was the only route to the church for the poor, while the rich used the long road to the top in their horse and carriage and of course when you died, paying to have your coffin driven to it’s final resting place was something few could afford, settling instead to have a few friends carry it up the steps for you. Unless the guy who died had the waist size of Michael Jackson, it was a struggle, especially as you got nearer the top, so this is why as you ascend up, you’ll notice there are more wider steps, which were used to “rest” the coffin on and give the guys carrying it, chance for a breather. I’m guessing if you were a lard bucket like me, they thought “F*** that”! and just chucked your body in the sea.

Anyway, as everyone who follows my blog knows, I’m trying to lose weight for an operation to replace both of my hips. Currently my mobility is practically nothing and my pain through the roof, but I like a challenge, which is why I did it, though I’ve decided to do one last challenge, just before I have my operations. At the side of the steps is a very steep path known as Donkey track, as this was the route used to get them down to the beach for the kids to ride on. It’s a 1:1 gradient, which is no easy task for the fit, let alone my knackered hips and as I plan to do it about a week before my op, at least if I roll down to the bottom, I’ll know that the bed’s waiting for me. I don’t have a date yet, but hoping for sometime in late July or early August, fingers crossed! As you can see Sydney Sweeney gave me a bit of encouragement while she was on her hols here last week, very grateful she could spare the time for some publicity.

Obviously I’m raising money for this stupid challenge and the charity I’ve chose is called Sands. Sadly two years ago, I had a granddaughter, Margot, who was stillborn. Sands were a fantastic help to my son and partner and also to their other children, offering help, advice and support, for many months after, I asked Emily to write something about what they did for them, here are her words.

“My partner Conor and I, lost our little girl Margot on the 20th May 2024 at sixteen weeks and two days, after I fell very poorly with an infection in the womb. Sands were an amazing charity, assisting the whole family get though the most difficult time in our life’s. They sat us down and explained ways too tell our children about what had happened and gave us little bags too pass onto them that had thing’s to help, one of which was a worry monster, that proved to be very useful. Someone from Sands kept in touch for a long time after, making sure we were coping in the best way possible and really made us feel like we were not alone. They were an incredible help, I’ll be forever grateful”.

Emily Thorpe.

I’d very much appreciate if you could please click the link to visit the just giving page and donate some money, thank you.