Ivor Macklin and Anthony Codd, members of Hornsey Lodge, based in the City of London, recently completed the Camino Ingles (118 Kilometres) section of the Camino the ancient route of pilgrims to the holy site at Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain. Ivor and Anthony had originally intended to undertake the walk during the balmy days of late summer in September but due to injury, they had to postpone and instead did it in the cold wind and rain of January.

Ivor describes the generosity of the local people ‘en route’ which included donations of cakes and the opening up of a ‘closed for the season’ hotel by the owner saying, “help yourself and put the key in the post box when you leave.” On other nights, accommodation was found in a mixture of hostels and hotels, never paying more than 20 Euros each and often less and eating the Menu del Dia (3 courses with wine for 10 Euros).

Both describe the walk as tough, with Ivor completing the last 30 kilometres with blisters on his feet and he describes undertaking the walk for charity as a challenge but on arrival at Santiago it became profoundly spiritual.

At last count Ivor and Anthony had raised £8,332 for Metropolitan Grand Master’s Appeal to raise £2.5 million, for the purchase of two high lift vehicles for the London Fire Brigade.