FundraisingMayor’s gruelling 165-mile walk

Horley mayor councillor David Powell completed a 165-mile walk after weeks of trekking laps of the town’s recreation ground in Brighton Road. The 84-year-old veteran walked every day for five weeks through blistering heatwaves and gale-force winds, to walk the distance of Horley to the Menin Gate in Belgium in aid of the Royal British Legion. On Saturday , Mr Powell and his team of walkers, finished to applause.

Cllr Powell said: “It’s a bittersweet moment. Going back a few weeks I never thought I would be able to walk 165 miles, not in a million years.

“I started walking a mile and a half a day and by the end I was walking eight miles a day and I can’t believe how my health and breathing has dramatically improved. It’s turned me into a different person.”

Addressing a gathering of supporters in the memorial gardens, Event organiser and member of the walking team, Terry Boardman, said: “When David set off on this journey some people said ‘David is not going to make it’ but those who know David know he doesn’t give up and fair play to him, he made it.”

Cllr Powell added: “It felt a bit like being a soldier again. I had all the aches and pains you feel getting up at the crack of dawn and meeting up with my fello comrades who have walked with me. We’ve laughed, we’ve talked and

it’s been most uplifting for me to be with these guys.”

The mayor, who was recently appointed president of Horley’s branch of the Royal British Legion, was trying to garner support to raise cash to repair Horley’s Royal British Legion’s headquarters – based at The Earl Haig Sports and Social Club - in Albert Road after it was gutted by fire in May.