"I’ll get there on one leg": Derbyshire police chief endures hellish 250-mile hike home for Dementia UK

Chief Superintendent Dave Kirby, who commands the county’s northern division, set off from Lymington Pier near Southampton on Wednesday, June 4, with a plan to arrive back at his local pub, the Pickled Pear in Palterton, on Saturday, June 14.

Most route planners advise taking 17 days for the journey, and Dave is travelling entirely solo and carrying everything he needs to camp overnight – so it is a tall order and one that has taken many twists, turns and “sense of humour failures.”

Speaking from just north of Rugby, the father-of-two said: “I’ve just finished four days of more than 30 miles each, one was 35 through storms. I’ve seen torrential rain for hours on end with everything water-logged, and right now it’s 22 degrees and blazing sun.

“I’ve had blisters, a back injury, and last night I picked up a shin problem that’s left me lame. I’m using sticks to support my weight, but thankfully I frontloaded all the mileage so I’ve only about 72 left to go. I’ll get there even if it’s on one leg.”

Dave, 48, is no stranger to feats of endurance, having completed an eight-day Coast to Coast trek and a hike home from Scotland in the past two summers, raising around £7,000 for the charity so far under the banner ‘Chonky But Determined.’

He said: “This is definitely tougher. The previous two were on national trails where there was always more support around for walkers. This is very different, plus I’m going faster.

“The first part was through the New Forest National Park, then it was on to the military training grounds around Salisbury, but a lot of the byways I’ve been on are not so well used. There have been huge stretches when I saw nobody at all.

“I planned the route but you can’t rehearse all of it, so there have been some surprising moments too when the footpath just disappears and you have to decide whether to backtrack a couple of miles or push through an overgrown thicket of brambles and nettles while trying not to trespass. I’m still pulling thorns out of my skin today.

“Plus there are sodding cows everywhere. I’ve got a bit of a phobia so there have been some shenanigans getting chased across farmland.”

He added: “The mental side has been harder than the physical – keeping your head straight while walking dawn to dusk. It’s difficult to keep a positive head space when you’re on your own.

“Thankfully I’ve met a lot of friendly, supportive people who’ve seen my t-shirt and stopped me to ask about what I’m doing. Some have shared their experiences of dementia, or the suffering of loves ones.

“That’s ultimately what it’s all for – to raise awareness of the charity’s work for families who don’t have the support they need, and research which means fewer might have to go through it in future.

“Yesterday it took me half an hour to do the last half mile because of my leg. I got to my campsite in the dark, set up and charged my phone. To see all the new messages and donations from friends, colleagues and people I’ve met along the the way was just incredible. I was moved to tears, and that keeps me going.”

Dementia stalked into Dave’s life with his dad, Eric, a former college principal who is now in his mid-80s and in full-time care for both Alzheimer’s and the vascular form of the disease.

Dave said: “He was an incredibly intelligent man, charismatic and witty and very generous in spirit. He could command any room. To see all that taken away gradually, then more quickly, is just devastating. People say with dementia that you lose the person twice, but I think it happens multiple times.

“You see it coming on initially and hope they’re just being a bit doddery as they get older. Then you get the diagnosis and you know they’re going to leave you. My dad still recognises his wife – my step-mum Elaine – but that’s it.

“She looked after him at home until he went into care. Dementia UK weren’t called upon to help us, but they are there to help others.

“Between the mild symptom stage and full-time care, there’s a big gap in services. People in between are not really catered for with the systems as they are.”

He added: “Now when I go to visit him there are people there who are much, much younger and in a similar condition. That’s another reason I’m trying to raise money – for better prevention and more understanding.”

Before the end of the week, Dave’s journey will have skirted Leicester, Melton Mowbray, Nottingham and Mansfield, and if all goes to plan a welcome party will greet him at the pub around 1pm on Saturday.

He said: “I’m looking forward to seeing my family and friends, and I’m absolutely confident the landlord will be stood outside with a pint in his hand.”

For more details and donations, go to justgiving.com/page/chonkybutdetermined.

To follow Dave’s journey, find ‘Chonky But Determined’ on Facebook and Instagram.

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