TWO neighbours from Newent have raised more than £5,000 for two cancer charities after completing a 1,000 mile walk.

Jan Allan and Ruth Wadley, of Cliffords Mesne, set out on the Pilgrim's Trail charity walk to raise funds for Marie Curie Cancer Care and Prostate Cancer UK.

The pair set off from Le Puy en Velay in the middle of France on April 27 before embarking on a trek along one of oldest recorded pilgrim routes to Santiago de Compostela in north west Spain, which they reached on July 2.

Jan said: "It was such a fantastic experience and the views were breathtaking. We have been training hard since last October and were going out two to three times a week. After Christmas we stepped our training up a gear and was carrying 8.5kg backpacks to get used to the feel of carrying kit.

"It has been an ambition of mine for many years to complete this walk for lots of reasons. Both Ruth and I are experienced walkers and coincidentally, Ruth mentioned one day about this walk and said she didn't complete the full 1,000 miles but wanted to, so we just said shall we do it.

"We had torrential and persistent rain and snow as we were going through France and the extenuating circumstances meant we had to change our boots about 500 miles into the walk.

"Along the way we stayed in youth hostels for old people and the biggest challenge was trying to dry our clothes overnight. The awful weather almost became part of the norm in the end and even when we reached Spain it wasn't any better – but this didn't dampen our spirits. Then the last three weeks of the trip was glorious sunshine every day. It was a wonderful feeling."

Further donations can be made on http://www.virgin">www.virgin

moneygiving.com/team/janandruthwalking2