National Three Peaks Challenge - Completed It!

At 5am on Saturday 30^th May, nine intrepid walkers set out from the Ben Nevis Visitors Centre in Fort William. The challenge was to climb the three highest peaks in the UK in under 24 hours to raise money for Brain Tumour Research. The mighty Oakbank team aka Barringer's Army, would climb over 3,000 metres, do 25 miles worth of walking, travel over 1,500 miles and, throughout this endeavour, would be surrounded by great people. All of this was in memory of our dear friend and colleague Henry Barringer, who passed away in 2024 after a brave fight against this devastating disease.

We have raised over £11,000 for the cause so far, and that's before adding the Gift Aid!

The day dawned slightly gloomy and a little rainy, but thankfully cool following the heatwave we had been experiencing down in East Anglia a few days before.  So aided by plenty of pesky Scottish Midges off the walkers set!  Five hours and nine and a half miles later, after being greeted by snow on the summit, Ben Nevis was conquered!  So, fuelled by pastries, fresh fruit and obligatory cups of tea, off to the Lake District we went. One down, two to go!

After making good time driving south, Scafell Pike came into view, bathed in lovely late afternoon sunshine, which stayed with our walkers for the next few hours, the summit loomed providing spectacular rainbows and views.  Three hours and five miles from setting off, Scafell was mastered!

Next up, after a very windy and rainy drive down the M6 and across into Wales, Yr Wyddfa (or Snowdon to the rest of us) loomed at 12.45am. Well, we assumed it did as one, it was dark and two, visibility was only a couple of metres!  However, this did not deter our brave walkers - 24 hours was to be beaten! Aided by GPS, they headed off into the night.  At 4.40am on Sunday 31^st May as sunrise was peeping through, after battling through the wind and horizontal rain, our walkers arrived back in Llanberis to much celebration.

In 23 hours and 40 minutes, after perpetuating every season the UK has to offer, blisters, aches and pains aplenty - the National Three Peaks Challenge was smashed in true Oakbank Style!

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our two drivers Bob Barringer and Harold Makant, without whom our team could not have completed this feat, in such good time; and of course, everyone who has supported and sponsored us and made this challenge so successful - the influx of sponsorship and messages of encouragement and support kept us going throughout, especially when we arrived at Snowdon!

If you haven’t already, please consider donating to this fantastic cause, so that no one else has to ever go through, what Henry endured.

What a beautiful place the UK is, and we are all lucky enough to call it home!