Despite his new slimline look, he’s still got a big booming voice.
Author: admin
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2025 LDWA 100 – Starting the Set Off
Katie giving the welcome speech at the beginning of the event.
Richard taking a selfie now he’s lost weight.
Susanna.
Phoebe, the LDWA President, saying a few words.
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2025 LDWA 100 – Rob and Łukasz Arrive
Rob arrives at HQ, with Ken and Isobel helping him register.
Łukasz….
He’s hoping for a record time. We had a training session with pizza and beer on Monday night, so he’s well prepared.
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2025 LDWA 100 – Getting Busier at Registration
Susanna helping in the breakfast area, lots of hot drinks and toast available for the over 500 entrants.
The set up arrangement for the bag drop.
There’s Peter in the middle, he’s always pleased to see me, it reassures him.
Everyone has been saying how thin Richard is, he likes the attention, but he deserves it after his massive weight loss. Mind you, it’s all uphill weight wise now.
Madeleine, our marvellous national chair.
A side view of the registration excitement.
After registration, entrants then get their tracker.
Jane and Sara helping with the tracker placement.
String!!!!
Entrants then scan here and their bag is taken to the breakfast stop. It’s a huge transportation effort moving 500 bags to the mid-way point.
Michael at the start on car park duty.
Richard is briefly allowed into the control room.
Patman (he likes this name) busy doing the PAT testing.
Jon and Simon at the helm of the control room.
Now it’s busier.
Still only half the entrants here though. The main start is at 10:00, but there are other start times of 12:00 and 14:00.
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2025 LDWA 100 – It’s All Happening Now!
And the registration process starts! Here’s Heather at the welcome desk.
The registration team in action.
Peaceful at the moment.
Simon and David from the media team.
Interviewing a first time entrant.
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2025 LDWA 100 – Sneak Peek at the Registration Arrangement
Richard playing with Flora, the mannequin which is used to display Flower of Suffolk merchandise…
I didn’t get involved….
I left them to have a quiet moment.
In just over twelve hours, there will be over 500 people registering for their big walk.
And if your surname is M to R this will be the check-in…
Merchandising at the event and we’ll no doubt get plenty of sales after everyone sees the marvellous job that Richard has done with Flora.
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2025 LDWA 100 – Drive to Ipswich
This feels like some floral tribute to the God of the roads to ensure that Richard gets us safely to our destination, but it’s actually part of the Flora arrangement (on which more later).
Oops.
The new healthy Richard.
This is Flora and the new lightweight Richard after his diet, which is still an amazing result which has surprised many people….. We’re now here to help at HQ, although I wonder just how much help I’ll actually be. But I’ll take some photos of something.
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2025 LDWA 100 – Main Event
This riveting blog will now be entirely focused over the next few days on the LDWA 100 which is being held in Norfolk and Suffolk, or, more specifically, Suffolk. Just as a background to the amount of planning that has taken place for this weekend, this is the application that I made to the NEC on behalf of Norfolk & Suffolk LDWA to hold the event, signed all the way back on 20 March 2021. I remember the support given by David Morgan and Alan Warrington and it’s the first time that the event has been held in East Anglia. I wrote about the marshals’ event that was held three weekends ago, on the first Bank Holiday of May, and the whole event seemed a marvellous success which bodes well for this weekend. Anyway, let the excitement begin…..
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Foulsham – Holy Innocents Church (Grave of William Mays 1720-1805, Mary Mays 1733-1797 and Ellen Colville)
This is the ledger stone of William Mays (1720-1805) at Holy Innocents Church in Foulsham. There are a collection of these stones in the church from this date, but that’s perhaps likely as a huge fire in 1770 gutted much of the interior and so many older ones might have been badly damaged.
William was baptised in the church in Swanton Morley on 8 March 1720, the son of John Mays and Margaret Mays and he married Mary (nee Brown) in Thurgarton, Norfolk on 25 April 1756.
William died on 16 January 1805 and he was buried on 21 January 1805, his wife Mary having died on 8 June 1797. The name of their daughter has been completely mauled about on the grave, it’s Ellen Colville and it’s quite clear in the church records.
This is another instance where I suspect I’ll find out more at some point in the future, but as there are no newspaper articles about him and he pre-dates the census, there’s not much more of excitement that I can find at the moment.
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Foulsham – Holy Innocents Church (War Grave of James Austin Armour)
This is the Commonwealth war grave of James Austin Armour located in the churchyard of Holy Innocents Church in Foulsham.
James was born in 1922, the son of William Robert Armour and Dorothea Armour, who was a Corporal in the RAF (service number 573750). He was educated at Hamond’s Grammar School in Swaffham and he had joined the RAF as an apprentice in August 1938.
James died at King’s Lynn hospital on 1 October 1947 and he was buried on 6 October 1947. He received a war grave from the Second World War shortly before the official end date of 31 December 1947, so this must be one of the last ones issued.
The death wasn’t directly war related, the Lynn Advertiser reported on 3 October 1947
“Motor-cycling fatalities
The second fatal motor-cycling accident in West Norfolk this week involved Corporal James Austin Armour (25), R.A.F., of Foulsham. He was involved in a collision on Wednesday near Modney Bridge, Hilgay, with a motor-car driven by Mr. A. W. Underwood, 3 Crown-lane, Littleport.
Dr. W. J. Tavendale (Downham) attended Corporal Armour, who was removed to Lynn Hospital by the Downham motor-ambulance. He had been stationed at Oakington, Cambridgeshire. The first fatality involved Percy Hewitt (27), Freebridge-terrace, Middleton, who died in Lynn Hospital on Monday.”
The probate issued in 1948 showed that he had assets of £127 which went to his mother. His parents are also listed on the war grave, his father died on 2 June 1932 at the age of 42 and his mother died on 16 February 1966 at the age of 74. This must have been a very difficult time for his mother given the early death of her husband, then seeing her son survive the Second World War before dying in a motorcycle accident.
