Fenland road safety campaigner Graham Chappell finishes 360-mile charity cycle ride

The campaigner arrived at Lands End at the weekend in the final stage of a journey which saw him cycle a staggering 360 miles in just seven days.

Graham’s marathon effort from Tipps End to Lands End was to raise money for his Charlotte’s Way safety campaign, which bids to get barriers installed along the Sixteen Foot Drain near Bedlam Bridge.

Nine year-old Charlotte Walker died almost three years ago in the freezing waters of the drain, after the car she was travelling in left the road. Graham, a friend of Charlotte’s parents Andy and Lynn, set up the charity following her death.

“I just felt I got stronger as the whole journey progressed,” said Graham. “It’s just amazing what you can do sometimes when you really put your mind, heart and soul into achieving something.”

Graham cycled through Oxford, Swindon, Calne and Trowbridge, Wiltshire, Taunton, Devon and Cornwall during the epic journey.

He was joined, for large parts of the trip, by his son Morgan, 11, and his father Tony, who drove alongside him to offer their support.

“Their help was invalubale,” he said. “Especially on day five when steep hills and descents left me cycling well after dark in dangerous conditions that would have taken a lot longer without their headlights to show the way much better than my cycle lights were able.”

The cyclist is well on the way to raising the �1,400 target for the trip. This would help reach a campaign total of �4,000 - half the money needed to carry out the safety work, according to a quote from an independent safety barrier company.

He said: “I just need to get on my bike again and collect all the sponsorship that has been promised so far, in good time for the Roads Minister’s visit to find out more about the waterway roads issues here, in January next year.”

If anyone would like to make a donation, or find out more about Graham’s road safety campaign, they can contact him on 07505726475 or at chappell@frsc.co.uk