The Black Country Canal Challenge

Kate and Hamish walking for MS, memory and mental health

The Black Country Canal Challenge is a long-term fundraising walk to explore and complete the (walkable) canal towpaths across the Black Country boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton, ticking off every stretch of canal and every lock along the way.

Alongside my best friend, Hamish the Springer Spaniel, I’ll be spending plenty of time dahn the cut, raising money for the MS Society, Alzheimer’s Society and Black Country Brighter Lives – the charity of Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, where I work.

Living with Multiple Sclerosis means pain and uncertainty is part of my everyday life. Some days I manage OK and can keep moving forward, while on other days just getting through the day can be a challenge. This challenge isn’t about speed, distance, or breaking records. It’s about perseverance, doing what I can when I can, and accepting that some days will be harder than others. That’s also why there isn’t a short deadline attached to it. 

The charities behind this challenge are all close to my heart. I live with Multiple Sclerosis myself, and on diagnosis and in the intervening years, the MS Society has been so supportive. They also fund life-changing research into multiple sclerosis, helping to improve treatments, support those living with the condition, and work towards a future where no one has to face MS.

We are supporting my mom-in-law, Kath, who is living with Alzheimer’s. Dementia has touched our family before too, as my lovely grandmother also lived with the condition. Watching people you love gradually lose memories, confidence and parts of themselves is incredibly difficult, and it has shown us how much dementia affects entire families, not just the person diagnosed.

Working within Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust – the lead provider of mental health, learning disability and autism services across the Black Country - has shown me the difference that good support can make in people’s lives and in communities. Supporting their charity Black Country Brighter Lives is my way of giving something back to our bostin Black Country. The charity funds a wide range of projects like our dementia choir, gardening projects, sensory equipment and therapeutic activities on wards.

Walking with Hamish has become an important part of looking after my own mental health. Being out on the towpaths, close to nature and away from the noise of everyday life, gives me space to think, breathe and reset. Some days the walking comes easily; some days it doesn’t. Either way, we’ll keep going.

Along the way I’ll be sharing photos, reflections and the occasional bit of poetry inspired by the canals, locks, bridges and hidden corners that make the Black Country such a special place and one I’m proud to call home. I really do love this place.

This challenge is about more than miles walked. It’s about resilience, community, memory, mental health and finding strength in the places and people around us.

If you’re able to support us, any donation – no matter how small – will make a real difference to these charities. And if you can’t donate, sharing the challenge would mean just as much.

Let’s get real. I’m terrified, and wondering if this is all a bit too much for an overweight, middle-aged, menopausal woman with MS. Having experienced quite a bit of bereavement in life and recently, I’m grateful to be here, so want to put my wobbly legs to good use while I still can.

Thank you for following our journey. Read our blog: www.bostinbab.co.uk.
Kate and Hamish

#BlackCountryCanalChallenge
#KateAndHamishOnTheCut

The challenge
Walk every mile of walkable towpath across the Black Country boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton.

The Black Country Canals Strategy estimates that the canal network covers over 110 miles of canals and around 63 locks. Not all of the 110 miles will be walkable. My aim is to walk every accessible stretch of towpath, tracking the miles completed and the locks we pass along the way. Where a section isn’t currently walkable, I’ll make a note of it and see if there’s another way to complete that part of the route.

As I set out on this challenge I’ll still be working some of this out, but I’m armed with some good old canal and OS maps and enthusiasm! If there are any canal enthusiasts who’d like to help me map it, please get in touch! 

I’ll be sharing updates throughout the challenge so you can follow our progress. Each lock will get its own “Lock Note” – featuring a photo, a few thoughts or a short poem inspired by the walk, and perhaps even a rating from Hamish, who I’m sure will have opinions on the quality of the sniffs, squirrels and scenery.

Wish us luck.

Charities
https://www.mssociety.org.uk
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk
https://www.blackcountryhealthcare.nhs.uk/support-our-charity