Friends take on land and sea challenge for hospice

Two friends in their 70s are travelling from Devon to West Sussex to raise money for a hospice, with one walking and the other rowing.

Ross Fisher and Glenn Powell, both 78, set off from Plymouth on Wednesday morning in a bid to raise £10,000 for St Wilfrid's Hospice in Chichester, which looked after Powell's late wife, Mary.

Fisher left in his 60-year-old 12ft (3.7m) fishing boat, which he is hoping will get him to the pair's hometown of Felpham in less than two weeks. Powell also set off on his 200-mile (322km) trek with the plan to meet at Felpham Sailing Club.

"It is not a race really. We have both just got to get back to Felpham safely," Fisher said.

The pair dubbed the challenge Drake to Blake as Elizabethan sailor and navigator Sir Francis Drake served as Plymouth's mayor and MP, while William Blake wrote Jerusalem in Felpham.

In 2025, Powell also walked the Camino Frances in Spain and Fisher rowed from Westminster to Felpham.

Fisher, a former commercial fisherman, said whether he could row faster than Powell could walk depended on weather conditions.

"There might be days when I stay on the beach because it's too windy," he explained.

Once he finishes the walk, Powell is planning to get a tattoo on his ankle to commemorate the challenge.

"The hardest bit for me is I'm going to be camping along the way," he said.

"So that's not easy, because it's not quite the same as turning up at a £150-a-night B&B."

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