James Fryer is a Derbyshire man of a mere fifty six years young with two adult children, Elizabeth and William. He has spent his entire working life in property, initially as a developer and latterly a letting agent. His grand plan was to retire at fifty five but with just four years to go a freak accident made him re evaluate his priorities.


In 2005, whilst on holiday with the family, James broke his back when he came off a jet ski. The holiday was cut short and as the family headed home, James was left to recover in a Miami hospital. During his confinement James befriended the patient in the next bed and one of their conversations centred on retirement and how much one would need to retire on. The other patient said as long as you have enough money to invite your friends round for pizzas and a few beers – how much more do you need?

James had a lot of horizontal time to think about this statement and decided the chap really did have a very good point!

When James returned to the UK he promptly wound up his business interests and retired and after a long rehabilitation process he managed to get back to living a normal life.

Part of James’s road to recover involved walking and it was at this point he began to nurture the idea of a fund raising challenge focusing on three charities that have significance in his life.

It didn’t take long for James to realise that only one walk ticked all the boxes for personal achievement and public interest, John O Groats to Lands End.
Despite this walk having been done in many different guises, 950 miles on foot, unaided, is 950 miles on foot, a very long way, no matter who walks it!

Traditionally, most people who attempt this walk, start from Lands End and finish at John O’Groats. The Highlands of Scotland are very mountainous and it is considered wise to walk yourself fit before you reach them. However, James has spent many years in Scotland and is very comfortable in those surroundings.
Plus there is the physiological aspect of starting at John O’Groats and heading south, it’s downhill all the way!

James starts his challenge on the 17th of April from John O’Groats and hopes to arrive at Lands End some eight to ten weeks later. To achieve this time scale he will need to average between fifteen to twenty miles a day. James is funding his own trip thus all money raised goes directly to hid chosen charities. He has set a target of £15,000 and anyone can sponsor him.