Soldiers walk 500 miles to Scarboro' Castle

The Yorkshire Regiment 2ND Battalion 2 Yorks are all smiles as they converge on Scarborough Castle after their challenging walk across Yorkshire. Pic Richard Ponter 1612121a

Troops from Corunna Company, 2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment, walked through every National Park and Area of Outstanding Beauty in the North.

The team of 40 soldiers established the longest unbroken route in the North – and hope it will become a nationally recognised trail akin to the Pennine Way.

The expedition, dubbed the Grand Tour of the North, has seen them cover on average a marathon a day through Yorkshire, Lancashire and Northumberland.

The Catterick-based soldiers took on the challenge to reacquaint themselves with the North after time away serving in Cyprus.

Officer Commanding Corunna Company, Major James Ashworth, said: “We have covered about 512 miles in some of the most beautiful and challenging landscape Britain has to offer.

“The company have taken in some of the scenic highlights of the North and hopefully this will become a nationally recognised trail akin to the Pennine Way.”

The troops broke the distance down into three legs – with a different platoon covering each leg over 17 days.

They started at Lindisfarne and took in the Pennines, the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales and the Yorkshire Moors.

The last 10 soldiers were cheered on by their comrades as they crossed the finish line at Scarborough Castle.

Lance Corporal John Merritt, 29, from Leeds, walked the final seven days of the tour.

He said: “My legs are sore now and I’m looking forward to having a good sit down.”