Psychology teacher Sue Minton chose an unusual way to mark her 60th birthday this Easter – she embarked on a fifty mile walk along the Great Wall of China and raised £1500 in support of the charity Practical Action. Many staff and girls will remember former business studies teacher Catherine Murphy, who now works with Practical Action. Here's Mrs Minton's account of her trek:

During the first week of April I completed a 50 mile trek along parts of the Great Wall of China, with China on one side of the Wall and Mongolia on the other.  Nineteen people took part in the trek, all walking for different charities, and we walked for five days.  It was very demanding!

For four days we walked in glorious sunshine but on one day we were suddenly caught in a blizzard.  We were trekking along the challenging Jinshanling - Simatai stretch, which consists mainly of steep flights of stairs separating thirty towers.  The snow really started to come down around halfway, when it was too late to turn back, and it made the steps very treacherous.  A Chinese lady who was trying to sell us postcards held my hand and together we made it to safety. The steps were very uneven, in some places crumbling, and very steep. 

snow time!

about to ascend 455 Heavenly Steps

Our trek finished at the top of the Heavenly Ladder near Mutianyu, which consists of 455 steps.  Some of us celebrated our success a couple of days later by cycling nine miles round the cobbled city walls of Xian (clearly we are barmy!).