Zipping to new heights!
When 87 year old Val Smith signed up for a weekend away with her friends in Trefoil Guild, she was expecting a couple of days of friendship, chat and maybe some crafting. She didn't expect to be hurtling down a zipwire!
Walking slowly, leaning heavily on her walking stick, she made her way to the high platform that marked the start of the zipwire, then to cheers of encouragement she strapped herself onto the wire, threw away her stick, and pushed herself off. The instructors at the Activity Centre we were attending believe she is the oldest person yet to use this equipment. She did, of course, land safely. Assisted by an instructor and several Trefoil friends, she was able to get upright again, while someone ran to fetch her stick.
Val, a resident of Yaxley, is not new to adventure. From the age of 18 she engaged in husbandry of horses, running stables and teaching people to ride. She was a Guide Guider for over forty years, and still assists occasionally with her local unit. Her specialism was pioneering, and she has taught generations of Brownies, Guides and Rangers to build and use items such as swings and giant catapults using only long poles and rope.
For her 70th birthday she took on 70 challenges. These included gliding, flying the biggest kite in the county, swimming the distance of the English Channel, off roading in a land rover and driving a vintage tractor.
She once got into trouble when helping at a Guide Camp – when the security cameras at Mepal Outdoor Centre came on at midnight, it was not intruders. It was Val and another adult helper who had got up at midnight to use the loo and could not resist having a play on the equipment!
Val thought that at her advanced age her days of adventure were over, but she was unable to resist the lure of the zipwire, something she has not tried before.
Congratulations Val!
Debbie Trafford
Cambridgeshire West Trefoil Guild