In the last couple of days I’ve discovered that we had a very important guest staying in The Stables over the weekend 10th to 12th September 2010! Jo booked just 5 days before arrival, saying that she was walking in the Pyrenees the following week and her mum felt that she hadn’t done enough walking in preparation. She arrived with her mum and 2 daughters at about 9.30pm on the Friday after a particularly slow drive from Sussex. They walked on Saturday, and then packed up to go on Sunday, with plans to walk first, before driving home again.
When our housekeepers cleaned the Stables on Monday, they found a couple of things that one of the daughters had left behind. I emailed to ask if they wanted them returned. They did, so I emailed back saying I’d post the parcel in the next couple of days, and wishing Jo well with the walk. She emailed to thank me for our good wishes, and gave me the link to the website about the walk.
What a surprise I got!! Jo is Jo Salter, the RAF’s first ever female fighter pilot, an author and an inspirational speaker. I remember hearing about the first ever female fighter pilot .. and here she was, staying in our cottage.
Not only that, but the walk is a high profile expedition in the Pyrenees, tracing the journey of Nancy Wake, who helped thousands of Servicemen escape across the Pyrenees to freedom. She was the Gestapo’s most wanted and she escaped to freedom herself in 1943.
In support of The Royal British Legion the expedition will emulate Nancy’s escape. The team consists of 7 extraordinary women including Jo, and led by Suzanne Dando. Suzanne is Former British Gymnastics champion, Captain of the Moscow Olympics Gymnastics Team and television broadcaster. They wil cross one of the hardest wartime escape routes – Le Chemin De La Liberte (‘Freedom of Trail’).
For more information, or to support their cause, the website is https://www.bmycharity.com/V2/remembranceexpedition.
We at Holestone Moor Barns holiday cottages wish them well, and look forward to hearing about the expedition.
Jo is second from the left in the photograph:
