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Hans J
Marter
7 July, 2009
 A
woman from Plymouth has just embarked on an epic journey which will
take her from Shetland to the English border on her beloved
skateboard.
Laura Hatwell is already a distinguished long distance skateboarder,
but this trip from the far north to Berwick will set new standards
as the first time ever a female skateboarder has attempted a 700
mile journey on her own.
Yesterday (Monday) the 27 year old could be seen making her way
north on the main A970 between Tingwall and Voe.
But the trip is more than a sporting challenge as she is raising
funds for the charity Help for Heroes, which supports those who have
been wounded in Britain’s military conflicts.
Laura said: “I do this in honour of a friend of a friend who was
killed in Afghanistan in January this year.
“Seeing the hurt that this caused not only to her, the families
involved, and the feeling it evoked from the people of my home city,
Plymouth, I knew I had to do something,” she said.
 It
was her bright yellow safety vest with the Help for Heroes logo on
it that brought her to the attention of Gordon Williamson of
Herrislea House Hotel, in Tingwall, on Sunday evening.
When Gordon spotted her just outside the hotel, he asked her in and
offered her overnight accommodation free of charge.
He said the deaths of three servicemen over the last few days in
Afghanistan had brought the relevance of a charity like Help for
Heroes into focus, adding that his brother was currently serving in
Kabul. |
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Laura said that the
instantaneous help offered by Gordon reflected what she had
experienced in Shetland since she disembarked from the ferry on
Saturday morning.
Her journey on her top of the range Rayne longboard first took her
to the south end of the isles before taking the bus back into town
on Sunday.
She now hopes to reach Yell later today (Tuesday) before heading on
to Unst. She will then take the bus back to Lerwick before
continuing her skating in Orkney.
Laura used to work for the BBC in Plymouth but when she was offered
the chance to take part in a major skateboarding expedition in
Australia three years ago, she gave up her job and chose the
adventure instead.
Since then she has been to most continents skateboarding and is a
part of the international distant skateboarding scene which, she
said, “is a male dominated thing”.
Last year she set a woman’s world record when she skated 102 miles
in 12 hours on a flat track in Plymouth, adding that she could have
done 175 miles in 24 hours “had they let me”.
However, climbing Shetland’s hills is a different league, and Laura
is more than happy to acknowledge that the local terrain is slowing
her down considerably.
She has six weeks for the journey before starting teacher training
in September. She isn’t too bothered if she doesn’t make it all the
way to Berwick in that time, although she hopes to pick up more pace
once she is on the Scottish mainland.
“Shetland is having its way with me. It forces me to reassess my
goals. I knew it was going to be hilly, but not that hilly. It is a
bit of an ego-crusher,” she said the morning after having tackled
the hills coming out of Lerwick.
“It lays you bare and you have to start from scratch again. That’s
what I like about it; I want to feel that struggle,” she added.
And the traffic? Well, it is scary at times, no doubt, but with a
little respect shown from both sides it certainly is manageable.
“Please leave a lot of space between your car or truck and me on my
skateboard. Unlike a cyclist I can’t brake, I have to run off on to
the verge, if you are coming too close,” she said.
So far, the traffic on Shetland’s main roads has not been a problem,
she said, and praised local drivers for their courtesy.
Laura’s journey can be followed at
www.northseaskate.co.uk (that
is if she gets a chance to update her blog) and donations can be
made at
www.justgiving.com/northseaskate/
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