MAGNA CARTA WALK IN MEMORY OF VAL BLAKE

My wife Val died on 25 November 2024 aged 80. I had the privilege of being her husband for 36 years and we had many adventures together. We spent the last 18 years in Clare where the adventures continued. Val was the first female driver of the CLASP minibus in 2007, becoming secretary of CLASP shortly thereafter. She volunteered for the National Trust at Melford Hall and was a strong supporter of the WI in Clare. Aside from that, she was the rock on which I built involvement with Stour Valley Community School, Clare Castle Country Park and other community activities. My MBE really belongs to her.

One of the things we did was get involved with walking in Clare. We were founder members of the nordic walking classes in 2015 and I became chairman of the newly-formed Clare Walkers in 2016. Val was so supportive, coming on many of the walks and fund/profile raising events, including attending Walkers are Welcome national events.

Sadly, she became unwell in 2022 and this curtailed her activities but her support for Clare Walkers never wavered. Val suffered three strokes last year and the last one was fatal. We were helped during this time by Suffolk Family Carers (www.suffolkfamilycarers.org) which provided outstanding practical and emotional support when it was most needed. I hope you feel able to support this brilliant organisation by walking with me, and/or sponsoring me, on this 8 1/2 mile “Magna Carta” walk from Castle Hedingham to Clare* in Val’s memory. Fittingly, 15 June this year is the 810th anniversary of Magna Carta, and the 10th anniversary of our inaugural Magna Carta walk.

Many thanks

Derek Blake

(*The significance of the two towns is that they provided 3 of the 25 barons who forced King John to seal Magna Carta).