This has proven to be the most difficult section of the site to create so far, and mainly because of the rather important question of why.  But here's what we're doing.

We are Marcus and James, two seventeen year olds from Farnborough and Farnham.  We've known each other quite a while, and have decided to take a gap year in 2009/10.

During this gap year, we will be walking from John O Groats in North East Scotland, to Land's End in South West Cornwall.That's a total distance of about 1100 miles.  We're also going to be taking a fridge.  Each.  All of this insanity will be in aid of the Alzheimers society, who are a fantastic charity. This insanity will be starting on the 23rd of July 2009, and be continuing for five months.  It is a long way after all.

Feel free to have a look around the site, and please please please consider donating any amount of money.  It'll really make a difference to somebody who really needs it.  And hey, then you can say "I've given some money to some guys walking the length of Britain with a fridge!".  How many people can say that eh?

 Here is a short version of events if you happen to be pushed for time, or hate reading:

It all started way back when the comedian Tony Hawks  hitch-hiked around Ireland with a fridge for a bet.  After his epic journey he went on to write a book on the matter, and by complete coicidence it was bought up in an assembly that James went to about optimism.  Again, as a matter of chance the book was bought up in conversation, and I bought it.  I read it, and gave it to James for him to read.  Beginning as a joke, the whole concept of "Fridge Hiking" grew and grew into something far more serious, and before long we were seriously considering it.
Over years, the idea grew and changed, but the whole concept of fridge hiking stayed with us until this very day.  Somehow it seemed to just fit with our plans and hopes, and so we seized it with both hands.  And here we are today, a year away from the walk itself.  My it's going to be fun.

 And here is a much longer, more detailed version of the extraordinary events that lead two "average" guys to embark on such an idea:

When explaining the odd nature of what we're doing, we have been asked countless times the inevitable question - "Why a fridge?”  It's a good question, why should we take a fridge?  Alzheimers has nothing to do with fridges.  Walking has nothing to do with fridges.  Fridges are possibly the most abstract thing to be taking on an eleven hundred mile walk for charity.  It's almost impossible to explain why we're taking a fridge (each) in a clear, concise way, but here is an attempt at doing so, along with an explanation as to how it all began.

It would seem that the great fridge adventure will have been spawned almost entirely by a string of coincidences. The first coincidence occurred for a man named Tony Hawks (Not the skater). And, coincidentally this would create many more coincidences that would ultimately lead to me being sat here right now writing this “How it all began” section on our website. Let me explain…

It was back in the late 1990’s that Tony Hawks was on a trip to Ireland. I won’t go into great depth as to why he was there (I would sincerely suggest you read his book entitled Round Ireland with a Fridge) but whilst in this country he noticed something very odd. Whilst being driven along one of the many bumpy Irish roads he noticed a hitch-hiker standing by the side of the road. Not particularly unusual you might say… What made this man stand out was the fact that by his side was nothing more or less than a household refrigerator. Tony asked his driver, “Kieran, was that man hitching with a fridge?”

“Oh yeah” he had replied, without a slight note of surprise in his voice.

That was the first major coincidence. The second major coincidence occurred when, in a drunken state, Tony had mentioned the “fridge man” to a friend; something that he had completely forgotten about in his sober mind. Upon waking up after this night Tony found a note by his bedside. “I hereby bet Tony Hawks the sum of one hundred pounds that he cannot hitch-hike round the circumference of Ireland, with a fridge, within one calendar month.”

Most normal people would have never even considered actually trying to win this bet, but Tony did, and achieved it. He wrote a book on all the adventures that had occurred and all the friendliness that he had received as a direct result of his fridge. The next, and perhaps most important set of coincidences were about to occur…

I have to say that although I do generally follow the rules, I have been known to flout the odd “unnecessary one” from time to time. This includes that fact that I hardly ever went to assemblies. Needless to say I’m very glad I attended the one that just happened to bring up Tony hawks and his book…

 Mr. Spare, the Head of (All Hallows) Sixth form was taking the assembly. The theme was that if we put our minds to something, then anything is possible. He brought up Tony Hawks and his adventure around Ireland using the fact that his sheer determination (and in our opinion sheer silliness) had managed to help him achieve his goal.

Had the assembly not been about Tony and his fridge travels, and had I not been there, then none of this would have happened. Who knows what either of us would be planning? One things for sure, I am extremely thankful that, coincidentally, one of the only assemblies I’d attended that year was that one!

So, continuing the story (almost there!) I told Marcus about this assembly that had happened. He seemed as intrigued as I was and bought the book on Amazon for a ridiculously small amount of money. He read the book; and so did I. One day he was round my house and for some reason or other, gap years was the subject of conversation. It was at this point that the two kind of clicked together.

We cannot remember who brought up the idea of doing something fridge related as a charity event in our gap year. I think we suggested going round Ireland with one first, but it just seemed too copycat of what Tony had done. Furthermore, instead of hitching, we both enjoyed walking, and decided that we should do that. This is where the John O Groats to Lands End idea seemed to just “click” everything into place. Of course! It was so perfect; and as far as we knew no one had ever walked any particular distance with a fridge.

It started as more of a joke to be honest, but as time went on, and we thought about it, it seemed to make more and more sense (this wouldn’t make any sense at all to 99.9% of the population!) Soon we were planning routes, reading books on the 1,100 walk itself, and talking about it non-stop!

Marcus went away to Europe for a month in the summer holidays and it was when he got back that things started to rapidly start moving. We both knew that it was a perfect thing to do. Before we knew it we had the fridges (we’d decided we would need two because of the fact that we wouldn’t be able to part with it at the end!) and we were going out on “training walks.” The reactions from people on just these short walks were exactly the same kind that Tony had experienced in Ireland. People whom would have probably walked on by without a word, stop to ask the inevitable question “Why are you taking those two fridges for a walk?” People are friendly, and the fridges seem to, for some reason, bring this out in people.

One thing's for sure: this will be a trip of a lifetime and we owe our thanks to a lot of luck, coincidences, and people for making this possible. Obviously our primary aim is to raise money for charity and this shouldn't be forgotten. However, as anyone who knows us will be able to tell, we are extremely odd, and we will enjoy it!