Goodbye dear, I'm off to wade over the Humber

by Nigel Bunyan

Telegraph.co.uk 23rd August 2005

A 6ft 9in businessman has become the first person in more than 1,000 years to wade across the Humber.

Before Graham Boanas stepped into the muddy waters the last person to successfully make the mile crossing on foot was probably a Roman.

Over the centuries many have tried to emulate the feat but all have failed. Mr Boanas succeeded by spread-eagling himself across treacherous mud banks and resisting the currents that threatened to carry him miles down the estuary and out to sea.

The walk took three hours and at one stage only his head could be seen above the muddy-brown water as he struggled through the most dangerous part of the channel. An inshore lifeboat shadowed him as he set off from Weighton Lock, near Broomfleet, on the north side.

His first obstacle was the 3ft deep mud banks close to the shoreline, and Mr Boanas negotiated these by lying down and edging head-first towards the water.

Watched by a crowd on the south bank, he eventually scrambled ashore and into the arms of his wife, Jan, near Whitton, North Lincolnshire, just down stream from the Trent.

Mr Boanas, who runs his own electrical firm in Hull, shed 3st while training for the walk. He also spent months pouring over river charts with former Humber pilots so that he could plan his route. He knew he had to keep up his momentum because the currents give only a few minutes' leeway in the channel.

"It's the most tiring thing I've done, but it was worth it,'' Mr Boanas said yesterday. "The final walk up the sand was very difficult but all these people were waiting for me. It was fantastic.''

He added: "I was covered in mud and wearing a survival suit, but it didn't stop people running up and congratulating me and even giving me money.''

The Romans are believed to have built a causeway a few miles downstream from where Mr Boanas made his crossing.

At that time that river was dominated by marshland and lacked the deep channels gouged out to let modern shipping pass.

Mr Boanas aims to raise £30,000 for DebRA UK, a charity that helps people with the genetic skin condition epidermolysis bulosa.

Humber crossing after 1,000 years

news.bbc.co.uk 22nd August 2005

A man has waded across the River Humber for what is believed to be the first time in more than 1,000 years.

Graham Boanas, 42, took nearly four hours to make his way through dangerous shipping channels, waist-deep mud and tidal currents to finish the crossing.

Mr Boanas, who is 6ft 9ins tall, had only his head and shoulders above the murky waters as he fought to cross the most treacherous part of the river.

He has raised more than £20,000 which will go to the charity DebRA.

Mr Boanas said: "It is the most tiring thing I have done but it was worth it."

After spending months working with experts to calculate split second timings for each section of the mile-wide crossing, he said there were only a few minutes when the tidal currents would allow him to cross the main channel.

This was after he had had to crawl spread-eagled and almost face down to negotiate 3ft deep mud banks.

Hundreds of supporters were waiting to cheer him on as he strode ashore triumphant near the village of Whitton, in North Lincolnshire.

"The final walk up the sand was very difficult but all these people were waiting for me," he said. "It was fantastic.
"I was covered in mud and wearing a survival suit but it didn't stop people running up and congratulating me and even giving me money.

"I couldn't believe it."

Mr Boanas said he decided to support DebRA UK after seeing a television report about epidermolysis bullosa (EB), an incurable condition which causes sufferers' skin to blister with the slightest friction.

"I am as fit as I have ever been and it was absolutely exhausting," he said.

"It was incredible how drained I was as I walked across that last bit of sand.

"I was just thinking about my family and the children who I was raising money for."

There are reports of the Romans fording the River Humber, but Mr Boanas said there are no records of anybody successfully completing the crossing in recent times.

HE WADE IT!

Scunthorpe Telegraph 22nd August 2005

Graham Boanas has become the first person in more than 50 years to successfully walk across the River Humber.

Physically dragging himself through thick, brown mud, he set foot on the south bank and was met with cheers from the 100-strong crowd which had gathered to watch his historic attempt. The crossing took place yesterday, at the time of one of the lowest tides of the year, and it took less than two hours to make land, just outside the small village of Whitton.

Labour peer Lord Noel Buxton was the last person to walk across the River Humber, back in 1953.

At the time, the walk - which took just over an hour - was described as a 'sensation' and deemed 'the greatest ever locally-staged event'.

Mr Boanas (42) needed every inch of his 6ft 9in frame to keep head and shoulders above the water level and as soon as he landed he said he was feeling 'emotional'.

The businessman, of Swanland, near Hull, was hoping to raise £25,000 for children's charity DebRA UK, which helps those who suffer from a rare, genetic skin blistering condition, epidermolysis bullosa (EB).

He said it was the thought of the children's pain which spurred him on through the last few muddy metres. "I was physically exhausted," he said.

"The children were the only thing driving me on, I was just thinking of the kids and the pain they go through everyday. I just had to battle on."

He added it had taken a mammoth effort to make it across. "I've never been so tired in my life, but it was not for me, it was for the children, suffering from EB."

The start of his walk was delayed because a helicopter, which was transporting him, could not land near to his starting point, Weighton Lock, near Broomfleet.

By 2.15pm the tide had dropped far enough for him to start wading through water channels, up to 4ft deep in parts, and exposed mudflats.

The historic effort was carried out under the watchful supervision of Humber Rescue and people were advised not to attempt such a feat without professional help.

Mr Boanas' brother-in-law, John Officer, said he had been a 'little bit nervous' before the attempt. "The thing is the heat," he said. "He's in a drysuit so he'll be hot and need to take on fluid."

MAN BEATS 1,000-YEAR RIVER CHALLENGE

By Ben Pindar, Community Newswire 22nd August 2005

ADVENTURE River Yorkshire,

A Yorkshire businessman has helped to raise more than £30,000 for charity after becoming the first person in more than 1,000 years to wade across the River Humber.

Graham Boanas, 42, needed split-second timing to beat the notorious tides as he fought his way through stinking, waist-deep mud and treacherous shipping channels to complete the feat.

There are reports of the Romans fording the Humber but he says there are no records of anyone else completing the crossing in modern times, despite a number of attempts.

Mr Boanas, who is 6ft 9in, had just his head and hands poking above the muddy brown water as he battled powerful currents to wade across the most dangerous part of the channel in aid of Debra UK.

At this point he had already negotiated the 3ft deep mud banks which he said could only be crossed by spread-eagling himself and crawling almost face down.

As he trudged ashore near the village of Whitton, in North-East Lincolnshire, to be greeted by hundreds of well-wishers and his wife, Jan, he confessed to being absolutely exhausted but elated.

Mr Boanas, who runs his own electrical firm in nearby Hull, said: "It is the most tiring thing I have done but it was worth it.

"The final walk up the sand was very difficult but all these people were waiting for me. It was fantastic.

"I was covered in mud and wearing a survival suit but it didn't stop people running up and congratulating me and even giving me money.

"We then went up to the Humber Bridge where there were loads more people. I couldn't believe it."

Mr Boanas said he had spent months with former River Humber pilots and other experts planning the exact timings for each section of mile-wide crossing.

He said there was a window of literally only a few minutes when the tidal currents would allow him to cross the main channel.

The businessman said: "I am as fit as I have ever been and it was absolutely exhausting. It was incredible how drained I was as I walked across that last bit of sand.

"I was just thinking about my family and about the children who I was raising money for."

Mr Boanas has already raised more than £25,000 but is aiming for £30,000 for the charity Debra UK, which works for people with the genetic skin condition epidermolysis bulosa (EB).

He said he decided to support the charity after seeing an item about the illness on breakfast TV.

For more information about the work of Debra UK or to make a donation visit the charity's website at www.debra.org.uk

 

Lone walker makes history crossing the muddy Humber

Alexandra Wood, Yorkshire Post 22nd August 2005

It was no pedestrian crossing for a Yorkshire river wader as another intrepid traveller took to the skies

EXHAUSTED, mud-splattered - but grinning broadly - Graham Boanas emerged triumphant from the River Humber yesterday, making history by becoming the first person in living memory, possibly since the Romans to cross the river on foot.

Plunging across mudflats, over an island, then forcing his way across torrents of water, the businessman from Hull succeeded where many others had fallen. Months of hard training, which saw him shed three stone in weight, had prepared the 42-year-old for yesterday's moment of truth.

Crowds waited four miles away at the Humber Bridge, while villagers from Whitton, in North Lincolnshire, took to the banks of the river, as, at just before 2pm a helicopter carried the 6ft 9in businessman to his drop-off point near Weighton Lock on the North bank. Trudging through mud he made it to Whitton Sand, a natural island that has built up over the centuries, a solitary figure in a specially-adapted drysuit, before making his way towards the fast-flowing Whitton Channel.

A white flare went up from a Humber Rescue inshore lifeboat, as he went in, deeper and deeper, his knees, then thighs, then chest, disappearing into what looked like liquid mud, his hands raised to the air as if in supplication. It was a Titanic struggle against a tide still ebbing at almost four miles an hour, and which carried him steadily eastwards, but just 20 minutes later he came ashore at Whitton Ness, breaking into a run at the final stretch.

Mr Boanas, who has already raised over £25,000 for the charity DebRA UK, which helps people with epidermolysis bullosa, a painful genetic skin blistering condition, returned to a hero's welcome, with some 700 people lining the foreshore by the bridge.

While he wasn't prepared to cross the Humber again, Mr Boanas, who owns Hull electrical firm Power Plus, already has other river projects in mind.

He said: "It is awesome, the most awesome feeling. I was struggling a bit. I think the hardest bit was at the end with the mud.

"I was physically shattered and mentally shattered. I had a lot of mud early on and I finished with the mud. It just tore it out of me."

His wife Jan added: "I feel absolutely elated and I've really enjoyed the whole experience. He has been so focussed. He is the fittest he has ever been."

Humber Rescue coxswain Dave Roberts said it had been a tale of mud and more mud.

He said: "He's been up to his neck in mud. He looked like a mud wrestler.

"He's lost the weight, trained and overcome all the difficulties."

The Romans reputedly forded the river a few miles east of Mr Boanas' history-making attempt, but the river is believed to have been marshland then, and without the deep channels gouged out by modern shipping.

In 1953 Lord Noel Buxton walked across between Winteringham and Whitton - but used a boat on the Yorkshire side for a very short distance.

Sounds like a bit of ‘smockraffle’

Local dialect still going strong, according to Lincolnshire expert

By Hannah Scorer, Scunthorpe Telegraph 22nd August 2005

hannah.scorer8scunthorpetelegraph.co.uk

NORTH Lincolnshire is in no danger of losing its local turns-of-phrase, according to the findings of a new study.

Despite fears local dialects are disappearing, research by the BBC has shown regional accents are actually getting stronger.

Winteringham-based expert Pam Wells edited a book on North Lincolnshire phrases and admitted being surprised at learning accents were actually on the up.

Pam helped produce Wads o' Wods, which highlighted little-known phrases such as "there's a mawlgrum a-brewing" meaning a storm is on its way.

"It is surprising to me they discovered differences are becoming greater," she said. "I love to hear local phrases, such as 'thick as a bog' which means it's very foggy, but I did think local dialect was disappearing," she said.

Mrs Wells added she thought local phrases and accents could sometimes have social benefits.

"A regional dialect can provide a sense of identity with an area and the people who live there but it's a shame if dialects can have socially detrimental effects."

Language Maria Farry, a member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists said she felt too much emphasis was placed on the importance of regional dialects.

"I think it is a fascinating subject but I feel there is currently a kind of anti-establishment political stance," she said.

"It used to be that dialects were interesting to study, but people aspired to received pronunciation. Now it seems you're less acceptable if you speak the Queen's English," she said.

Miss Farry, who is a member of the Queen's English Society, added she was concerned standards of speech were being lost.

She said: "There are no longer any standards to aspire to, but one does need at least a knowledge of the correct way to speak."

The online research queried 32,000 people and discovered 480 different words for 'cold'.

The research put paid to fears 'estuary English' now dominates accents around the country

IN THE FRAME TO BRAKE £2,000 FOR HOSPICE

Scunthorpe Telegraph Saturday 13th August 2005

Not even spiralling temperatures, which touched a sizzling 35 degrees, could put the brakes on a Winteringham man's gallant London-to-Paris cycle ride to raise funds for the Lindsey Lodge Hospice.

Christopher Tindall (23), whose mother Alison is the director of the Burringham Road based hospice, defied the blistering heat and demonstrated his pedal power to complete the 400-mile ride in 16-and-a-half hours, and is now on course to reach his target of £2,000. Christopher, a serious cyclist, joined hundreds of others on what is considered to be one of the best cycling routes in Europe connecting the two cities.

He left his Winteringham home on the first leg of the trip accompanied as far as London by his parents, Alison and Stuart.

The four-day trip saw him cycling from Greenwich to Dover before crossing the Channel to Calais and continuing in earnest in a bid to reach the French capital in good time.

"It was very hot," said Christopher, "and I drank a lot of water, but even though the temperature was in the region of 35 degrees, it didn't interfere with my performance," said Christopher.

He went on to say he made a number of new friends along the way and, together with a couple of other riders, he was in the lead most of the way.

Christopher, who usually races for pleasure, explained this was the first serious charity cycle ride he had undertaken and naturally he wanted to raise money for a cause close to his family's heart.

"When we rode into Paris, everyone's family was there to greet us and were assembled around the base of the Eiffel Tower where we had a few glasses of Champagne, which was very nice."

He went on to reveal he is already thinking about another charity cycle ride to boost the funds of the hospice, although is undecided on when and where, but hinted at possibly riding tandem with either his brother or father.

"Or maybe I might do some mountain biking in Mongolia, or I could cycle from Lands End to John O'Groats."

But wherever his cycling takes him, Christopher will be raising even more money for the Lindsey Lodge Hospice.

In the meantime, he is busy collecting in his sponsor money for his successful London-to-Paris ride and asks those who have pledged cash, but have not yet paid it in, to kindly send their donations, with an accompanying note, to the fundraising office at Lindsey Lodge Hospice which can also be contacted on (01724) 843731.

OWNERS READY TO TAKE OVER

Scunthorpe Telegraph Saturday 13th August 2005

The owners of North Lincolnshire's premier restaurant will hand over their award-winning business to a new couple this week.

Annie and Germain Schwab are believed to have sold Winteringham Fields restaurant to Colin and Rebecca McGurren for an amount in excess of £1-million. The couple, from Dewsbury in Yorkshire, are due to take over on Monday.

Mrs Schwab told the Telegraph the couple now intended to take on restaurant consultancy roles, continuing their involvement in education.

Mrs Schwab added she was confident about handing over to Mr and Mrs McGurren.

"There won't be any change in the staff. They will have the same head chef - award-winner Robert Thompson - and I think they will go on to bigger and better things," she said.

 

NO TAKERS

Scunthorpe Telegraph Friday 5th August 2005

No-one has applied to fill the vacancy for a new Winteringham parish councillor.

The parish council advertised the vacancy last month, following the resignation of a councillor, who was leaving the village. But no-one applied for the post. The Council will decide the next move at its next meeting on August 16.

HUMBER WALK JUST TWO WEEKS AWAY

Scunthorpe Telegraph Friday 5th August 2005

There is now less than two weeks to go before a businessman tries his luck at walking across the River Humber for the first time in more than 50 years.

His wife has branded her husband 'mad', and river experts have described the challenge as nigh-on 'impossible', but Graham Boanas (42), said he simply 'isn't bothered'. He will be attempting the muddy march to raise money for a charity which helps children with a rare skin condition.

The last person to walk across the River Humber was Labour peer Lord Noel Buxton, back in 1953.

The walk - which took just over an hour - was described as a 'sensation' and deemed 'the greatest ever locally-staged event'.

The walk will start at Brough on the north bank of the Humber, and will finish at Whitton, north of Winteringham.

The challenge will take place on Sunday, August 21, one of only two tides a year low enough to attempt the feat.

Charity river-walker prays for no rain

Alexandra Wood, Yorkshire Post 5th August 2005

GRAHAM Boanas is 6ft 9in and every inch will count when he attempts to cross one of Britain's most perilous rivers.

Every time Mr Boanas, 42, has attempted the river in practice he has been defeated by the last hurdle - the deep water channel on the far side of the Humber.

But with the lowest tide of the year in the offing, the businessman prays the weather will remain fine and that this time he will walk rather than float to his destination.

A helicopter will carry him to his starting point near Weighton Lock on Sunday, August 21. And then it will be him against the river, with only two boats from Humber Inshore Rescue witnessing the attempt.

Not a nervous type, Mr Boanas, who is training in his dry suit twice a day, says he is fitter than ever before. But he does have the occasional qualm.

The thorny - and as yet unresolved - issue is the deep water channel he needs to cross to make dry land. Every time he's been across at some point the water has finally lifted him up and carried him away. And last time he was out he faced force six conditions and waves thrown up by an easterly wind.

That, he says, took the wind out of his sails, but an expert has since suggested an alternative route from the far end of Whitton Sands, an island in the middle of the Humber, which should lead to a stretch of water only 4ft deep. The final dummy run on the Saturday will see him decide which route to take.

Mr Boanas, who owns West Dock Street electrical firm Power Plus, has already exceeded his fundraising target of £20,000 for DebRA UK, a charity that helps people with epidermolysis bullosa, a painful genetic skin blistering condition.

And he will carry a letter from a young girl sufferer in Grimsby with him in his dry suit when he makes the record attempt. His wife Jan and daughter Lauren, nine, have also backed him all the way.

"They are brilliant, they have been really, really good. My wife has said I can carry on raising money, but it does take a lot of time out of your life. But they are reasonably proud of me."

In the meantime he has to deal with a lot of doubters: "I've had some fantastic comments.

"Some have said I will be taking the Roman route but as the sands shift every two weeks that is virtually impossible. I've had people saying their uncle David did it when he came drunk out of the pub and there are others who said it was done in the 1950s - but they took a boat over the deep water channel."

At the end of the day, though, Nature will play a large point in determining whether Mr Boanas makes it into the record books.

He says he can't face looking at the long-range weather forecast for the day. In any case the days leading up to it will also play a part, as any rainfall that seeps into the huge area drained by the Humber comes into the river.

The Romans are reputed to have forded it close to where he is attempting his crossing.

In 1953 Lord Noel Buxton walked across between Winteringham and Whitton - but used a boat on the Yorkshire side for a very short distance. Mr Boanas believes his crossing will be the first unassisted.

Anyone wishing to sponsor him can call Francesca Wagstaff on 01482 221522.

DELIGHT AT PLAY AREA LANDFILL TAX WINDFALL

Scunthorpe Telegraph Friday 5th August 2005

A Parish council has received a grant to re-landscape an existing play area to make it wheelchair and pushchair friendly.

Winteringham Parish Council has been awarded £2,484 from Evolve EB through the Corus Landfill Tax Credit Scheme. The grant will also pay for fencing to extend the existing play area boundary. The Parish Council is delighted at being awarded the grant, as parents have been complaining for some time about problems with access.

PARISH COUNCIL

Scunthorpe Telegraph Friday 5th August 2005

12:30 - 04 August 2005
The next meeting of Winteringham Parish Council will take place on August 16.

Parish councillors will meet in the council room at the Village Hall at 7.30pm, to discuss all parish matters.