Bognor charity walking duo on stairway to heaven

Sarah Jarvis and Sarah Grant collected about 3,800 for Cancer Research UK from their five days of walking along the Great Wall of China.

They staged quizzes to raise the money as well as getting backing from friends and relations. They want to thank everyone for their support.

Sarah Jarvis, of Sandringham Way, undertook the gruelling journey on foot to mark the 25th anniversary of the death of her mother, Rosina Lewis. She died of cancer at the age of 36. Sarah Grant (40), of Essex Road, undertook the journey of a lifetime in memory of one of her best friends, North Bersted man Chris Dwyer, who died at the age of 36 from brain cancer in 2006.

Sarah Jarvis (37) said the sponsored walk had been tough but worthwhile.

"Just to get to our final destination of Mutianyu we had to climb 1,080 steps to get onto the wall. We then had to walk for three hours to the final Stairway to Heaven with a 441-step, 70-degree climb to the top. The last 20 steps were near vertical and very, very steep," she recalled.

"One of our guides told us the view from one of the watch towers in the Wuzoulou Mountains was the best he had seen in ten years because the weather was so good.

"The temperature was in the low 80s. We weren't expecting it to be that hot.

"We had to carry even more water than usual, 3-4 litres each a day, which made our backpacks heavy."

The walk started in Jinshanglin and covered more than 40 miles during five days. One involved eight hours on the move.

Some parts of the wall, away from the tourist trail, were rundown.

"The terrain was very mountainous and green."

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