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Woman, 90, completes eight-day Hadrian's Wall hike

Family handout A group of five women stand together in front of stone buildings in hiking gear wearing vests reading "Mary's March". They are all wearing knitted teal headbands, except the older woman in the centre who wears a pink headband. Her vest reads "Mary's march, walking for cancer aged 90."Family handout
Mrs Nicholson, centre, was joined by her family on the eight-day trek

A 90-year-old woman who walked the entire length of Hadrian's Wall for charity says the challenge was "tough and then even tougher".

Mary Nicholson, from Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, raised more than £6,000 for The Beacon Centre, a cancer unit in Taunton, where her brother is receiving treatment.

The former midwife was joined on the eight-day trek by family members including her three daughters, youngest son and grandchildren, but said "I set the pace".

Speaking to BBC West, she said she came close to "calling for the car" on several of the gruelling hills on the 85-mile (137km) route but never cracked.

Mrs Nicholson said: "My feet are fine. No blisters. A bit sore but no blisters. It's not an easy walk - it was tough and then even tougher."

She said it was thoughts of the Beacon Centre and her brother kept her going.

"It's his enthusiasm for the centre and all the care they have taken of him," she said.

"When you are going up the hills, and there are quite a few of them, it's quite stony and there's stony paths, wooden stiles to climb over, it's quite testing. I set the pace and off we went."

Family handout A woman in hiking gear, a green brimmed hat and a blue vest leans on a section of Hadrian's Wall. She is carrying a hiking pole. Family handout
Mrs Nicholson says she hit a physical barrier "many times" during the hike

She added: "Just when you think you've gone down the last hill, there's another one up ahead.

"I hit a physical barrier many times and I was going to call for the car many times, but we did it."

Mrs Nicholson prepared by walking every day along Burnham beach and Brean Down, and began the hike on 25 April.

"I thought right 'I've cracked this, this is going to be a piece of cake' - [but it was] no piece of cake. It was much, much tougher than that."

Family handout A vintage black and white image of a bride and groom. The bride weas a white dress and a veil, while the groom is in a black suit and waistcoat. They are getting into a car. Family handout
Mary with her late husband John on their wedding day

Mrs Nicholson moved to Burnham from Plymouth in 1972 with her husband John and their six children.

John died from cancer in 1988, and ahead of the challenge she urged people not to miss routine cancer screenings.

"I want to raise awareness. So much can be done if cancer is caught in time," she said.

"People mustn't be afraid to have their checks done. Sadly, my husband's was caught too late, my brother's was caught in time and that's made all the difference."

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