Local canoe man ends up at The Tower

Stephen Lamb from Lutterworth – team leader of Leicestershire Search and Rescue for the past six years and a former Royal Marine – arrived tired but triumphant at The Tower of London on his 52nd birthday (19th April 2024) having completed a lone 120-mile charity paddle down the Grand Union Canal from Leicester.

He was welcomed by Yeoman of the Guard and fellow Bootneck Andy Merry, having raised almost £9,000 for RMA – The Royal Marines Charity.

Steve had set off from Foxton Locks and – despite weathering torrential downpours and having to ‘jungle-fix’ his portage wheels several times – kept to his plan of paddling an average 25 miles a day. He portaged the 166 locks over the six-day journey, sleeping ‘rough’ alongside the tow path.

He says: “I normally tackle something to do with running to mark my birthdays, but decided to do something a bit different this year, something that’s a bit kinder on the knees! But it was still tough. Portaging all the locks wasn’t easy – the two, one-mile tunnels were quite challenging and I endured a few hardships in being completely self-sufficient along the way – but it’s all part of the Marines’ ethos!

As a young Marine, I learned so many life skills and values. I’m still grateful for those skills and implement its values on a daily basis.”