Record numbers turn up for pointless walk

A record number of people signed up for a walking challenge described as "pointless" by its own organisers.

The March March march, an almost 30-mile (48km) hike between the Fenland town of March and the city of Cambridge, has taken place in March (the month) almost every year since it was dreamt up by PhD maths student Jonathan Partington at the University of Cambridge in 1979.

Lead marcher Colin Bell said this year the march attracted 48 walkers and they had to turn people away after applications soared.

With 44 of those completing the hike, he described the event as "very enjoyable".

Bell first joined the march in 1990 when he was a student and is now the head official of the group.

Abiding by tradition, on Saturday morning the group travelled by coach from Cambridge to March, and then walked back via the old main road, the disused railway and alongside the River Ouse.

Bell said their coach driver was amazed to hear they planned to walk all the way back.

During the 12-hour "long, flat, pointless walk" - their words - they also stopped to send postcards to the university's maths department - another annual tradition associated with the walk.

Bell admitted one of the biggest challenges - other than walking pointlessly for miles - was finding somewhere to feed the group en route - although a Chatteris pub stepped up to provide a carvery for the hungry horde.

The weather on Saturday was not exactly fair, but it was more mild than when a crowd marched through the Beast from the East in 2018, battling freezing temperatures and snow.

The number of walkers taking part this year was "easily a record for us", Bell said, adding he hoped the march's popularity would continue.

Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.