Plucky Paul Aims for top in charity climb

Farmer from Baxenden to take on Everest for charity

Paul Starkie, 44, is aiming to complete a ten-day trek next month which will see him walk for between six and seven hours a day to reach Everest.

Paul Starkie

A poultry farmer from Baxenden has plucked up the courage to take on the world’s highest peak.

Paul Starkie, 44, is aiming to complete a ten-day trek next month which will see him walk for between six and seven hours a day to reach Everest base camp, 18,000 feet above sea level.

Back Lane resident Paul has feelings of excitement and trepidation about his journey.

Paul said: “I decided that I wanted to challenge myself after reading about a friend of mine trekking up Mount Kilimanjaro. I recruited a close friend Neil Sarsfield, who now lives in Barrie, Canada. Between us we came up with the idea of trekking to Mount Everest base camp, as Neil had wanted to do this from childhood.”

As part of his climb Paul will be raising money for the British Heart Foundation in memory of his father-in-law and boss Peter Ashburner, who died of heart failure in 2007.