A North Tyneside pensioner has put his best foot forward and walked the entire length of the Metro system - at the age of 82.
Alan Pollard, of Whitley Bay, completed the epic 75-mile trek by charting the same route as the iconic Tyne and Wear Metro map.
He came up with the idea as a good way of getting to know the geography of the local area after moving to North East England from Tring in Hertfordshire 18 months ago. He moved here with his wife Margaret to be nearer to their daughter, Liz, and their two grandchildren.
Alan, a retired IT worker, pounded the pavements as he tracked the Metro lines through five different boroughs.
It took him a total of nine months to complete the walk, with the route broken down into a series of manageable five-mile hikes over 16 days.
Alan started out from his home in Whitley Bay and tracking the yellow Metro line all the way down to South Shields. Then came the green Metro line which runs from Newcastle Airport to South Hylton in Sunderland.
As a keen walker and someone who has previously hiked from Land’s End to John O’Groats, the Metro route was pretty easy going for Alan, who said he enjoyed every moment.
On each leg he has documented his progress in a blog – ‘Walking the Tyne and Wear Metro’ - with photos and words about the sights, sounds and local landmarks that he saw.
He said: “I wanted a fresh walking challenge ever since I moved to the region and I thought it would be a good idea to try and cover the entire Metro route. I really enjoyed it. It was a great way to get to know more about the local area. I covered 75 miles in total, which is just a bit more than the Metro’s actual route length.
“I’ve not lived in the North East that long, having recently moved here from Hertfordshire, so it was a wonderful way to see more places of interest and meet new people.
“I saw so many historic locations along the way which are near Metro stops, Newcastle city centre in particular, and it was great to research those places and then find out more about them.
“Walking is a real labour of love for me. I love it. I’ve done many long-distance walks in the past, one being a 50-mile route around London, and twenty years ago I did Land’s End to John O’Groats.
“The Metro is a great system, and the paths and roads near to those lines make for great local walking routes, with plenty of points of interest along the way. I’d recommend it to anyone.”
Nexus, the public body which runs Metro, said that Alan had done really well to have walked he full length of the Metro route.
Lynne Dickinson, Head of Station Delivery at Nexus, said: “It’s a fantastic challenge and Alan has done brilliantly. We congratulate him on completing his walk. We were delighted to hear that he has managed to walk the whole length of our Metro system along all those nearby paths and roads. It’s a long way and a lot further than people think.
“Events like this underline how much Metro means to our region. It shows just how many places of interest you can get to on Metro and what a vital role it plays in the communities that it serves.”