Sponsored bike ride by Round Table members to Flanders

ROUND Tablers took in a piece of history and raised �10,000 for charity at the same time during a potentially-explosive trip to France.

Seventeen cyclists and two support crew from Harpenden Round Table took part in a recent sponsored bike ride across the First World War battlefields of Flanders.

They covered 120 miles in two days, stopping to pay their respects at Tyne Col Cemetery and the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres. And at a rest stop on the second day, one of the cyclists even stumbled across what looked like an unexploded trench mortar.

The cyclists paid for the travel and accommodation costs themselves so all the money went directly to charitable causes - the majority to Help for Heroes and a further donation being made to the Second Harpenden Scouts re-launch appeal.

Trip organiser and Harpenden Round Table head of fundraising, Jamie Simpson, commented: “We were delighted to raise such a large amount of money for such worthwhile causes.

“Given that we were raising money for Help for Heroes, the route through the WWI battlefields and cemeteries of Flanders was particularly poignant. Apart from various punctures and one of our cyclists getting trapped in some tram tracks, I was very pleased that all our cyclists completed the ride.”

Anyone interested in making a donation should visit www.bmycharity,com/hrt