Husband walks 500 miles to Darlington in wife Ann's memory

Ann Dengate, formerly Ann Rae, was described by her friend Lesley Watt, 71, as “larger than life”.

A local girl, Ann was born in Darlington, she became head girl at Branksome School, and lived on Woodcrest Road until she left the town to pursue teaching down south.

Her husband Steve said: “People in Darlington will remember her … If they met her they will remember her. She had quite a strong character.”

Ann Dengate, left, pictured i her younger days, with her friend Lesley Watt (Image: LESLEY WATT)

He added: “Her heart was always in Darlington.”

A compassionate character, Ann later trained and worked as a Special Educational Needs (SEN) teacher. She focussed her efforts on getting the SEN children into the community including a trip to the Savoy, London.

Steve said: “She really changed a lot of people’s attitudes towards disability.”

Once retired, Ann spent weeks at a time volunteering at an orphanage in Peru.

Ann volunteering at orphanage in Peru during retirement (Image: STEVE DENGATE)

Ann died of cancer at the end of May and in honour of her memory, Steve decided to complete a 500-mile pilgrimage from their home in Surrey to Darlington. He walked approximately ten miles per day, and kept friends and family updated with anecdotes and photographs via WhatsApp.

Throughout his journey, Steve stayed in a variety of places.

Steve said: “Sometimes it was a really nice hotel, sometimes a room above a pub, an old person’s bungalow, or an Airbnb.”

Steve carried these pictures of Ann with him on his walk (Image: STEVE DENGATE)

The conditions of his walk also varied over the 42 day period. Steve strolled along canals and disused railways, clambered the Peak District and across the Moors, and hacked his ways across severely overgrown footpaths.

When asked about the most surprising part of his pilgrimage, Steve said: “It really is possible to travel from one end of the country using ancient footpaths!”

Friends and family often joined him for a leg at a time, with his two daughters Emma and Laura joining him for both the first and last leg.

The ‘pilgrimage’, which took about six weeks, was split with a scheduled five-day break once he reached Birmingham, before he continued on to the northern part of his walk.

Steve completed the walk arm-in-arm with his two daughters on August 22, stopping to take a photograph by the ‘Welcome to Darlington’ sign.

Steve paused at the Darlington sign when he reached it (Image: STEVE DENGATE)

His first time in Darlington without Ann, childhood friend Lesley Watt described the reception Steve received outside Ann’s childhood home as emotional.

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Steve was met with clapping, cheering, and banners as friends and family congratulated him on completing the walk.

Steve was greeted by family and friends with a banner when he completed his 500 mile walk (Image: LESLEY WATT)

Lesley said: “I think he was exhausted but relieved as well that he’d completed the walk.”

The woman now living in Ann’s childhood home, who had lived there since buying the property from Ann’s parents, welcomed the friends and family into her home to reminisce about Ann.