The London premiere of ‘As The Crow Flies’ – a feature-length documentary of the Beeline Britain challenge – will be shown at the Royal Geographical Society in Kensington, London on Friday 28 November.
The incredible voyage that saw the team of four navigate the length of Britain – from Land’s End to John O‘Groats – in a straight line was a world first and took around four weeks to complete. It involved kayaking, hiking and cycling and included a 34-hour 200km non-stop kayak from Land’s End to Pembrokeshire.
The record-breaking team was made up of Paralympian and Blesma Member Nick Beighton; Tori James the first Welsh woman to summit Mount Everest; Ian O’Grady, RAF helicopter crewman and founder of the Beeline Britain concept; and Adam Harmer, outdoor instructor and lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University.
The journey presented unique challenges for Nick Beighton who is a double amputee after being blown up by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan. He said after reaching John O’Groats: “This has been a tough challenge, my body has been blown up and bolted back together again and I know Beeline Britain would test it to its limits. For me I wanted to show how life changing injuries don’t limit your ability to tackle epic challenges and I wanted to raise funds for Blesma who make a hugely positive impact on injured veterans; I feel we’ve achieved all of those aims.”
The team was followed all the way by Image Impossible cameraman Ian Burton who captured all the highs and lows of the journey. Ian said: “Inspiration can come from unexpected places, and traveling with these everyday adventurers was one of the most inspiring expeditions I have ever filmed. I am actually quite stunned by the potential of this film and as each piece of it falls into place I become more excited about premiering it to the public.”
The event will include a talk by members of the team, a chance for audience members to ask questions of the team and the showing of ‘As The Crow Flies’. It will be the London premiere, as the film will have been shown at the Kendal Mountain Film Festival the week before.
The journey raised money and awareness for Blesma, The Limbless Veterans with the current total standing at just over £20,000 but the team are determined to raise as much money as possible for Blesma.