Cellists scale the heights on coast-to-coast trek

After tackling the four highest peaks in the UK and Ireland, running a half marathon and climbing up to the roofs of 42 cathedrals – all with two-stone instruments on their backs – the Extreme Cellists had to rack their brains to come up with their most extreme challenge yet.

They are setting off on the 192-mile coast-to-coast walk designed and made famous by author Alfred Wainwright.

On each of the 14 days of their hike, the threesome – who will once again be carrying their cellos every step of the way – will stop for three performances to raise money for spinal cord injury charity Aspire and Sheffield children's cancer charity PACT.

The group – Jeremy Dawson, 34, and Clare Wallace, 50, from Sheffield, and James Rees, 30, from Ely in Cambridgeshire – met while members of a church choir and formed the Extreme Cellists in 2003.

Over the years their increasingly arduous challenges have raised more than 15,000.

Their last in April last year involved running the Sheffield Half Marathon with cellos on their backs, stopping for two performances along the way.

In summer 2006 they played on the roof of all 42 English cathedrals in 12 days, raising more than 5,000 for Aspire and Shelter and, in 2008 raised a similar amount playing on the tallest mountains in Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland.

Mr Dawson said: "We've previously done challenges involving a lot of mountain climbing and challenges involving daily endurance, but here we're combining both into one.

"Training has been a case of going out into the Peak District with cellos on our backs and climbing hills for the day.

"We're sure that our training will pay off, though, and hope that people appreciate the challenge and help us raise in excess of 5,000 for the charities this year."

The Extreme Cellists will set off from St Bees in Cumbria today to walk the route over the Lake District, the Pennines, the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors before finishing in Robin Hood's Bay on August 6.