A CRAZY canoe trip from Blackburn to Gloucester has raised £2,000 for charity - despite horrendous floods threatening the route.

The epic 200-mile trip in a Canadian canoe on British canals and the River Severn was dreamt up by Longridge High School English teacher Pete Knowles and his partner Sue Catlow, both from Ribchester.

Sue, 45, a self-employed human resources consult-ant, could only be persuaded to paddle the distance if it was in aid of charity, and they supported the cancer and blind organisations which had cared for friends who had died in Ribchester.

Sue, of Chesterbrook, said: "Pete likes a challenge! In the past we've climbed the highest peaks in 38 counties and this was his latest crazy idea.

"He's rowed in his younger days but this was my first time in a canoe because we didn't get the chance to practise much in the recent bad weather."

They set off on July 30 from Eanam Wharf, Blackburn, and they arrived 11 days later in Gloucester. They had given themselves two weeks to complete the trip, but the bad flooding in the Midlands left them unsure if they would be able to finish the journey which had been two years in the planning.

Sue said: "We'd booked three weeks off work and knew that we had to do the journey in that time, but the floods hit Gloucester a week before we set off. Because so much money had been pledged, we decided to go for it and get as far as we could.

"We were unsure if we would be able to row on the Severn, but when we got there, the people were fantastic, despite the devas-tation they are dealing with.

"It was very eerie rowing down the Severn, seeing all the wreckage and abandonment. For hours we would be the only craft on the water when usually there are many boats.

"When people asked where we'd come from and how long we'd taken they were amazed. Some narrowboat owners told us that they'd set off from Blackburn in March and had only just reached the same spot we'd got to in a couple of days."

The couple camped in fields and on canal towpaths at night, carrying all their equipment and wet-weather gear with them. Sue added: "We were prepared for two weeks of solid rain but it rained for all of five minutes in the entire time and I've come back sunburnt!"

Sue and Pete, 57, of Stoneygate Lane, decided to split sponsorship between Macmillan Cancer Support , Rosemere Cancer Foundation and Galloway's Society for the Blind (Preston).

If you would like to donate any money to the cause, please telephone Jack and Edna Catlow on 01254 878213.