Beyond the Setting Sun

Dr Colin Skinner

Now married, with a seventeen year old son, I was born in the South East of England, in 1965.  My early life was spent exploring the fields, marshes and woodland that lay behind our family's house.  Catching grass snakes, watching lizards and climbing trees to pick wild cherries was how my adventures began.

At school, I studied Biology and went on to obtain a degree in Biochemistry and Genetics, then a PhD in Molecular Biology at University College London.  I worked on developing tests to locate mutations causing genetic diseases in children.  At Vanderbilt University in the U.S., I carried out gene sequencing and protein purification.

Much of my time, though, has been spent on long distance walks, which have taken me 14,500 miles across Britain, Iceland, America and New Zealand.  In 1998 I posted information on the Internet for schoolchildren in the U.S.  On the New Zealand trek, I walked through an active volcano, clambered over glaciers, swam with seals and reported on conservation projects involving endangered species.

In the summer of 1985, I worked at Leeds Infirmary to fund the walk across Iceland.  It was at the infirmary that I first saw cancer patients suffering.  I thought there had to be a better way for people to spend their last days.

It was in Iceland, whilst washing dishes with mud and drying them with black volcanic ash, that the idea came to walk 6,000 miles across Britain and America, to raise money for Cancer Relief and hospices.  The story of that 6,000 mile walk is told here in 'Beyond The Setting Sun.'

In 2007, 2009 and 2011 I walked those 6,000 miles again, in memory of my mother, who died in 2003 from pancreatic cancer at the age of 59.  Details of the walks can be found at http://www.freewebs.com/drskinnersite  .  If you are reading this, I urge you to visit the website.  Above all, I want you to help hospice and do what you can to make a difference.