Mountbatten Lodge Resident Rides England’s Longest Zip Wire

Ken Campbell, one of the residents at Mountbatten Lodge, our care home in Hemel Hempstead, told staff at the home that he wanted to go on a zip wire ride so the home made his wish come true. Ken, who is 86 years old, decided he wanted to try the ride a number of years ago after speaking to his daughter.

“I haven’t always wanted to do a zip wire ride but my daughter told me that a friend of hers in her late 80s went to Wales every year to ride the biggest one in the UK. They’ve stopped her doing it because she’s 90 so I thought I’d better do it now or I might get refused”.

Beth Hoskins, the manager at Mountbatten Lodge, organised the ride for Ken at Hangloose Adventure Bluewater in Kent, which has England’s longest zip wire. It’s based in a former chalk quarry which has 50 metre-high cliffs with the zip wire starting on the top of a tower on one of those cliffs. The wire descends to the ground over a 720 metre-long line.

Beth said “We work hard here to make sure that our residents live life to the fullest so when Ken asked to try a zip wire we were determined to make it happen for him. He’s such an adventurer!”

Ken was joined on the zip wire ride by Beth herself and Adele McIvor, Mountbatten Lodge’s activity care worker, who rode down in formation with Ken on parallel zip wires.

After completing an unforgettable ride Ken said, “That was one of the most exciting things I have ever done! It was like flying in mid-air!”.

When asked if there was something else he’d like to try Ken said “I’d like to race a car around a track or maybe sit with a professional driver around Silverstone. That would be nice”.