In terms of sheer dedication for the cause, Den's journey to get to his start point is far longer than the pilgrimage itself. Due to the nature of his job he can't leave until Friday evening. He is planning to get the overnight coach from Newcastle to London ("Ride the Clip-ah!") arriving at some ungodly hour of the morning at Victoria. From there he is intending to get the train to the nearest stop to Point and our Logistics team will collect him and bring him to Point for the Saturday morning 6-mile walk into the beer festival at Haddenham, Bucks. That first pint isn't even going to touch the sides.

Morning Doncaster. Fungus joins us for the second and third legs due to other commitments later in the week. One of three pilgrims whose original trade was in Organic Chemistry, Fungus is the only one of those three to continue to work in Science. Fluent in Bosnian, Swahili and Latin, Fungus has a taste for Lebanese wines, particularly vintages of the Cinsaut grape. Back in Kent, Fungus famously turned up to our Hawaiian party dressed as Ramesses II.

Born and bred into the aristocracy of the County Durham coalfields, Lord Barnwell of Lumley represents his manor on our pilgrimage. Our thanks go to his staff in Estates who have worked tirelessly behind the scenes organising our stay-overs at manor houses along the route. Lumley has also provided carriages to return the North East based pilgrims back home. Unusually for a member of the aristocracy, Lumley enjoys mixing with the riff raff.

Smithy joins our Transport Logistics team, travelling down from the North East on Thursday evening. Smithy brings a wealth of experience on beer festivals to the team having frequently attended the Wilburton and Kent Beer Festivals over the years. Now a woodworking craftsman and semi-professional sports photographer, the team will be reminding Smithy to keep his fluids up in the hot weather but only after the car keys are safely in his room.
See www.neilsmithsportsphotographyandwoodworkingtutorials.co.uk for more details.

Rusty is a parish councillor at Haddenham, Cambs. He has lived in the village for around 30 years and attended the local schools. He has a young family and is passionate about supporting the community, particularly helping the younger people. Rusty is the village cricket team captain and is one of the youth coaches. Rusty supports Blackburn Rovers. He was one of the first names down on the list when the idea was proposed and has signed up to complete the entire route.

A long time ago, came man on a track Walking 93 miles with a sack on his back He put down his load where he thought it was the best supporting Haddenham's beer fest... OK, so this was my idea. Walking 93 miles for a pint while raising money for local causes. That's the sort of thing I like.

I am chair of Haddenham (Cambs) parish council, where I concentrate mainly on road safety and trying to do as much as possible for youngsters and youths in the community. I also manage the U15s village football team. I am currently renovating a train carriage that I found in my garden and I'm also trying to turn my house into a home. Work just gets in the way unfortunately.

One of two international athletes on the pilgrimage. Having completed the New York Marathon in 2008 with the pilgrimage organiser, Trooper is almost certainly the second fittest on the walk. Having chalked up countless away matches watching utter rubbish in red and white jerseys, Trooper is one of two long-term Sunderland fans in the team. He is rightly wary of any man that keeps a pig farm. Trooper may be travelling down with the others by car from County Durham or, depending on the weather, he may row down the east coast from Sunderland and navigate up through the Bedford Drain and Great Ouse to meet up with us on the Thursday evening.

Mr Shakey Finch will be travelling over from his place in Palos Verdes. Shakey knows he does not have to worry about forgetting his passport or boarding pass as both will be safely downloaded, by the airline, directly to the mobile phones of the entire team of pilgrims. During the walk, the pilgrims hope to hear Shakey's full back catalogue repertoire of greatest hits from ABBA and The Spice Girls, sung in the style of a club singer. Pray to J he does the same-ol' same-ol'. Smack 'em yak 'em.

Unfortunately, due to injury, Shakey has had to drop out of the pilgrimage

Bally joins us on Thursday evening for refreshments followed by the 17 mile Friday leg and then the short morning walk in to the Haddenham Summerfest beer festival on the Saturday morning. He is one of four from the North East to come to support the pilgrimage. A veteran of away trips, Bally has seen action in Ostende, New York, Amsterdam, Prague, and also his own stag-do in York. Bally also brings key negotiating skills to the group, particularly useful when looking for bowling clubs that might offer late-at-night refreshments.