BBC News, West of England
BBCA woman says she “had a ball” completing a 200-mile (322km) walking challenge in her hundredth year.
Phyll Babb, from Salisbury in Wiltshire, reached the finish line on Sunday, her 100th birthday, raising more than £11,000 for Salisbury Trust for the Homeless (STFH).
She had planned to walk 100 miles (161km), but doubled her target in January after realising she was ahead of schedule.
Completing the final mile around Salisbury Cathedral, Ms Babb said: “It’s hard to believe I’ve done 200 walks. It’s gone like a dream.”
Ms Babb was born in Bideford, north Devon, and travelled alone by sea to Jamaica in 1949 so that she could teach in a girls’ grammar school for three years.
After a brief spell in England, she headed to Vancouver in Canada before returning to the UK to look after her disabled mother.
She was a keen member of the local yacht club before retiring in 1986, when she started volunteering.
“Walking is good for you,” she said. “I was brought up to walk, so as children we walked everywhere, and I still like walking.”
She added: “It’s been delightful. I’ve had a ball actually.”
Ms Babb was cheered on by members of her family, who said she was an inspiration.
Her cousin-in-law, David Evans, said: “To reach the age of 100 and to do it so fit, looking so well, being so articulate, that’s the really amazing thing she’s done.”
“She is inspirational, definitely. She’s been inspirational my whole life, to be honest,” Liz Huntley, Ms Babb’s cousin, said.
And her great niece, Ruth Simmons, said: “Seeing my great aunt complete her 200th lap around the cathedral has been really special.”
A local accountant and supporter of the charity had helped Ms Babb log her walks.
“He looked at every 20 walks I did, which I recorded on Strava on my mobile phone, and then he confirmed them in a little book,” she said.
STFH supports single homeless people and the charity’s head of fundraising, Gordon Pardy, said they were delighted to receive the cheque from Ms Babb.
“We bought a house recently, and so the money that Phyll has raised will go towards furnishing the house,” he said.
“To do this in her 100th year was so impressive,” he added.
Ms Babb said people had been “extremely generous” and said “thank you all very, very much”.
