July 29 - Day 105 - He who postpones the hour of living is like the rustic who waits for the river to run out before he crosses. Horace

So as not to focus too much on my journey home yesterday, when thunder and lightening, torrential rain and painful hailstones made for an interesting journey, I thought I’d explore a different type of water.

My Mum often used to say that half a mile from where people are born can sadly make a huge difference to your life and future. Sheffield, like many cities, is no exception with areas close to each other that have very different statistics in relation to life expectancy, access to higher education and average income. The course of a river often shows these inequalities, even with the use made of the water itself.

The River Derwent, photographed this morning at Baslow, is the largest river in the Peak District. It is approximately 50 miles long. It rises at Bleaklow and finally joins the River Trent south of Derby. Many people know it as the river that flows through Chatsworth Estate. Here the water in the past was clearly a focus of leisure activities and landscaping with the 24 steps of the cascade and the Emperor Fountain that can reach 90 meters high.

But - only a few miles down the river is Cromford, where the same River has seen a very different use and history. Here, Richard Arkwright developed the use of the river to power the machinery in his textile mill. Compare the inhabitants of Chatsworth estate with the workers from the mill and we begin to see what my Mum meant.

So - what has this to do with St Wilfrid’s Centre and Sponsor a Spin - apart from the fact that the distance is equivalent to going the full length of the river 90 times (not that cycling alongside it all the way is possible of course). The Centre and your generous donations are, however, about addressing those inequalities. They are also about bringing everyone from any area or background together. As we say in our Aims, ‘Our starting point is that the past and present experiences of people are respected and that they have the capacity to determine their future circumstances regardless of their past.’ That’s a good enough reason for me to keep cycling. Only just over another 27 lengths (1365 miles) of the River Derwent to go!