Three generations of the same family conquer three mountains

Eight year-old Joseph Thorpe became one of the youngest people to ever complete Yorkshire’s Three Peaks challenge, taking it on with his dad Paul and grandad Dave.

The trio had to endure four hours of torrential rain en-route, which left their boots and socks soaking - and the mountainsides incredibly dangerous.

“There were a few people injured on the day who didn’t get to complete the challenge,” said Paul Thorpe, 46.

“We started out at 7am with drizzle, but this soon became torrential rain that lasted until about 11am. It was relentless and left our boots and socks soaked through.”

Paul said the wet weather increased the chance of people injuring themselves on the mountainsides.

“It was very slippery coming down and you could see people falling over everywhere - it was like watching penguins coming off icebergs,” he said. “In the end a lot of people went down on their backsides as it was the safest way to do it. Thankfully by the time we finished we had warm sunshine - but it felt like we had been through every type of seasonal weather by then - except snow.”

Although Paul and his dad Dave, 69, are very fit and active - with both having completed similar challenges before and Paul regularly taking part in triathlons, it was the first such physical feat for young Joseph.

The St Botolph’s CofE School pupil wanted a challenge and asked if he could join his dad and grandad up the peaks of Pen-Y-Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough.

The epic feat saw him ascend more than 2,000 metres - a distance of 24 miles.

Paul said the best part of the experience for him was getting to the café at the end and realising they had completed it with 15 minutes to spare: “It was a great feeling, and extra special as Joseph was with us,” he said.