Pensioner’s epic Metro walk

September 2024
A North Tyneside pensioner has put his best foot forward and walked the entire length of the Metro system - at the age of 82.
Alan Pollard, of Whitley Bay, completed the epic 75-mile trek by charting the same route as the iconic Tyne and Wear Metro map.
He came up with the idea as a good way of getting to know the geography of the local area after moving to North East England from Tring in Hertfordshire 18 months ago. He moved here with his wife Margaret to be nearer to their daughter, Liz, and their two grandchildren.
Alan, a retired IT worker, pounded the pavements as he tracked the Metro lines through five different boroughs.
It took him a total of nine months to complete the walk, with the route broken down into a series of manageable five-mile hikes over 16 days.
Alan started out from his home in Whitley Bay and tracking the yellow Metro line all the way down to South Shields. Then came the green Metro line which runs from Newcastle Airport to South Hylton in Sunderland.