A gutsy 90 year-old will walk along Sidmouth promenade despite being registered blind and recently breaking her hip to raise money for the Royal British legion.

Nancy Bowstead, who lives on Byside Road, wanted to do something to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the legion, and decided a 90 minute walk would be a good idea.

She has been a member of the Sidmouth branch of the RBL for many years, and served in the ATF in the Second World War, adding: “I cant do a marathon and I didn’t fancy a bungee jump, so this seemed like the best thing to do.”

But after getting permission from the police and approval from the legion county chairman Ralph Howard Williams, she fell and broke her hip in January.

She had to spend three weeks in hospital and said: “I thought that was it, I wasn’t going to be able to do it, but when I told the matron about the walk she said ‘don’t worry, we’ll get you back on your feet’.

“I was determined to do it.”

She said even if she has to finish the walk on her knees she is going to complete the walk, and wants to raise as much money as possible.

She added: “Everyone thinks I’m mad to do this!”

She wrote a short piece to describe why she is doing the walk, saying although she may look like a ‘fragile and aging woman, but inside there is the spirit of a fighting man’.

She said the Royal British Legion comes to the aid of servicemen and women like it came to her aid, and wants people to dig deep to help it reach its target of �90 million for its 90th anniversary.

The walk will be on Sidmouth’s promenade with several other 90 year-olds from the legion at 11.30am next Friday, to sponsor Nancy email bridleway.bigwood@virgin.net.