A CHARITY walk has given a Basingstoke pub landlord a new perspective of the impact of the First World War.

Kevin Divall, one of the landlords at The Rising Sun, in Chapel Hill, recently trekked through French and Belgium Battlefields of First World War to raise money for the Royal British Legion.

Walking an average of 13-miles per day, the 56-year-old said he got so much more out of the experience that just the fundraising aspect.

Having completed more that 192,000 steps Mr Divall said: “It has been thought provoking, humbling journey that I will never forget.

“What just started off as a challenge to raise some awareness and money for the Legion became so much more.

“You hear all these stories from the war, but when you are there you get a real sense of scale of things and it gives you a new perspective.”

When he decided to embark on the challenge, the pub landlord said he wanted to learn more about what the Royal British Legion do for service personnel and their families, but the challenge became much more of a learning curve for him.

Mr Divall told The Gazette that the group he was with were joined by historian Dan Hill who painted a picture of what the battle fields were like.

He added: “There were places where you didn’t realise how close the frontlines were to each other and it just makes you think home incredibly tense that situation must be.

“In Notre Dame de Lorette they had these big golden plates with everyone who died’s name in alphabetical order, and I discovered there were five Divall’s on there who I didn’t know.”

He added: "What shocked me as well was just how close some of these frontlines were. In some places there were just a stones throw from each other.

"You just can't imagine what it must have been like for all those soldiers who were involved on both sides."

Mr Divall was joined by his niece Gemma Divall along with 65 other people completing the challenge, and the pub landlord said by the end of it the whole group became really close.

“It was something I wasn’t expecting,” added Mr Divall.

“The whole group got together and helped each other through it. By the end it wasn’t so much an individual challenge more a team effort.”

So fair Mr Divall has raised £1,500 but hopes to raise £2,000 by the end of the year.

To support Mr Divall visit justgiving.com/fundraising/Kevin-Divall.