Rosie Swale-Pope

Rosie Swale-Pope was born Rosie Griffin in Davos, Switzerland. Her Swiss mother was suffering from tuberculosis, and her Irish father Major Ronald Peter Griffin was serving in the Royal Engineers (part of the British Army) , so she was brought up by the wife of the local postman. She was two when her mother died, and she went to live with her paternal grandmother, named Carlie Ponsonby, who was bedridden with osteoarthritis, in New Bridge, Askeaton in County Limerick, Ireland. When she was five, her father remarried and moved to Ireland, with his French wife Marriane Griffin. They had four children, Maude, Greald, Nicholas and Ronnie. Although they were only in the next cottage, Swale stayed with her grandmother This did not last long; she then hitch-hiked to Delhi, Nepal and Russia, with almost no money or luggage. Rosie was married to Colin Swale in her early twenties. They originally lived in a small flat in London, but when their daughter Eve was born, they bought a catamaran (named the Anneliese, in memory of Rosie's sister whom she only knew from a photo) and sailed to Italy, where Rosie's son James was born on board the boat. ==Sailing round the world==

Beginning in December 1971, Swale sailed around the world from Gibraltar via Australia, with husband Colin and daughter Eve on the Anneliese. The trip was part-sponsored by the Daily Mail newspaper and also by ITN (Independent Television News), which provided them with a camera to record their own news reports of the journey. Although both Swale and her husband were able to sail and had prepared as well as they could, the trip had its risks, and it nearly ended in disaster three times: when Rosie fell overboard in the Caribbean from the closest land; again when she needed emergency medical treatment in hospital; and a third time when the whole family suffered food poisoning from a meal of insufficiently cooked beans. The hardships were survived, however, and the voyage was a significant navigational achievement, using only an old Spitfire compass, nautical charts and a sextant, in the days before GPS. By the time the family finally returned to Plymouth, Rosie had not only completed her first book, Rosie Darling (often working below decks on her typewriter for up to six hours at a time), but had also written her second book, Children of Cape Horn. ==Atlantic crossing==

In 1983, Rosie Swale sailed solo across the Atlantic in a small cutter, which she had found in a cowshed in Wales and named Fiesta Girl. Aiming to become the fourth woman to sail alone to America in a small boat from England (the first being Ann Davison in 1952–1953, followed by Nicolette Milnes-Walker in 1972 and Clare Francis in 1973), she also wanted to raise funds for a CAT Scanner for the Royal Marsden Hospital in London. Divorced from Colin Swale, Rosie also found her second husband, sailor and photographer Clive Pope, during the preparations for the trip, when he rigged the boat for her. Departing from Pembroke in Wales on 13 July 1983, she sailed to the Azores and Caribbean Islands. Simply equipped, Rosie navigated by the stars and was nearly run down by an oil tanker. When she was north of Puerto Rico, she was becalmed for so long she was without food and water for five days and nearly drowned when she was swept overboard in storms. She arrived at Staten Island, New York, after completing her record-breaking in 70 days – navigating by the stars with the aid of her Timex watch. ==Chile on horseback==

, in Chile, at the southern tip of South America A year after returning from her Atlantic crossing, Rosie decided that she really wanted to see Cape Horn again and decided to plan a trek through Chile on horseback. The journey took her from the northern port of Antofagasta to Cape Horn, and she rode two Chilean Aculeos horses, named 'Hornero' and 'Jolgorio'. From the Hacienda Los Lingues, the horses of the Aculeo Stables were originally brought to Chile by the Spanish Conquistadors in 1492. Leaving Antofagasta on 22 July 1984, Rosie had secured the protection of General César Mendoza, who was the head of Chile's Military Police (and later the leader of the military junta there). An Olympic horseman, Mendoza provided her with an armed escort for the first stage. The whole trip was planned to take four months but actually took fourteen. ==Walks, runs and marathons==

Walk around Wales On 25 September 1987, Rosie set off from the beach near her home in Tenby to walk around Wales in winter. She was carrying everything she needed, including a small tent to sleep in, and was supported by her husband Clive, who also walked with her when other commitments permitted. Rosie completed on foot and wrote about her experiences in her book Winter Wales. Like all the other competitors, Rosie had to carry everything she needed on her back in a rucksack. She ran across the Sahara a second time in 2000. Romania run In the same year, Rosie ran through Romania to the Hungarian border. Albania run In 2000 Rosie ran through the Balkans from Macedonia. It was a dangerous run, and she was held up at gunpoint but managed to escape to reach the border. Cuba run On 8 November 2001, Rosie set off to run across Cuba. It took 46 days and she was running the marathon distance every day (and several nights) with a rucksack on her back and camping in a lightweight bivouac. She lived on rice and sugar cane and had to avoid the Cuban Police, who were concerned for her safety. She also entered and completed the Havana Marathon, finishing in 4 hours and 52 minutes. Cardiff Marathon in 2002. Rosie ran the Marathon in Cardiff in 2002, in aid of her local Hospital in West Wales where her husband Clive had died of prostate cancer ten weeks before. She finished in a time of 4.15.35 (h.m.s), despite a nasty fall six miles (9.7 km) from the finishing line, and received the award for the fastest 55-year-old competitor. Nepal run In April 2003 Rosie ran across Nepal to raise money for the Nepal Trust, a small charity which carries out development work in the remote rural areas of North-West Nepal in a region referred to as the 'Hidden Himalayas'. The journey from one end of Nepal to the other was and established a new world-record time of 68 days. Rosie also raised over US$8000 which was used to help sponsor a health camp at the district headquarters of Simikot, Humla. Running around the world When her second husband, Clive, 73, died of prostate cancer in 2002, Rosie decided to run around the world to raise money for the Prostate Cancer Charity and an orphanage in Kitezh, Russia which provides children with education and care. Her aim was to run around the northern hemisphere taking in as much land mass as possible, with no support crew and just minimal supplies and sponsorship. Rosie started from her home town of Tenby in Wales on her 57th birthday, 2 October 2003, where her first footfall is engraved in a flagstone on her front step. Equipped with just a small specially designed cart of food and basic camping equipment, the trip was funded by renting out her cottage. By 5 April 2004, she reached Moscow, Russia, and on 15 September 2005, she reached Magadan in far eastern Russia. After facing extreme conditions in the Alaskan Winter, she reached the road again on 17 April 2006, and in October 2006, she was in Edmonton, Canada. Four years after the departure, on 2 October 2007, she reached New York City, US. Swale wrote a book about her experiences entitled Just a Little Run Around the World: 5 Years, 3 Packs of Wolves and 53 Pairs of Shoes, which was released on 28 May 2009. and said that the Wicklow Mountains were one of her toughest challenges. Run across America In 2015 Rosie began running 3,371 miles across America, from New York to San Francisco. ==Honours and Patronage==

Swale-Pope was awarded an MBE for her charity work in the 2008/9 new year honours list. Queen Elizabeth II presented her with the MBE. ==TV presenting==

In 1990, Swale presented Channel 4's documentary film Revenge of the Rain Gods, directed by Simon Normanton, about her journey around the Maya World. ==Published works==

Swale-Pope is a patron of PHASE Worldwide, which works to improve education, healthcare and livelihoods in remote areas of Nepal. ==See also==