A 700-MILE challenge across Scotland with just a skateboard, sleeping bag and stove is what lies ahead for former Tavistock resident Laura Hatwell, 27, as she attempts something never undertaken before by a woman.

Skateboarding is mainly a male domain and although three trips have been made from John O' Groats to Land's End on a skateboard, there has been no similar long distance trip been made by a woman.

Laura, who developed a passion for skateboarding three years ago, left Plymouth today (Thursday) to embark on what she calls 'the most curious skateboard trip undertaken in the UK' starting at Lerwick in the Shetland Islands.

She will skate on her longboard — longer than a skateboard with bigger wheels — the length of Shetland, all around Orkney and head down the east coast of Scotland until she reaches the border with England, finishing at Berwick.

Already the first woman in the world to skate more than 100 miles in a day, Laura's challenge across some of the remotest parts of Scotland will raise money for Help For Heroes — a charity which provides practical support to servicemen and women wounded in the line of duty.

Both the charity and the location have personal meanings to the rider, whose grandfather was in the Royal Marines and based in the Orkney Islands in the second world war.

Laura's good friend also lost her boyfriend when he was killed in the fighting in Afghanistan, so this made her even more determined to help the charity.

The skateboarder, who has been planning a solo venture since she gave up her job with a TV company to support a major skateboarding world record attempt in Australia, will be travelling light with a rucksack weighing 12lbs.

'I will be camping, which I think will make it even more of an adventure being at one with nature.

'But I'm not going anywhere without my stove, I need my cup of tea in the morning.'

Laura's grandfather, Len Chester, who lives in Tavistock, has helped her plot her route and will be following Laura's progress via her website.

'It's been really nice to have that link with grandad and I hope I can make him proud,' she said. 'I will have my mobile phone and there will be internet cafés along the way so I can keep in touch.'

A former Tavistock College student now living in Plymouth, Laura will start training to be a teacher later this year and hopes she will have a few stories to tell the pupils.

She aims to complete 30 to 40 miles a day and has been sponsored with her kit by Cotswold Outdoor and Plymouth skate shop Prime Deluxe.

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