Ellie Pawlett, daughter of Kate Pawlett, director and manager of the World of James Herriot in Thirsk, has completed a trek to Everest Base Camp with a special mission. She carried a banner reading “World of James Herriot, High in the Himalayas” to celebrate the attraction’s place in the top 10% of global tourism destinations on Tripadvisor.
Ellie, 27, a nurse at Northumbria Healthcare who worked at the World of James Herriot as a teenager, took on the trek as a personal challenge. She first became interested in such expeditions after walking and climbing Roseberry Topping in the North York Moors National Park and Helvellyn in the Lake District.
“Mum and I were discussing the trip when she told me about the Tripadvisor award and I said ‘Why don’t I take the World of James Herriot to the top of the world?’” said Ellie.
Alan Hinkes, OBE, a friend of the attraction and the first Briton to climb all of the world’s 8000-metre peaks across the Himalaya and Karakoram ranges, heard about Ellie’s trek and was impressed. After the expedition, the pair met at the World of James Herriot, where Alan signed his book 8000 Metres for Ellie.
“It’s great to meet Ellie after such an achievement and I’m really impressed with the way she prepared for it and showed such determination to manage and complete the trek to Everest Base Camp, which is a risky endeavour, very arduous, can involve days and days of trekking, acute mountain sickness, other hazards and can be potentially fatal. You have to know what you are doing,” said Alan.
Ellie added: “I’ve always enjoyed hiking, and this was the ultimate challenge for me before the next chapter in my life. Displaying the World of James Herriot banner at such an iconic location was a great thing to do for my Mum and the team at World of James Herriot.”
“Ellie has told me that she met some lovely people in Nepal which is a lovely place, nearly as nice as North Yorkshire’s Herriot Country,” quipped Alan.
The trek marks a personal milestone for Ellie and a symbolic moment for the World of James Herriot, combining local heritage with the world’s highest peaks.
