AN INSURANCE worker said she broke down in tears during a 59 mile trek across First World War battlefields.

Alison Manley, of Munnings Way in Lawford, took part in the Royal British Legion trek last week, starting in Amien, France, and finishing at The Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium on Saturday.

The mum of one, who has raised £1,730 for the legion from the event, said the four-day trek was a rollercoaster of emotions.

She added: "I saw the trek advertised last November - it was a poignant time and this is a poignant year being the centenary of the end of the First World War.

"I signed up and since then have also joined the local Manningtree branch of the Royal British Legion.

"I'm a complete exercise-phobe apart from walking the dog and looking after my five-year-old son, Lucas.

"I did a couple of walks out and about to prepare, including Harwich to Manningtree.

"But the trek was brilliant.

"There were about 60 people taking part including a guy from Canada."

Alison also wrote a blog during the trek, explaining the locations she had visited and how she felt.

She said: "We were up at 5.45am every morning and trekking by 7.15am

"We visited the Lochnagar Crater and the Thiepval’s Memorial.

"We had an historian with us and he would stop in the middle of a field, they look just like farmers' fields in East Anglia, and tell us about the battle on that field.

"You could see discarded shell cases that farmers are still digging up today.

"I went through every emotion - from awe to shock and horror and pride and feeling what I was doing didn't really isn't enough to acknowledge what they went through."

Trekkers visited the battlefields of the Somme, the site of a 1915 Medical Station, Pilkem Ridge where the front line was at the time, and St Julien where some of the Western Front’s first poison gas attacks took place.

Alison added: "Sharon and Jamie Robinson donated a wreath so I had the honour of taking part in the ceremony and laying a wreath at the Menin Gate."

To donate to Alison's trek in aid of the Royal British Legion, which supports servicemen and women, veterans and their families, visit justgiving.com/fundraising/alison-manley3