WHEN two East Lancashire pensioners decided to walk the 500-mile Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage route they decided to do it in style.

John Cowell, 76, a former staff nurse, and great-grandfather Fred Uttley, 70, have completed the long-distance path in northern Spain not once, but eight times.

Now John, from Burnley, has written a book about the experience.

My Camino Amigo tells the story of the men’s attempts to complete the pilgrimage route over the years, starting in 1995.

“The first time we didn’t have the proper gear or anything,” said John. But they kept coming back, both for the experience and to raise money for the Catholic aid agency, Cafod.

Now the pair often act as guides for people who want to complete the religious journey.

“It’s for those who want to do what we did. To walk in mine and Fred’s footsteps and raise money for charity, that would be great. Usually the difficulty with writing is finding the words. This time the words just flowed. Still, it’s an experience you can’t really put into words. It’s so hard to capture what it’s like, the feeling when you’re on the Camino, the spiritual feeling and friendliness from all over the world. It’s absolutely marvellous,” said John.

Fred, a former plumber from Padiham, and John have been on many other challenges together, including a 1000-mile cycle around England two years ago which raised more than £12,000 for CAFOD.

Fred said: “It’s a story worth sharing, raising awareness of the Camino and all that it brings – love, friendship, spirituality and so many things that make you a better person.

“Once you have walked the Camino, you talk to people about it and they say they know it well and would like to do it.

“This book is for all the people who want to do the walk.”

The book was published by Lulu Enterprises last month.