75520-87A CRICKLADE man was almost on top of the world while raising more than £1,000 for charity.

One day in July David Norman, the owner of a family transport business in Cricklade, was remarking how he liked the idea of the seeing the views from Mount Everest. Five months later he was standing almost 20,000 feet above sea level on the world's highest mountain, 10,000 feet from the summit.

David, 60, and his wife, Sandie, bid for the the trip at a charity auction at the home of wildlife artist David Shepherd in Sussex.

He said: "We bid for it as a 60th birthday present from my wife to me. I've watched a lot of nature programmes on television and I just fancied the view of the mountains, streams and rope bridges."

"I was very impressed with the trip, and I'm really glad I did it. I didn't see a motor vehicle, apart from helicopters, for eleven days. And there were no mobile phones ringing. It was like heaven with the gates shut.

"The best thing was the views. Every time we turned a corner we saw a different mountain. When we reached the base camp at 18,500 feet it was awesome.

"I felt quite chuffed doing this at the age of 60. I had my birthday at Cricklade Country Park the week I left and a lot of people at the party contributed to sponsorship."

David, who had his prostate removed four years ago, raised £1,050 for a prostate cancer charity, and two other charities.

The businessman, who has three children and nine grandchildren, kept up with the other members of his group but it was not all plain sailing.

He said: "Going up was ok but going down put a real strain on my thigh and calf muscles.

"It hurt my knees and I had a job to walk."

Fortunately we had a physio who sorted me out."