A councillor is set to embark on a quest to rediscover a lost 45-mile walking trail to raise money for a stroke charity.

Rupert Barnes, who represents the Dickinsons Ward of Croxley Green at Three Rivers District Council, will begin his adventure on October 21, in a bid to encourage healthy exercise and explore the “lost corners” of Middlesex.

He will start at the south-western corner of Middlesex, beside the Thames in Staines, and will walk north to “see where it leads” over three days, while also blogging as he goes to raise awareness of the Stroke Association charity.

Cllr Barnes said: “The Middlesex Greenway can be a fine asset to encourage walking for health and delight. It explores some forgotten green corners, and some more familiar places approached from novel directions.

“It passes frequent tube and overground stations, allowing easy access and escape when walking sections The Greenway is also a celebration of a county left in the shadows – Middlesex.

“In Hertfordshire we have a wealth of footpaths, and I am looking at fun family routes and some more challenging routes, for encouraging walking locally.”

He was inspired by writer and rambler Stephen Collins, who devised the Middlesex Greenway route in the 1990s as a forty-five mile regional walking route around the green edges of Middlesex, but when it was not taken up by TfL’s predecessors, the route was largely forgotten.

The Greenway was to run from the Thames at Staines to the Hertfordshire border beyond Enfield, looping around the western and northern edges of the county.

Mr Collins suffered a stroke two years ago, which left him unable to revisit his creation, but Cllr Barnes, who has been a keen walker all his life, has accepted the challenge of “bringing it back to life”.

To follow Cllr Barnes’ blog or donate, visit: www.wildthinguk.co.uk