FARNHAM Town Crier Jonathan Jones will be exchanging his coat, tricorn hat and bell for a pair of Speedos, swimming goggles and swim cap when he takes part in an English Channel Relay Swim on behalf of the Aspire Charity this August.

Jonathan, a retired IT quality assurance specialist and resident of Hale for more than 30 years, will form part of the ‘Sea Dragon’ relay team alongside newly qualified doctor Annie, retired headteacher Neil, speech therapist Juliet, surveyor Ruth and personal trainer Ian.

Each swimmer will take it in turns, starting from Shakespeare Bay in Dover, to swim for an hour - until such time as they reach France, which is expected to take 12 to 15 hours.

Jonathan, although certainly the oldest team member at 68, is also one of the strongest swimmers, and therefore will certainly swim two legs, and most likely a third leg as well.

It is expected that the team will depart from Dover Marina in the dark, in the hope of ‘making landfall’ by late afternoon - and therefore the first swimmers will have a green light attached to their head and a red light attached to their bottom, so if they inadvertently turn round in the dark and start swimming back towards Dover, it can be easily spotted from the pilot boat.

Jonathan attended a military boarding school in Dover for seven years, and used to regularly swim in Dover Harbour with his school sailing club. While attending training weekends in May and June this year, he was able to visit some “old haunts”, albeit 50 years on.

The hardest part for Jonathan was completing the mandatory two-hour swim in water which was 16 degrees celcius or less. On the first two occasions he had to be pulled from the water, suffering from hypothermia - but on the third attempt he was successful.

The actual relay will take place the week commencing August 3, dependant upon tides and weather. Hopefully by then the sea temperatures will have reached a balmy 18 to 20 degrees - though this brings the added peril of jellyfish.

Jonathan is planning to take his bell with him and give an ‘Oyez’, which is Norman French for ‘to hear’, as he staggers up the beach in France to collect the obligatory pebble to bring back as a memento of the crossing.

He has already raised £2,500 for the Aspire Charity, by donating the fees he has received for giving talks to various groups during the year. He also has a ‘Just Giving’ page, if anyone would like to donate to Aspire, a very worthwhile charity supporting people with spinal injuries, online at www.justgiving.com/jonathanfjones.