AN intrepid couple who battled their way through a challenging 96-mile Scottish walk have more than doubled their initial fundraising target.

Hilda and David Armstrong, from Merrybent, near Darlington, set out on the West Highland Way, from Milngavie to Fort William, on May 27 – Mrs Armstrong's 74th birthday.

Their aim was to raise funds and awareness for research being carried out at Manchester University into calcinosis – a rare and painful condition in which calcium builds up beneath the skin.

It is a condition the Armstrongs' daughter Kim has had to endure for the past 13 years and can make even the simplest tasks – such as doing up buttons and zips – very difficult or impossible.

Of their initial £1,000 target, they have already had donations of more than £2,000 – and they aren't finished yet.

All sponsorship money they collect will help the Reynaud's and Scleroderma Association to fund that ongoing university research.

The walk is the first such challenge the couple have attempted and took them nine days.

Reflecting on their experience back home in Merrybent, Mrs Armstrong said: "We certainly had plenty of rain, it wasn't quite the summer weather we were expecting.

"Our daughter in Australia has this calcinosis and it seemed a good thing to do to try and raise funds for the university research into finding something that will hopefully dissolve [the build-ups of calcium].

"When there is a flare up of the condition, it means that there is an increase in the size of the affected area, with a great deal of pain.

"No one really knows about [calcinosis], because there is only a few in a million people who have this problem."

Mr and Mrs Armstrong, who ran Station Taxis in Darlington for more than 30 years, are both in their 70s.

They said they met a lot of fellow walkers along the way – but joked that they were all younger than themselves.

Mrs Armstrong added: "We are very lucky to be pretty fit for our age. We met one lady on the walk who was half my age, but got blisters on her feet and wasn't able to continue."

To sponsor Mr and Mrs Armstrong, visit justgiving.com/davidandhilda