FOUR Midlands WAGs have headed to China to trek the Great Wall and raise awareness and cash for the Meningitis Trust. Becky Doyle, wife of Birmingham City goalkeeper Colin Doyle, is joined by Matt Derbyshire's wife Melissa, Stuart Parnaby's wife Paul and Hayley Gallagher - wife of Leicester City frontman Paul.

THIS was supposed to be a warm-up – a chance to ease ourselves into the challenge but it certainly didn’t feel like it.

It quickly became apparent that this trek across the Great Wall of China was not going to be a stroll in the park like some people might have thought.

After taking our two-hour transfer from Beijing through the mountains we found ourselves in the Huangyaguan part of the wall and taken to our lodge – set within a reconstructed Fortress.

This was our room for the night and quite a relief to be honest. Make no mistake these WAGs were about to rough it – but while the rooms were quite dingy, absolutely freezing and extremely basic, they were at least clean.

And to be fair to the girls, they took it in their stride. “It’s not as bad as I had prepared myself,” said Melissa. “It could be a lot worse,” added Hayley.

So after ‘check in’ armed with backpacks full of blister plasters, snacks and bottles of water we headed to the foot of the Great Wall for our first trek of the week.

It started off with a few steps – the kind that most people would be used to at home – but it gradually became steeper and steeper. It wasn’t long before the breathing got heavier and the stride became slower and the layers began to come off – as the weather was unexpectedly very warm and sunny. We made our way up and down the wall, from watch tower to the next with steps of all shapes and sizes, straight and uneven. Some parts were so narrow and steep that the girls clung on to the side for dear life – it was quite a sight.

We stopped every now and then to catch our breath and take in the stunning scenery, during which time our legs were shaking from the intensity.

“This is amazing, walking on this historical site, it’s breathtaking,” said Becky. “And to add to the emotion, thinking about why we are makes it even more special, I never for a second thought I would be doing this.”