AS we all know, reading the Chronicle, particularly the back page, can easily lift a person's spirits and put them in an elevated frame of mind as the stark beauty and enchanting truth of the words within intoxicate even the most casual reader to a dizzying degree of airy abandon.

Yet as far as we're aware, no-one's ever had the opportunity, or for that matter, inclination, to have a casual read of Abergavenny's oldest and only rag whilst breathing in the rarefied air of Africa's highest peak before.

Dedicated Chronicle reader Alison Payne did and here's the photo to prove it.

The Abergavenny adventurer made sure she packed the latest edition of her bumper local paper before she laced up her walking boots, strapped on her rucksack, and hopped on a jet plane to fly out to Africa and climb Kilimanjaro.

Kilimanjaro is one of the meanest and most majestic mountains in the world. In fact, it's such a bad ass, it's got three peaks and Alison, her husband Christopher and friends climbed the biggest of them all to raise money for Ty Hafan.

Plucky pioneer Payne said, "In our group there was a cross range of 'young and athletic' to 'I-wish-I-was-still-young-and-athletic'!

"It was a real struggle against altitude sickness and a true test of stamina for us, but all eight of us reached the summit at 7am on Tuesday, October 9. it was very hard, but group encouragement did the trick!"

And once you've reached the top the only way is down, so what better way to unwind before the great descent into 'normality' than with a quick catch-up of what's been happening thousands of miles and oceans away in the Abergavenny area?