Coldstream Guards due to end 400-mile march in Barnet

Servicemen on the march have spent three weeks trudging 25 miles a day during severe weather and sleeping in tents during their journey from the Guards' base in Coldstream, Scotland.

They are due to arrive at the Territorial Army base in St Albans Road, Barnet, at around 4.30pm on Thursday.

The soldiers of Number 7 Company, the only Coldstream regiment not currently fighting in Afghanistan, are also hoping to improve the public's view of their colleagues and friends currently fighting.

Captain Mark Hayhurst, said: “We are just hoping that the public will turn out and cheer us on in what we are doing.

“If we are doing nothing more than raising awareness of what we are doing out in Afghanistan, it will be a big success.

“All our limbs will be painful, but we have to be thankful that we’ve got limbs to hurt.”

The march follows the exact route taken 350 years ago by a regiment from Coldstream in the Scottish borders.

The soldiers marched to London to help with the restoration of the monarchy.

Oliver Cromwell had died and his son Thomas had been nominated as the New Protector of the Commonwealth, leaving the country in chaos.

Originally part of Cromwell's New Model Army, the Guards had been garrisoned at Coldstream to keep order in the area, in the wake of Cromwell's defeat of the Scots.

In January 1660, General Monck marched his regiment south, a distance of some 400 miles, which they completed in just over three weeks. It was as a result of their action that Charles II acceded to the throne later that year.

The regiment became known as the Coldstreamers, and Charles II reformed them as the Coldstream Guards. They laid down their arms in the name of Parliament and took them up in the name of the King.

The current Guards set off from Coldstream on January 6 to repeat Monck’s march, exactly 350 years.

They are raising money raised to help wounded soldiers and their families, and the families of those who have died in action.