Clare Wallace has been playing the cello since she was 7. Having been brought up in Gloucester, she went on to study Modern Languages at Kings College, Cambridge.
Since then, she has worked in a variety of places, including a spell in Switzerland. Formerly a music administrator, she is now a German teacher at Sheffield High School.
Clare has a daughter who was previously at Westways Primary School, which is how the idea for the first sponsored event came about. The same daughter now sings in Sheffield Cathedral Choir, indicating a link with the second event also!
As well as being a cellist, Clare is also a singer. She was a member of the Cambridge Singers, who recorded many critically acclaimed CDs under their conductor John Rutter. She now sings regularly in Sheffield.
Clare is also an avid football fan. Although a childhood West Ham United supporter, she has become a keen Sheffield Wednesday fan since moving to Sheffield.
James Rees has been playing the cello since he was 8. Born and bred in Sheffield, he attended Birkdale School before going to study Theology at St John's College, Durham. He subsequently attained an MA in Theology from the same University.
Recently married, James now lives in Lichfield, and is a teacher of Religious Education (or whatever it's called in the curriculum these days) at John Taylor High School in Barton-under-Needwood, Staffordshire.
James is also a singer - with the exception of a four year gap when he was in Durham, and sang in Durham Cathedral Choir, he sang in Sheffield Cathedral Choir from 1989 to 2004, man and boy.
Due to the birthplace and loyalties of his father, James is also a fan of West Ham United.
Jeremy Dawson has been playing the cello since he was 11, having realised by then that he was no good at the violin. He was born in Sheffield, but subsequently moved to Leicestershire just prior to his third birthday, and attended Christ's Hospital school in Sussex as a boarder from the age of 11-18.
Jeremy also studied at Durham University (St Aidan's College), but his subject was Mathematics. He then did an MSc in Statistics at the University of Sheffield.
Jeremy is currently a statistician at Aston Business School in Birmingham, although he still lives in Sheffield. He also sings in Sheffield Cathedral Choir.
Jeremy's football allegiances lie firmly with Sheffield Wednesday. He is also a keen baseball fan, following the Houston Astros from a distance of about 4,500 miles.
Honorary Members...
The
following people joined us as Friends for the second major Extreme Cello
venture: the 45-mile Manchester to Sheffield walk
Chris and Rachel Tyler are not cellists, but they are friends of the Extreme Cellists, and were very keen to take part in this venture! They are keen supporters of the music at Sheffield Cathedral (Chris occasionally deputises with the choir), and all three of their daughters have been members of the choir in the past!
Although they did not learn the cello specifically to play on this walk, they joined in with the sung parts of the Mass (click here to see more on the music for the day).
Laurie Cottam is a former head chorister
of Sheffield Cathedral, having been a
member of the choir from 1996 to 2001. He is currently (at the time of the walk)
in his Lower Sixth at
Shrewsbury School, where he is a music scholar. He is pictured (right) 
with his
father Dave, who also joined us for one stage of the walk!
As with the Tylers, Laurie (who is now a tenor) performed in the sung items.
Peter Heginbotham was (at the time) Assistant Master of the Music at Sheffield Cathedral. He is not a cellist either, but as a keen motorist, performed one of the most vital tasks of the day: driver of the support minibus!
He was joined by Angela Rees (mother of James), who drove her own car in additional support. Between them, they drove a minibus containing the cellos - and vital food & drink supplies - and met us at each of the scheduled stops, providing much moral support, encouragement, nourishment and refreshment!
We were also joined by a journalism student from Sheffield University, Frank Huang, who is making a documentary about the walk. To our great surprise and delight, he completed the walk (carrying a fairly heavy camera), despite never having walked any great distance before!
Other friends to join us for stages of the walk were Neil Taylor, Ella Taylor and Zoe Rees. Anthony Gowing (now Assistant Master of the Music at Sheffield Cathedral) also came in the minibus and provided practical support and some photography!