Nina Jenkin will retrace her late father's 2,286-mile bicycle ride

In 1953, Roy Jenkin cycled around France, Switzerland and Germany, covering more than 2,000 miles.

Mr Jenkin died from cancer when his daughter Nina was just eight years old.

Now Nina, from Turnchapel, is setting off on her epic challenge this weekend, which will also raise money for Cancer Research UK.

The pair's first stop was St Helier on the way to St Malo in France

Now aged 28, she will follow in her father's path exactly 50 years later and retrace a 2,286-mile bicycle ride with the help of his detailed diary of his trip with friend Gordon Newbery.

"On Monday, July 6th, 1953, we got up at 3.30 am after only 2 3/4 hours sleep," wrote Mr Jenkin, then aged 21, in his 1953 diary.

"Gordon had been staying at my house in South Avenue, Exeter.

"My sister Doreen woke us and prepared breakfast. She had decided (!) that we had to start at 0500, but actually we left precisely at 0600.

"We had 58 miles to go to catch the 1300 boat from Weymouth."

And so started Mr Jenkin's trip across Europe, which Nina now intends to replicate.

The pair took six weeks to complete their route

She readily admits the trip is a chance to try and learn more about the father of whom she has only limited memories.

"I knew my dad only as a child, so it is fantastic to be able to retrace his steps as an adult," she said.

"But it would not have been possible had he not kept this fascinating diary."

Mr Jenkin's in-depth diary of his six-week journey, which included photographs, as well as names and addresses of people he met along the way, is shown in full on Nina's website.

Former Exeter School and Exeter University student Mr Jenkin had never been abroad before when he set off on the tour of France, Germany and Switzerland by bike.

The pair slept in potting sheds, hay barns, and even a railway marshalling yard, and the whole trip cost them 24 pounds and 15 shillings.

Former Hele's School pupil Miss Jenkin will be following her father's route as closely as possible and will also keep an online diary at www.voyagevoyage.com.