Charity Trip

The little Ape has finally reached Land’s End after travelling from the northernmost tip of the country to the southernest poinst in the space of 6 days.

Day 5
…another beautiful bright morning for heading into Somerset, Devon and
Cornwall, but don’t let anyone tell you that Scotland has a monopoly on
hills…
The Mendips have lots of Dips but an equal number ridges and with speeds
dropping down to 10mph it was quite a struggle.
Good progress through the Somerset Flats (ah that’s what APEs like) then
into Devon in the afternoon where I managed to lose support driver Stuart
and his SatNav and discovered some very muddy country lanes, eventually
emerging onto the A30 and a straight last leg into Cornwall.
In spite of all the hills the APE continues to sing sweetly and we chug into
Bissoe near Truro at around 7pm where it’s a perfect evening to break open a
stubby with Linda, Alan, Hannah and Lauren Susnjaya whose kind hospitality
we intruded on.

Day 6
Yes! Only 50 miles to go now and after a delicious cooked breakfast Alan
takes the APE for a spin down the lane and I think he’s never coming back -
but it’s not THAT comfortable, and soon we are approaching Lands End and the
end of the quest…another peerless morning…the Atlantic is first sighted
around Camborne and a flood of relief courses through me. Surely I won’t
break down now!
Then at exactly midday after 874 miles and 50 hours of driving, we pull in
at the finishing flag. Amazingly the distance on the speedo is the same as
that marked on the Lands End signpost.

Then the long tow back to London and a little concern over slightly worn Ape
tyres after nearly 2000 miles. Peter at Mac Motors had said that I could
have gone to Frankfurt on those treads, well, we went to Frankfurt and back
twice!!
The question is, where do we go next year?!

There are many people to thank.

• Lombard in particular, then HB Ingredients and Grosvenor for generous sponsorship.
• Stuart Boreham for planning the route and keeping me on it and for putting up with my angst during the week away.
• Mechanically we wouldn’t have got anywhere without Mac Motors preparation, Autocar Repairs of West Dulwich advice and loan of a tow truck and Doug of  MOT Welding Services in Worthing for a beautiful custom-weld job.
• Treloar’s, Sense and WaterAid for help & support organising everything.
• Tom Coady for keeping track of me with the help of Directions Ltd tracking device and for keeping this blog going.
• Peter Whyman for his wonderful hospitality and good sportsmanship in co-piloting the APE age 90!
• The Rogers, Wightwick and Susnjaya families for their great hospitality.
• Chantal, Bob, Fergus and Millie and the Rococo team for keeping the house together in my absence.
• And last but not least all of you who have generously contributed to the different charities.

Thank you!
James
The three charities that will benefit are: Treloar’s, which provides education and much more for disabled children,  Sense, the leading national charity for deafblind people, and WaterAid which is an international non-governmental organisation improving access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation in the 3rd World.

The little Ape has finally reached Land’s End after travelling from the northernmost tip of the country to the southernest poinst in the space of 6 days.

The three charities that will benefit are: Treloar’s, which provides education and much more for disabled children,  Sense, the leading national charity for deafblind people, and WaterAid which is an international non-governmental organisation improving access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation in the 3rd World.

The little Ape has almost crossed the length of the country in the space of 6 days. It is expected to reach Land’s End around 11am. Here’s wishing James the best of luck for the final furlong.

The three charities that will benefit are: Treloar’s, which provides education and much more for disabled children,  Sense, the leading national charity for deafblind people, and WaterAid which is an international non-governmental organisation improving access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation in the 3rd World.

The little Ape has almost crossed the length of the country in the space of 6 days. It is expected to reach Land’s End around 11am. Here’s wishing James the best of luck for the final furlong.

The three charities that will benefit are: Treloar’s, which provides education and much more for disabled children,  Sense, the leading national charity for deafblind people, and WaterAid which is an international non-governmental organisation improving access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation in the 3rd World.

Well a very different day! 150 miles punctuated by enjoyable stops…warm welcome at Dukeshill in Telford (wonderful ham and hampers, thank you Julie for our beautiful goody bag!), brief stop with the Worcester News for photo opp. – strangely locals reticent about being given FREE chocolate, but we eventually found 3 girls with a penchant for Sea salt and Earl Grey Tea mini bars to join us for the photo!

Then on to rendez-vous with old Eurocamp courier partner in crime Nigel. The Inn on the Green in Horfield seemed an unlikely spot for a CAMRA award winning pub, but lo & behold 12 real ales behind the bar, and we sampled them all – er correction, we sampled a couple, before descending, spirits refreshed, into Bristol and the Clifton Club, where Iain Wightwick had kindly arranged a private viewing of a BBC3 film about the evolution of the RNLI among many other things. Followed by fund-raising dinner, it felt funny to be on the other end of the charity wheel, but a splendid evening capped off memorably in cedar hot tub in Iain and Anne’s back garden. It’s a hard life driving this APE around!

Off to Cornwall in the morning.
The three charities that will benefit are: Treloar’s, which provides education and much more for disabled children,  Sense, the leading national charity for deafblind people, and WaterAid which is an international non-governmental organisation improving access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation in the 3rd World.

Day 3 will be known as ‘The Long day’. Never, ever will I do 12 hours non-stop in a 3 wheeler again, broken only for stops for fuel and for cuppa with afore-mentioned Cornish hardmen!

Highlights were (in the nicest possible sense)leaving Scotland after 360 miles, seeing that greenery does exist in between Wigan and Warrington (the gloom that had enveloped the lake district had lifted) and finally unfurling myself, cocoon-like, from the cockpit, all aches and ringing ears quickly forgotten with Mags and Jeremy Rogers warmest of welcomes (I swear they’d already poured the beer). Sleep may well come easily, and tomorrow can only be shorter!

The three charities that will benefit are: Treloar’s, which provides education and much more for disabled children,  Sense, the leading national charity for deafblind people, and WaterAid which is an international non-governmental organisation improving access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation in the 3rd World.

Shock in Gretna as APE glimpsed flying by at 35mph! This freak occurence is thought to be due to following wind, downhill slope and fine tuning from MAC motors of tooting… stop Please add to the list of credits, All Round Signs at Fort William who came to rescue in re-printing the missing panel and fixing it to the APE.

The three charities that will benefit are: Treloar’s, which provides education and much more for disabled children,  Sense, the leading national charity for deafblind people, and WaterAid which is an international non-governmental organisation improving access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation in the 3rd World.

I seem blessed with stunning weather whenever I venture North of Hadrian’s wall, and this week is no exception. Stunning views of mirror-like Loch Linnhe as I leave Fort William behind, followed in wonderfully slow succession by Glen Coe and Loch Lomond, and then the majestic descent to Glasgow of which we unwisely choose to navigate the centre… this knocked the stuffing out of the big fat APE controller but luckily help was at hand from the wonderful hospitality of evergreen Peter Whyman and positive (or is it negative) ions of world heritage site New Lanark on the Clyde. It means a 10-11 hour drive on the morrow, but after that it’ll be downhill…

The three charities that will benefit are: Treloar’s, which provides education and much more for disabled children,  Sense, the leading national charity for deafblind people, and WaterAid which is an international non-governmental organisation improving access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation in the 3rd World.