Well here we are with my 2004 trip diary This cut down version of my diary will give you a idea of what I had to tackle, during the actual trip the website was updated every couple of days with detailed reports of where I was and how I was doing but if you want to read this now you will have to buy my forth coming book. My next trip will again have a detailed report and a map detailing my current position during my journey. Please click on the yellow picture markers at the end of each bit of text to see the picture and use your back button to come back to the trip diary. All the pictures and text was produced on a smart phone which was my main form of comunication while I was on my trip more details on what I used is available if you click here. ( page to follow ) May 2004 The grand day arrives. A crowd gathered in the square at Corfe along with the press to see me off and wish me well. Chris my brother was there with a video camera and my mum (Jan) accompanied me for the first couple of miles of the journey. My first campsite was at Bagwell Farm near Weymouth and my good friend Oliver soon arrived to whisk me off to the nearest pub for a farewell drink (or two!). [picture no. 1] I had a fantastic, though somewhat hilly, journey through Devon and Cornwall and the weather was continuously brilliant. I had the obligatory photo taken at The Sign at Lands End - even though I was not doing the 'end-to-end'. [lands end picture] In north Devon I encountered the hilliest terrain yet at Lynmouth, including one in four gradients up and down. I don't know which was worse, strangely! [picture no. 2] Oliver caught up with me again in north Somerset, staying with me into Wales. We both stayed at a camping site near Clevedon not far from where I would make the crossing on the Severn Bridge still trying (and suceeding so far) to keep to 35 miles per day average. Typically the only bridge crossing was the furthest bridge extending my mileage more than planned! [picture no.3] Oliver waited for me in Cardiff as I made my way to meet him there in the afternoon. Then a series of unplanned problems occured, firstly the planned campsite for the nights rest did not take tents any more so another had to be found quickly. Secondly the city centre campsite was un-manned so we could not check in there and finally just before Newport huge roadworks meant the workmen had taken down all of the roadsigns leaving me going round in circles for a while. But in true style I battled on and we finally set up camp at a coastal village 20 miles west of Cardiff called Llantwit Major, where I finally arrived around 9:30 pm tired and hungry after a marathon 85 mile cycle ride that day. The next day we cooked a full English breakfast (Oliver was camping but took an electric hook up connector enabling him to take his toaster, kettle, electric frying pan and lamp!) rested on the site and went to the beach in the afternoon. The following day we went our separate ways and I thanked Oliver for taking all the equipment out of the trailer on the day I did 85 miles. I couldn't have done it with it full!! June 2004 On the 6th I reached Llanberis and had the next day off. The view from my tent was very impressive and this photo can't really do it justice, but here it is: [picture no.4] And on my day off I went up Snowdon on the train. This was well worth it since the weather was good - only about half the sky was cloudy so you could see a fair distance! It was interesting watching how the clouds interacted with the mountains. Here's me at the top! [picture no.5] I had travelled for over 1,000 miles without any problems at all with my bike/trailer and all of a sudden I got 3 punctures in as many days in the same wheel in the trailer! Uncanny that. This is how Oliver described the next part: 'He has travelled more than a thousand miles and has been very well received in all of the places he has visited. When I spent some time following him in South Wales everyone I spoke to there were full of admiriation for his efforts and the grand cause it is in aid of. However as we all know some of us have a darker side and are unable to appreciate the finer or nicer things in life. Will merrily cycles on each day to complete his planed tour, however, when passing through/near Liverpool he was actually receiving abuse and threats from some of the locals as he rode through the towns and villages. I personally cannot understand the reasoning behind it, however given the location and the comments from others with whom I have discussed this, no one is particularly surprised!' A few days later I enjoyed a couple of well earned days off in Ambleside, Cumbria in a large youth hostel... [picture no.6]  After Ambleside, to avoid a dual carriageway, I was forced over a very steep, long, rough track supposed to be a cycle route. It was so bad I had to separate bike & trailer and take them up one at a time, in approx 100 ft intervals. Thankfully flat land lay ahead until well into Scotland! [picture no.7] Onward, and on the 16th June the annoying thing was that although I travelled 35.25 miles , I only actually moved 4.5 miles! Hadrian should have built a bridge, not a wall! Headwinds slowed my progress a bit after that, but where there's a Will there's a way! At Ballantrae I completely forgot to pay for lunch and had the barman running after me - although i'm hardly in a position to make a quick getaway! Today (23 June) the rain finally caught up with me and just for good measure threw in a headwind as well. After yesterday's 55 miles i'd had enough after 23 miles today, so there. And I treated myself to a hotel, for once! Here's a view of a large rock jutting out of the sea off Strathclyde called Ailsa Craig - odd! [picture no.8] 28 June - Rain Rain Rain! Since last report. However Scotland's still beautiful. Met another Brompton owner at Inveraray's youth hostel, he'd come on public transport for a bit of 'scenery seeing' by bike. Friday 25th was only whole dry day and on good roads made excellent time going around by Lochgilphead. Found a fantasic place to camp next to 'Loch Awe' - no wonder they called it that ( see photo ). The only down side were the midges, the little buggers! [picture no.9]  Should I go north past Oban or not ? Or get the ferry to the Outer Hebrides? In the end I decided to go north - besides I had to see Castle Stalker (Castle 'Arrrhhh' from Monty Python and the Holy Grail - see photo) and so on to the next campsite on the 50th day ! And the next day - Fort William - half way ! ! [picture no.10] This is the main road between Fort William and Mallaig. It's a 'primary route' which, on your motoring atlas, you'll see is only one level down from a motorway. And yes, the sign you can see, says 'passing place'. Here, and for about 4 miles it is a single track road!!! [picture no. 11] July 2004 3 July - North from Fort William the scenery just gets more and more stunning! At Mallaig Caledonian MacBrayne were good sports and didn't charge me for my large baggage trailer, so I took advantage of their good value 'Island Hopscotch' tickets - to Skye, to Harris then from Lewis to the mainland at Ullapool. All for £23.10 ! ( www.calmac.co.uk ) The Isle of Skye is beautiful, particularly between Portree and Uig. Some hills, but not too bad considering the mountainous scenery. [picture no.12] I heard some very good pipers at a very nice pub the 'Ferry Inn' at Uig, north Skye. This was atmospheric! [picture no.13] On the Isle of Lewis, and the roads are Mountainous ! Nice ferry crossing though. This was at the top of a long climb out of Tarbert, phew! [picture no.14 July 9th - I arrived at Stornoway on Sunday 4 July, to find all of it shut. Only a BP station was doing anything at all, so lunch and dinner was bought there ! Another good ferry trip to Ullapool, but soon afterwards there were hills and hills, then more & more. At Lochinver I made my case at the Culag Hotel and the lovely people gave me a room if I ate there! [picture no.15] The next day the roads got mountainous and the views more impressive! This was between Loch Assynt and Glencoul. [picture no.16] The following day the views really out-did themselves big time. On a sunny day, I reached the top of a pass and was greeted by a view. A valley, flanked by mountains, 4 miles wide and 10 miles long- and I could see all of it at once !! The area it enclosed was simply collosal. That was on the approach to Durness - no photo would do it justice; come here and see it for yourself! The next shot was just after Durness. [picture no.17] Right - Ah ha! Made it to here at last! John o'Groats! # [picture no.18] 24 July - I, at last, started southwards. Also, at last, I had the wind behind me and belted along - doing 31 miles before lunch! A ferry with a broken engine caused me to waste 14 miles on one day then to cap it all I got a force ten gale in my face! Not a good day! Photo is of old oil rigs moored in Cromarty firth. [picture no.19]  After a nights rest I decided to risk trying the Inverness Bridge, and thankfully I just was able to make it. So now I was able to turn east and have the wind behind me for once! Cycle Route one helped out with a top old rail line (inc bridge - see photo). [picture no.20] The next day was another biggie - 63 miles, nearly to Aberdeen and I ended up camping in a hotel back garden (was a camp site once)! - at least the 'beer support unit' was close! The 18th was a short one since I was going to stay with Ian's parents (a friend of mine) - a lovely couple who couldn't do enough for me, and a real bed - thank you! Apart from short showers the weather had been good, then the next two days it was fine all day, waited until I'd set up camp, then hammered down moments later - beautiful timing!! (see rainbow pic ) [picture no.21] On Wednesday 21July I had a bit of a problem with the Tay Bridge - the trailer wouldn't go in the lift, up the stairs or across the cycleway in between the dual carriageways!! Help! - Enter Bruce and his Official Tay Bridge Postie Escort Vehicle! [picture no.22] The Forth Road Bridge came next, and thankfully easily took my trailer, but it was a bit windy! Some good cycle paths on old railways saw me through Edinburgh in good time, despite a puncture! Also, couldn't resist photo of this in countryside a bit later... [picture no.23] And later on, after 39 days in Scotland, I returned to England! [picture no.24] Looking at my tyres, I thought I'd better change them before they were bald! So I phoned a shop in South Shields and I was in luck - they had some. I just had to get there... and that meant over the Tyne, or, as it turned out, under it. As luck would have it the foot/cycle path tunnel was closed due to a bomb scare. This was good luck actually since they had laid on a lorry to ferry people and cycles through the road tunnel. As it turned out they declared the tunnel safe just as the lorry arrived. But looking at my trailer they (the police and the tunnel people) said 'you'll never get that through the tunnel, we'll take it on the lorry anyway!!' (see photo). [picture no.26]  Once in South Shields I found the shop I had phoned and had all 4 tyres changed, a spoke mended on the trailer and a new gear change cable. Then I cycled through the industrial heartland of Middlesbrough -lovely(!) Things started getting hilly over the next few days. A double puncture, yet again on the n/s trailer wheel, set me back on one day and the next day saw a first -the first time I've had to walk up a hill on a disused railway line cycleway, they're usually so flat! And for 2 miles! 1st August - I had no problem getting over the Humber Bridge. All Suspension bridges seem to be excellent for cycle paths. [picture no.27] At Pinetrees Campsite (a little way past Skegness) as l was erecting my tent, two women arrived with two small children and started putting up a large frame tent. 'Would you like some help?' I asked but they said they'd be alright. The wind was getting up, and I know from bitter experience that wind and frame tents are a bad mixture! I got in my tent and two minutes later came the scream. One of the women was taking off across the site holding on to the canvas and a mangled, part put-together frame. People came running from all directions, including me. With about 8 of us, it was possible to put it up and peg it down! A few days later it rained- for the first time in ages, so I made for the campsite at the Rose and Crown. What sort of campsite? The clue's in the name! At King's Lynn I foxed the lady at the tourist office by asking where the public weighbridge was. Eventually she found out and I found out the bike/trailer combination weighed 80kg, without my weight! The next day I just had to take a photo of a windmill, at Stowmill, there are so many around here. Either working, converted into houses or ruined. [picture no.28] August 2004 Sunday the 8th was very hot, but fairly standard - I got lost in Woodbridge and then in Ipswich, ending up in Colchester. On Monday although I did nearly 50 miles, I wasted 10 on a false route blocked by a dual carriageway. Then, not being able to deduce if the lone campsite I was aiming at existed and having to backtrack anyway, I realised I knew John and Joy in Rochford were just down the road and so stopped there! Many thanks to John Stanton for the following email; We were fortunate to entertain Will for a couple of nights as he passed through Essex. My wife is a cousin of Will's mum Janet, so he is family anyway. Mind you, it came as a bit of a surprise when he phoned from a mile away to say he was arriving; we previously knew nothing of this gentle bike ride. An even bigger shock came when we clapped eyes on the equippage. For security we parked the Brompton + trailer behind our converted ambulance/motor caravan. To be honest, whilst I am filled with admiration and can fully understand his opinions on bikes v cars when it comes to sight-seeing, I rather think I prefer the motor caravan! But then, I am old and knackered. Yesterday (August 10) it rained boulders so Will was glad of a day of r & r. He left us this morning (11th) heading for what we call the Betty Bridge but what is actually the Dartford Crossing. That is one very fit bloke: he is as thin as a lathe in spite of emptying all our cereal packets, and with a sun tan that makes him invisible when in shadow.  John (Stanton). Rochford, Essex. 12 August - After a days welcome rest (the first in a month!) at my relations, the Stantons, I thanked them for their hospitality and made my way towards London. John had phoned the Dartford Crossing and asked about people with extra large bike trailers - they said they could deal with it! I thought as I was going near the Tilbury ferry I'd give that a try first -it would save me more miles. Not important overall, but today could be a long day because of a lack of campsites (yet again). And, with millimetres to spare, I just made it on the ferry (phew!). Thankfully I found a campsite in Rochester, so it wasn't an extra long day after all. The photos are of Rochester Bridge & Castle. [picture no.29 & 30] Thursday 12th was unusual in that I saw one pub called the Flying Saucer and had lunch in the 'Dancing Dog Saloon' (Yee haa) -yes it made me cringe too, but it was actually very well done; a mixture of the usual pub layout with Wild West Saloon plus American Indian items. Not a silly theme pub but a interesting different pub. Howt Green just outside Sittingbourne, if you want to know! [picture no.31, 32 & 33] 16 August - Friday the 13th (!) I passed Sandwich and on the 14th I passed Dover and could see France in the distance! [picture no.34 & 35] 16th - Brighton - Got up early in order to make sure I'm on time. Had to do some 'seat of the pants' navigating inland to avoid large hills that would have slowed me down a lot!! - Thankfully it worked, with a bit of help from Sustrans (the cycle network people). Stopped off at my mum's friends (Marilyn & Tim) in Chichester on the 17th, lovely people, made me very welcome. Since I didn't have far to go the next day (Hayling lsland) They took me to visit The Weald and Downland Open Air Museum the next morning which was very interesting -I like old buildings. [picture no.36] Then after a nice lunch I thanked them for their hospitality and at 3 o'clock continued on my way. So on the 18th I arrived back on familiar territory on Hayling and my brother's house. Chris and Susan were again more than hospitable and I had a bed for the second night in a row! 19th of August was windy & I left my brother's house at Baaaa o'clock (sorry 9am - they've got a clock that chimes with a sheep) & spent the day struggling against the headwind. I retraced my steps (wheeltracks) that I'd done on the trial run, but didn't get lost in Southampton! At last I got to Ashurst and a campsite. One more day to go! 20 August. Last full day today a rather showery day to say the least. I think today's unusual thing was getting blocked in at the car park of the pub where I had lunch! It'd never happened before, but, of course, being the last day, something silly was bound to happen! From there (Tuckton) it was straightforward to get through to the Sandbanks Chain ferry and from there to Ulwell at Swanage! ! Now click on the "Return Home" button