Thursday, April 8, 2010

Three men in a float : across England at 15mph

A last minute purchase at W H Smiths at Birmingham Airport, was quite surprising in a positive way. I have read a few books along the lines of "we did something silly/challenging in with something unusual".

  • Around Ireland with a Fridge
  • Around Ireland in a Kayak
  • Around Scotland in a Kayak
What surprised me about this book which is basically buying a 1958 milk float on Ebay and driving from Lowestoft to Lands End was the range of subjects it covered, including but not limited to
  • Peak Oil
  • Where the myth/story of Merlin came from
  • Pace of life
  • Role of wildlife in modern society
  • How to get electric from complete strangers
  • How to electrocute your friends
  • The "Health and Safety" excuse
  • The darker side of Supermarkets
Worth the time to read it, hard to put time and very though provoking and a good limited linear Geography less to boot. A good holiday read over the 1st day or 2 when you are trying to remember what a holiday is for.

As you might imagine with the authors being deputy editor and a writer for "The Idler" publication a fast pace was not order of the day. Quite a lot of beer and pub lunches were consumed. The very different writing styles alternates as they take turns to write about a section of the journey. It was quite a challenge, not in the physical sense, but in terms of what can be learned on the journey if you take the time to look and experience.

I have for some years wanted to prove that Wales is an Island and Kayak around it. One thing at a time Clive. Lets get the Bob Graham Round (probably the last thing the Idler magazine will write about) completed 1st in June.

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