Overview of our Trip

Two workmates, two bikes, two thousand miles, four corners and one week... This is the story of Paul Mason and Tim Morton, who decided on a whim to ride to the four corners of mainland Britain on their motorbikes, taking the opportunity to ride roads and view scenery that previously we had only known as lines on a map…

Our journey began at 2pm on Tuesday 9 September 2008…well it would have done if it weren’t for all the faffing and pre-flight checks! We eventually got away at just after 3pm and despite the rain, it was a great feeling to be riding with Tim with this long adventure and a week away from the office stretching ahead of us. Over the next 7 days (and 5 hours!) we would ride along 2400 miles of UK roads, from motorways to single track with passing places, past stunning scenery and national points of interest guided by satnav that sometimes frustrated, but also saved time and simplified logistics for our adventure.

We met and stayed with friends from each of our pasts. Seeing the irrepressible Martin Shelley again was a life-changing experience in itself, whilst Jake’s mountainous chilli and kind hospitality came at just the right time to rejuvenate our spirits.

We rode long distances at speed and enjoyed the scenery when we could (at slower speed), but there was always an imperative to ride on – hypnotic in its own way, but also a disappointment that we couldn’t enjoy the views and venture outside our virtual corridor and off the road into the beautiful Scottish wilderness. Achieving all four corners in such a short period of time certainly provided an immense sense of achievement (especially the incredibly remote Cape Wrath), yet the highlight for me was the ride between John O’Groats and Ullapool, on the northern and northwestern side of Scotland (along the A836, A838 and A894). The scenery was stunning and really felt like ‘geography in action’ with the plethora of tectonic, volcanic, glacial and fluvial features combining into a beautiful, organic and natural tapestry that struck one with its imposing sense of scale and place.

In addition to the four corners, we visited Dover, Cambridge, Tillicoultry, Dunnet Head (the most northerly point on the British mainland), Inverness, the Isle of Arran, Worcester, Looe, Oban, and took in pretty much all of the A1M, much of the M6 and all the M5. We crossed majestic bridges, rode past the Angel of the North, saw Gleneagles, Aberfeldy cinema, met Liz McLean in Brodick Co-op (on the Isle of Arran), had home-made cream teas at Crewkerne (whilst wearing motorbike leathers) and still made it home to Hampshire in time for work, 12 hours after we got back. We became better riders, featured in our very own trailer for Britain and now know what Glaswegian police riders mean when they euphemistically ask “Were you carrying some speed…?”

See the four corners (on OS Explore) and more of our pictures at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34529279@N02/sets/72157612806752037/ and our video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxwI6BLaF_I

...Discuss the ride with us at our home forum: www.osbikers.net...

Or start reading about our trip from Day One

Day Eight - Homeward Bound

Stats for the whole trip:
Distance covered: 2045 miles
Elapsed time: Seven days, five hours
Traveling time: 51 hrs
Corners visited: 4

Stats for Tuesday:
Distance: 193 miles
Elapsed time: 8 hrs
Traveling time: 4 hrs 19 min
Moving Average: 43 mph















Charlie and Paul

Thanks to Charlie's hospitatility, we found ourselves over eighty miles closer to home than we had originally planned, so the last leg of our trip was easier than we expected.


Just as well really - eight days without a rest day has been tough going and we are both ready for a rest.


Our only stop today was to visit Tim's folks near Crewkerne for a proper Engish tea, with fresh scones and cake. We also took a minor detour to see what we think might be the lowest road brisge in the UK - unless anybody knows different?















Is this the lowest road bridge in the UK?


Then it was on to Southampton to complete the ride; the circle squared at 19h00.

Meeting the challenge of visiting the four corners of mainland Britain has been elating. We have become better riders by practice and experience and we have had a lot of fun too.

The biggest regret has been that we have not had more time to enjoy the company of the people we have met and stay with along the way; almost as regretful is that we have seen some truly beautiful parts of Britain wizz past but we have not had the time to stop; even to take a quick photo.

Back in Southampton.

The Four Corners has been like a trailer for Britain: watch this space for the main feature...

Day Seven - Monday

Stats for Monday:

Distance: 362 miles

Elapsed time: 11hrs 40min

Moving average: 54mph

Traveling time: 6hrs 40min

Corners visited today: 1

Total corners visited: 4

Our thanks to Ruth and to Martin for their wonderful hospitality in Worcester; fully rested, we hit the road for the last corner: Land's end.

The weather held for the long slog down the M5 and into the middle of Dartmoor, where we stopped for a quick mug of tea at the Plume of Feathers in Princetown before heading South West towards Penznace.














Crossing Dartmoor

The Plume of Feathers at Princetown

By the time we reached Penzance, we were driving through low cloud and fine rain in fading light - the worst conditions we have experienced on the entire expedition.

We travelled the last five miles to the fourth corner of mainland Britain gingerly picking our way through the fog on slippery roads with misted visors to arrive soggy but elated at the commercial abomination that is Land's End.














We made it!

Paul reveals the secret of our success... OS maps!

Steeling ourselves against the temptation to visit the building-sized recreation of the Tardis or to fill our luggage with souvenir trinkets bearing a striking resemblance to the merchandise that assailed the senses in the John'O Groats "gift" shop, we beat our way around the headland to identify the bottom left hand corner:

The bottom left-hand corner of Britain.

Our journey for the day incomplete. we headed back up the A30 to Looe, where the warmth of a four-oven Aga and Charlie Middleton's excellent home cooking awaited us.

Charlie's Aga - cooking our dinner and drying our clothes at the same time: SO versatile!

Tomorrow, we have but 180miles to cover to return to Southampton, washing machines, clean clothes and chairs that don't fall over if you forget to put your feet down...

Day Six - Sunday

Stats for Saturday:
Distance: 282 miles
Elapsed time: 11½ hrs
Movin average: 59 mph
Travelling time: 6h25
Hangovers: 0
Corners visited today: 0

Waking to the view across Lochranza was a treat that now seems a million miles away, though it is really only 282.

After a mad dash over a mountain pass in the middle of the island to visit a traditional Arran sweater outlet, we made the ferry to Ardrossan with moments to spare.

Arran was good to us - beautiful weather, friendly people and magnificant views. Another mark on the map to be visited again.

Sadly, Tim's camera suffered its second fall of the holiday this morning, hitting the steel of the car deck when it fell of the saddle of the bike. Apparently, steel is far less forgiving than the granite that it had fallen onto without consequence earlier in the trip; the photos we shot from the mount on the Pan all bear the telling signs of a camera that can no longer focus.

For today at least, this made little difference as our entire day was concerned with getting down the A74 and the M6/M5 to Worcester as fast as we could.

We arrived safely with Ruth and Martin at around 19h00 to be greeted by a wonderful hospitality, a hearty meal and great company. It would be rude to type all night and not jion in...

More tomorrow - from Land's End with a little luck!

Day Five - Saturday

Stats for Saturday:
Distance: 180 miles
Elapased time 9hrs
Driving time: 5hrs
Moving average: 36mph
Hangovers: 2
Corners today: 0

Rain. After the brillant sunshine and dry roads of yesterday, today
has been a trial; probably the hardest drive of the trip so far. The
road down the side of Loch Ness, onto Oban and on to Clonaig were
filled with traffic, obscured by a persistent light rain and slick
with road-flim. On a say when neither of us was well-equipped to
concentrate, the conditions demanded more than we have needed yet on
this trip.

To compensate and to avoid accidents, we stoped frequently, ate heartily and drank plenty of fluids. It worked; despite the better efforts of the bends of r Argyle an dBUte to throw us off, we made it to Clonaig just as the sun burst from the clouds to light our way to a
tranquil and warm Lochranza.

Arran is fabulous: picture-postcard boats bob in a pictue-postcard bay
whilst red deer roam the verges and the salty turf in the shadow of a
picture-postcard ruined castle. Do we really have to go home?

Tomorrow's ferry leaves Brodick at 11h00 (first one of the day on a
Sunday), which means another long day on the road if we are to arrive
in Worcester in good time to see Ruth and Martin.

Day Four - Friday

Stats for day four:
Distance: 239 miles
Elapsed time: 12hrs
Driving time: 6h20m
Moving average: 37mph
Corners visited today: 1

There can be no doubt we have done this the right way round; the scenery of the North East coast of Scotland had wowed us on the way to Duncansby Head but it was tame by comparison with Britain's most Northery road, which we followed today to the tiny hamlet of Durness (population 300). En route, we passed from Caithness back into Sutherland, Britain's largest county. According to a very dehydrated local, there has been almost no rain in Sutherland all summer; "...the go-luf balls are fairly pinging off the turf", he reported in a lilting brouge that sounds like an audition for Dr Finlay's Casebook.

Time has very little meaning in Sutherland, unless perhaps it is associated with the tides. We had arranged by phone with Mrs Mackay (who was leading the field in the race to play Dr. Finlay's houskeeper, Janet) for a motorboat to take us across the Sound of Durness at 12h30, giving us time enough for the long drive from Durness to Inverness later in the day...

Sitting in the warm sunshine by the slipway, we reflected that "the Sound of Durness" is a complete misnomer, as there really isn't any sound at all; even the tide comes in silently.

Running exactly on Sutherland time, the ferryman, John Johnson, arrived promptly at 14h00 to take us across the Sound and to drive us a teeth-rattling 12miles to the tip of the Cape in a Mercedes minibus of greatly advanced age and dubious mechanical integrity.

Roughly half way to the Cape, we witnesed the approach of a second, equally delapidated minibus and we relieved to discover that John, a man who redefined taciturnity (perhaps from living in a silent wilderness) was to be replaced for the remainer of the trip by the affable and informative Davey.

Over the sound of rocks pinging off the underside of the vehicle and the axles thudding against the stops for want of anything that might resemble suspension, Davey regaled us with witty aphorisms related to the local history and generally made a big effort to entertain and inform.

Perhaps most astonishing information was that the winds measured at the lighthouse have exceeded 147mph; nobody knows by quite how much as the National Lighthouse Board doesn't have an instrument capable of recording above that figure!

Thankfully, it was flat calm when we arrived to stand as close as safely possible to the top left-hand corner of mainland Britain. Our third corner and by far the toughest.

You may remember earlier today I was waxing lyrical about the scenery between John O' Groats and Durness... Whilst it is undeniably lovely, nothing prepared us for the journey from Durness to Ullapool this afternoon. I doubt there are adequate superlatives to convey the splendour, the ruggedness, the majesty or the sheer beauty of Western Sutherland.

Round every corner (and there are a lot of corners on the single-track road with passing places) there was a new wonder to fill the eye and tempt another stop to take photos.

Sadly the cost of visting four corners in eight days is that there is little time to tarry, so many a purple-fringed mountain and many a glassy loch were captured only in our imaginations; we will simply have to mount another expedition to this exraordinary part of Britain: coming to a blog near you...sometime.

Elated from our vist to the top left-hand corner and awed by our journey through Western Sutherland, we arrived in Inverness on a balmy evening to be greeted by Neil (Paul's Phd supervisor) and his partner, Shiela, whilst we lowered the tone of their tranquil road by arriving on fly-encrusted motorbikes looking like extras from Mad Max.

There ensued a relaxed and entertaining evening during which we were thoroughly spoilt by Shiela's excellent cooking and treated to rather more of their favourite red wine than may have been wise for people facing a long day in the saddle and the promise from the Met office of driving rain and a strong South-Westerly breeze... Needless to say, caution in the case was cast to the same South-Westerly wind!

Day Three - Thursday

Stats for Thusday 11 Sept:

Distance: 361 miles
Average Speed: 46mph
Elapsed time: 10 hours
Driving time: 8hrs

Leaving behind us the warmth and hospitality Of Martin Shelly and of Irene Goddard (with whom we stayed at here lovely B&B), we headed mostly North.

"Mostly" because a glitch on the TomTom took us about 20miles South for no well explained reason but once we sorted that out we were well on the way. Inverness basked in September sunshine (no, REALLY!) as we sat on the grass by the tourist information office and ate today's interpretation of lunch - it's amazing what people sell in th petol stations.

Sweltering in an air tempaerature of 20 Celsius, we pushed on towards Ross and Cromarty, past Alness, over the Spey into Sutherland. The countryside now is undeniably majestic; great mountains sweep down around us, dark peaty lochs at their feet, their inky waters whipped by the autumn winds. The autumn winds have also been doing their best to unseat us both all day; coming over a pass just south of Inverness we stuggled to stay upright in the buffeting gale. Sutherland gave way to Caithness and we knew then we were in wild country - even the sheep go round in twos up here. Apart from the obsessive use of speed cameras, unmarked cars, unmarked motorbikes and manned speed traps, our journey up the twisting A9 was marred only by some squally showers and the omnipresent side-winds.

The harbour at John O'Groats. In the distance is Orkney

We arrived at John O'Groats and did the obligatory photo-call by the town sign before making Duncansby Head,the top right-hand corner of mainland Britain just 51 hours after leaving Winchester on Tuesday.

Duncansby head

Fired with enthusiasm and adrenaline from our success, we added Dunnet Head (the northern-most point on mainland Britain) to our itinerary before a hearty supper of freshly -caught Orkney salmon at the optomistically-named "Sea View" Hotel.

Dunnet Head, the Northernmost point on the British mainland

With just over a thousand miles under our wheels, we have settled into the trip and the faffing quotient has diminished significantly! The bikes have been running well and our extra excursion to Dunnet Head (a 32 mile round-trip) seemed like a fun outing despite having already covered over 300 miles.

Altough our arrival in John O' Groats has been exciting, we are both eagerly anticipating the challenge of Cape Wrath tomorrow; we will need some luck if we are to make the crossing of the Sound of Durness and we still need to make it to Ullapool once we get back to Durness after our mini-bus excusion to the Cape itself. Stay tuned to find out if we make it, or whether we have to come back to complete The Four Corners...

Day Two - Wednesday

Stats for Wednesday:

Distance: 409 mile
Elapsed time: 10 hrs
Driving time: 6h51m
Average speed: 59mph

Cambridge to Tillcoultry: the contrast could hardly be more stark; the flatlands of Cambridgeshire gave way to the... the flatlands of Linconshire. But at least the sun was shining; sunshine -less faffing and a good average speed.

Today was all about getting North - fast.

Somewhere we went past very quickly

We left behind Linconshire and its squally side-winds and enjoyed the sweeping bends of the A1 all the way to Edinburgh. Knowing there would be little time to istop and take photos, we rigged a camera on the Pan: typical that it should be facing away from the Angel of the North as we sailed past, and that our crossing of the Kincardine Bridge was obscured by the rain that finally caught us up as we entered Fife.

A highland loch near Tillicoultry (in the rain)

Its been a great day to be on the road - clear, fresh (perhaps a bit breezy), and no serious hold-ups. We made it to Tillicoultry by 18h00, leaving plenty of time to catch-up with Paul's friend, Martin (and his awe-inspiring engineering projects), shower away the dust of the road and eat a hearty meal of local haggis.















The Irrepressible Martin Shelly
(Sadly, Martin's bike wasn't quite ready for this trip)

Tomorrow: John O' Groats and the top right-hand corner...

Later on Tuesday - After much faffing

Stats for Tuesday:
Distance: 296 miles
Elapsed time: 8h30m
Riding time: 5h26m

Safely ensconced in Cambridge with Jakes and Andrea - who have treated us like visiting royalty! We will be sleeping on bellies filled with good food and wine and with the kindest of undertanding from our hosts that we are on a mission.

The word of the day was "faff" - The weather gods did not shine on us save but for a brief spell of sunshine as we came down the hill into Dover; The rest of the time it simply poured! The faff quotient associated with rain is not to be under-estimated - just stopping for petrol takes an age of doffing and donning, reversed with the discovery that some key item, usually the ignition key, is now two layers futher down that it should be, followed by the whole re-dressing exercise: Faffing! Despite unprecidented faffing, we made it to St Margarets on Cliffe, the first corner, by about 19h00. Signs to the Costguard were pleasantly misleading as the Coastguard turned-out to be a pub! The long drive North to Tillicoultry looms large - time for bed.