AROUND BRITAIN IN A BOND BUG 

 September 8th to September 18th  2001

This is my account of my trip made with three friends in Bond Bugs, from John O’Groats to Lands End.

How it all started.
It was always been an ambition of mine to drive from Lands End to John O'Groats or at least go to John O'Groats, has I have been to Lands End many times.
So some time ago in 1999, I was at a Bug rally having a drink with some of the lads   and they were talking about doing a trip to Story in Germany or somewhere abroad, in a Bug, and I was asked if I wanted to go? My answer was no thank you!! I have not got a passport and I don't intend getting one (unless I need one to go to Scotland or Wales) anyway I said I'm planning a trip from John O'Groats to Lands End, what in a Bug somebody said, yes I replied! Then had another beer, thinking why not it could be fun.
We started to talk about the trip and a few people said they would like to do the trip as well; some wanted to know when and how I would do it? I was replied sometime in 2001 due to the Bug 30th anniversary at Woburn next year (2000).
In the next few months I asked the wife if I could make the trip, of course you could come too I said? What in the Bug she replied you must be joking (the wife don't like my bug very much, she claims I love it more then her "AS IF"). But to my surprise she said I could go.

The Plan
So far is for Five bugs and Six people that is, Ivan Smith (Hemel Hempstead), 
Allen Turley (Dudley), Ian Harris (Axbridge), Harvey Brugier & Manda Arms (Weston-Super-Mare), and Jeff Ellis (that's me) from Swindon, to make a journey around Britain starting from were we live and then meet up at Allen’s house in Dudley on day one on our way to Carlisle. Day two to Fort William, Day Three John O’Groats, and Day Four will be a rest day for sight seeing, Day Five to Dundee, Day Six Doncaster, Day Seven Salisbury, Day Eight to Lands End, Day Nine will be a rest day for sight seeing, and on Day Ten we Travel home, all this without using Motorways.

The Trip

 There was going to be 5 Bugs, but unfortunately Harvey and Manda had to drop out leaving the 4 bugs of Ivan smith, Allen Turley, Ian Harris and Myself.
I got up very early on Saturday 8th September as I had to leave home at 07:30 to be able to meet Ian from Axbridge (near Cheddar) at Gloucester Docks by 09:00.
So, having had breakfast and said my good byes to daughter Lucy and the wife Julie, I sat in the Bug feeling apprehensive and excited all at the same time, I turn the ignition key and nothing happens! The wife looked at me with that what’s wrong look, I said “the bloody battery’s flat”, so Julie and Lucy gave me a push start.
This is going to be great I thought to myself, wondering how many times I would need a push start in the next ten days.  I waited a few minutes with the engine running, then once again said my good byes and set off to meet Ian.
I went along the A419 A417 to arrive at Gloucester Docks at 08:20 only to find Ian had just put his money in the parking machine. I was not due until 09:00 and he thought he would have a quick look around the docks.
So after a quick chat we set off to Allen’s house in Dudley where we were due to arrive at 12:00.
Our route took us via Hereford, Leominster, and Kidderminster to Dudley.
We arrived at Allen’s by 11:45 and we had a cup of tea whilst we waited for Ivan to arrive from Great Gaddesden, (near Hemel Hempstead) which he did by 12:20. We sorted out the two way Radios that I had hired so we could all talk to each other on route.
We left Allen’s at 13:30 with Allen leading us out of Dudley and on our way to Carlisle.
Via Shrewsbury, A49, A6, Preston, Kendal.
This, according to Auto Route, was a trip of 334 miles,   We got a bit lost in St Helens trying to find the right exit                                                     Getting ready to leave Allen's house   off  of a roundabout, so with stops for fuel and food and the odd pee we arrived at Carlisle having done 346 miles at 21:30 and went straight to the pub for a meal and the odd pint or two, at closing time we then checked in to the Travel Inn next door.                                                                                                                                     
Day two Sunday September 9th
Having had breakfast I checked oil and water in the Bug and as arranged, we were all ready to set off at 10:00 to Forte William via the A74, A75 Dumfries, A76 Kilmarnock, A77, Glasgow, and A82 Crianlarich.
This was a trip of 212 miles according to Auto Route.
We were taking it in turns to lead and this morning it was Ivan’s turn, so we leave the Travel Inn and Ivan turns right, then left in to a dead end?? Well I thought this could be a long day.
Just up the road from Carlisle was the Scottish border and a little further on was the Old Black Smith Shop at Gretna Green where we stopped for photos.
We were making good time with stops only being for tea, food and the odd pee. At one of our stops Ivan and myself picked some lucky heather and put it on the front of our Bugs saying we needed all the help we could get,  we were going well, and making good time. Then we stopped at some road works with a traffic light and over the radio came Ivan’s voice saying his engine had cut out and would not restart, Ivan said it had started running rough then just stopped. “Well let’s have a look then” I said, so we took off the bonnet, and  looked at the points first, only to find they didn’t have a gap, and for some reason they would not adjust, so we decided to fit another set. Ivan’s engine restarted and we were ready to set off, (at this point I cursed the “lucky heather” saying that Ivan should take his back as it didn’t work) I only went about 10 feet and Ian came on the radio to say “Hey Jeff you’ve got a flat tyre” “Oh dear” I said (well something like that) so I changed the wheel for my spare, and off we went again.
With some more stops for teas and pees and some to take photos of Scotland’s beautiful Highlands.
We arrived at the Travel Inn in Fort William at 18:30 having done 224 miles and arranged to meet in the bar at 20:00 for a meal.
In the bar we were having our first beer of the day and my phone rang, it was Pete Harris a friend of mine from work, asking if we would wait for our meal until he arrived from Swindon, on his motorcycle, he said that he would be with us about 21:00.
Pete arrived on time and we had a meal and a lot more beer, Pete was also staying at the Travel Inn. 

Day Three Monday September 10th
I checked the Bug oil and water before joining Pete for breakfast after taking a few photos of Pete and Ben Nevis in the background.
We set off at 08:30 for John O’Groats this being the day that we all had been waiting for, as we would see a lot of Scotland’s finest scenery,. The trip would take us along the A82, A87, A890, A832, and A835 to Ullapool A837, A894, and A838 Durness A836 John O’Groats, which according to Auto Route is a trip of 305 miles.
We had a few stops on the way before we got to Durness were we took more pictures and had another cup of tea, we left Durness at 17:30 with 96 miles to John O’Groats left to do.
This was the best drive any of us had ever done in a Bug, it was great. There was hardly any traffic, just sheep to look out for, and we made good use of the radios to give warnings of both.
We were not hanging about, and with speeds often well over 70mph we reached John O’Groats by 20:00. It was just starting to get dark when we took photos by the road sign that said “Welcome to John O’Groats”.
We checked into the Seaview Hotel and had a meal and quite a few beers and a few whiskeys, well they did have 250 too choose from.
I think it was just about 02:30 and we all retired to bed. 

Day Four Tuesday September 11th. 
This is a day off with the only thing that we must do today is drive down to the sign post and have our photo’s taken.
So it was a late breakfast, then we checked the Bugs over. I only checked the oil and water but the others done a bit more I think Allen done a full service he even greased it.
After everyone had done there cars, we then drove down to the signpost.
It was a nice sunny day and there were many people there, we felt quite special, with every one taking photos and asking questions.
We left there to go and find out about going to the Orkney Islands by ferry, but it was too late and too expensive.
So we drove to Duncansby Head then to Dunnet Head, both had wonderful views.
We drove to Castletown where we had lunch, then after lunch we took the B876 to Wick.
In Wick, my punctured tyre was repaired for free when I told them about the trip.
Then we heard about the terrorist plane crashes into the World Trade Centre Towers in America.
So we went back to the hotel having done about 71 miles to find out more about the news.
Before going into the hotel I changed my wheel and put the spare back in to the boot. That evening Ian went back into Wick to deliver a cheese to a friend of a friend who had moved to Wick from Cheddar.
So the three of us had a meal in the hotel and a few beers before Ian joined us later on, for a few more before we retired to bed about 02:00. 

Day Five Wednesday September 12th. 
It was raining as the four Bugs went down to the sign post shop to sign the End to End book. This was the start of our main journey from John O’Groats to Lands End, and we planned to be at Lands End by 15:00 on Saturday 15th September.
The day’s journey was to Dundee, but decided to make a small change to the organized route to take in more of the scenery. Our new route was via the A9 Wick, Inverness, Carrbridge, Grantown-on-spey, A939 Corgaff, Ballater, A93 Balmorals Forest, Blairgowrie, and A923 Dundee.
We set off at 09:30 and had our first stop for tea and, as we left, the rain got worse and WSC 150 K started to have water problems. We stopped and I gave her a dose of WD40 that seemed to sort it out. We then stopped for dinner at Tomatin and had a meal in a local pub. The locals made us laugh! they were so posh that one said he was re-tard (meaning retired) after that we left the pub (only having had tea) the sun was out at last, At Dulnain Bridge my tyre went flat again so I had to change the wheel once more.
Allen was leading and suddenly started driving like Nigel Mansell! So he and Ian raced off and Ivan and I enjoyed the country side. We made many stops for photos and about 13 miles from Dundee Allen stopped and said he had a noise coming from the back axle of his bug. I jacked it up for him only to find that a wheel bearing had broken up, so all Allen could do was try and limp his bug on to the Travel Inn. We got there by 19:15 having done 257 miles.
Poor Allen was looking quite pissed off when we went off to our rooms.
I started making phone calls to get help for Allen, and, thanks to some of our club members, I had the name and address of a local Reliant garage and instructions on how to get there by the time I was halfway through my dinner.
I knew that in the morning we could try to get to the garage and see if they could fit a new wheel bearing for Allen, or may be we could do it our self. Either way I was sure that we would get Allen going again one way or another.
So we met up for dinner and had a few beers until closing time. 

Day Six Thursday September 13th.
I joined the others for breakfast and afterwards we tried phoning the garage in Raglan Street, Dundee, called R.G. Consort. After talking to them we decided that as it was now 09:30 we should go there on the off chance that they would do the work for us.
On arriving at the garage at 10:00 we were told that they could do it some time that morning but did not know when, so we left Allen’s Bug there and went off to find somewhere to go, Ian said he would like to see HMS Discovery that was in dry dock there, so off we went with Allen navigating in Ivan’s Bug.
We all enjoyed the Discovery, even Allen who was like an expectant father waiting for the phone to ring! At 12:45 we went back to the garage to see if, or what, they had done and was told that the Bug would be ready in half an hour, that made Allen smile, but the bill of £65 soon changed that.
So now we had 4 Bugs again and it was 13:30 and we had 283 miles to do to get to Doncaster via A914 A92 Kirkcaldy, A909, A90, Edinburgh, A902, A720 Dalkeith, A68, A697, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, A19 York, Selby, and Doncaster.
So off we went trying to go a bit quicker than we had been, and not having so many stops, just stopping for the odd pee or Petrol. At 18:30 we stopped just a few miles from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne for a meal as we were unsure if we would make it to the Travel Inn in time to eat there.
We topped up the fuel tanks and off we went, the time was now 19:50 and we had just over 100 miles to go, but now it was dark and we were all tired as well, but we were making very good time.
Somewhere near York we missed a turning and got a bit lost as we tried to make our way back in the dark going around little lanes, at one point we stopped at a junction and had to use a torch to read the sign post, to find out where we were, but some how we found our way back onto the right road.
At midnight we arrived in Doncaster, where we took ages to find the Travel Inn. We checked in at 00:45 and none of us was very happy as we were very tired having just completed 331 miles, that was 48 more then we had  planned, I can say that I slept well that night. 

Day Seven Thursday September 14th.
After the previous day and the very late night we all got up late in fact I even missed breakfast. The only person up early was Allen and he had taken the wheel and brake drum off to check the work that the garage had done but everything was ok, Allen even had a small smile again.
So with Ian and my self having walked to McDonald’s for breakfast, Ivan and Allen ready and waiting it was 10:00 and time for us to make the 205 miles trip to Salisbury via A6182, 18, A638 Bawtry A614, A6097, A46 Leicester, A426 Lutterworth, A423 Banbury, A4260, Oxford A34 Newbury, Whitchurch A30 to Salisbury.
Just a few miles from Leicester Ian had a flat front tyre so we stopped and helped to change it. About 15 miles passed Leicester we stopped for a meal and fuel for about an hour.
We then carried on, 10miles from Salisbury; Ivan was having a bit of a problem with his Bug, it was not running too well but we decided to carry on to the Travel Inn at Salisbury, and have a look at it there, it was 18:00 when we arrived at the Travel Inn having completed 215 miles.
We then had a look at Ivan Bug it seem to be the points again so we changed them and made some modifications to the new set so we could adjust them properly and decided to try that.
We arranged to meet in the bar for 20:00 but Ian said he was going off to visit a friend that lived in Salisbury, so Ivan Allen and my self had a meal and the odd beer or five and talked about the next days trip to Lands End, Tony Godfrey phoned to say that he would meet up with us at Honiton the next day, I also had a Phone call from Terry Horwell who lives in St Ives saying he also would joined us on route.
So we were the last to be kicked out of the pub again (that’s the only fault with Travel Inns, the pub shuts too early) so we went off to bed. 

Day Eight Saturday September 15th.
We had to set off at 08:00 but breakfast at the Travel Inn is not until 09:00 at weekends so it was decided that we would stop on route.
A quick check of oil and water and we were ready to make the 219 miles to Lands End via A36 A303 Honiton A30 Exeter, Bodmin, Helston, Penzance, and Lands End.
It was going to be a great day, the weather was good, a bit fresh with the odd bit of rain, but it was getting better as the morning went on.
Near Honiton we found Tony in his Bug parked on the side of the road waiting for us and shortly after we stopped at a Little Chef for breakfast as it was now 10:00 We could only stop for half an hour and we were on our way again.
Going along the A30 near Bodmin, Ivan came over the radio and asked us to stop in the next lay-by, he said he was having trouble with the way his bug was running again, so I checked the points and they seemed ok but a bit blue so I fitted a new condenser and told him to go on ahead while we put the tools away.
When we caught up with Ivan again he said his motor seemed to run a lot better  
At Indian Queens we stopped for fuel, this was to be our last stop before lands End.
Somewhere on the Camborne by-pass, on a bridge waiting for us was Terry in his Bug he then caught us up so we now had six Bugs going in convoy.
In Penzance Ivan took the wrong road and we all had to turn around so now I was leading.
Just after Penzance we were joined by two Reliant Kittens, and Jo and Jamie Harris (Ian’s wife and baby).
We were now two or three miles from Lands End and I started to feel very emotional and even had tears in my eyes. I had always wanted to drive from one end of Britain to the other end and I never expected it to be like this.
With half a mile to go it was 14:50 so I stopped the convoy and told every one apart from us main four go on ahead and then they would see us arrive.
At 15:00 we drove in to Lands End with my new air horns blowing and Harvey and Les was holding a ribbon over the finish line for me to drive though and there was a fantastic welcome committee for us plus loads of other people that had just come to see what all the noise was about.
As far as I recall there was Harvey & Manda, Les & Sue, Chris & Liz, Julie & Lucy, Susan & Lee, Jo & baby Jamie, Alec & his wife, 6 or 7 of Terry fiends, and Tony.
I didn’t know who to go to first as everybody was coming up shaking my hand and asking questions and taking photos.  I remember looking at Ivan, Allen, and Ian and seeing there faces with the biggest smiles I have ever seen.
After a short time we took the bugs around to the sign post for more photos, after which we then went to the End-to-End museum to sign the Book.
Afterwards we bought some End-to-End club tee shirts.
By now a lot of people had left and we decided to go to the Lugger hotel in Penzance so I led the way and once again we had a convoy, this time with seven Bugs.
We arrived at the hotel at 17:00 having done 233 miles, Staying at the hotel were Harvey & Manda, Les & Sue, Chris & Liz, Lucy, Susan & Lee, Ian & Jo with baby Jamie, Ivan, Allen, Julie & myself and Tony who was the only one that I had not pre-booked a room for, it was chaos with everyone trying to check in at once, after I had helped to sort every one at I arranged for all 16 to meet up for dinner at 19:30.
We all had a great meal and lots of beer.
I can’t think of a better way to end a trip of a lifetime it was a wonderful day.  

Day Nine Sunday September 16th.
Most of us had breakfast together as today was a free day to do what ever we liked, some of our friends and family were going home today, Les & Sue, Susan and Lee, Julie and Lucy were going home, Harvey & Manda were going off to find a camping site near by.
During breakfast we were told that the Bugs had been damaged during the night, Tony’s Ian’s and Ivan’s had all been broken into and had their side screens damaged, some were bent but Ivan’s had been torn. (The buggers stole my John O'Groats and Lands end Mugs! Now I’ve got to go back and get new ones…said Ian) (and Ivan’s tin of sweets)
So after breakfast Julie, Lucy and myself went for a walk, on our return to the hotel the others were about to go Les & Sue were off home and Harvey & Manda were off to find a camp site so they could come back later and join us for a drink, Ian and Jo with baby Jamie were going for a walk Chris & Liz with Allen and Tony were going into town shopping, and Susan, Lee, Lucy and Julie were off home so we all said our good byes.
That just left Ivan and me in the hotel, Ivan was just getting up as he was enjoying a lie-in, so when Ivan came down we had a cup of tea and I told him about his Bug (god was he pissed off!).
Neither of us wanted to do any driving today so we decided to go for a walk to St Michael Mounts about 3 or 4 miles away.
On the way we visited a light house museum, we then walked along the beach, it was a nice sunny day, when we got to St Michael Mounts the tide had come in so we had to cross by boat. We had a good look around and caught the boat back, by now we were knackered so we called for a taxi to take us back to the hotel.
Most of the others were outside our hotel having a drink and talking, so we joined them and had a cup of tea.
Later on I was up in my room and I saw Tony drive off in his Bug, so I went down to see what was going on and was told that Tony had been called back to work on Monday so he had to go home.
That evening Chris & Liz, Ian & Jo, Ivan, Allen and myself had a meal and after the meal we were joined by Harvey & Manda and we had another late night and too many drinks, but it was great.

Day Ten Monday September 17th.  
We all had breakfast, even Ivan joined us we then settled up our bills and checked out of the hotel.
Harvey & Manda had come back to see us off, but would need to go back to the camp site to take their tent down, Chris & Liz were going to walk into town before they moved on as they were on holiday and were going to stay in Cornwall for a few days.
Today we should all be going home but we decided to extend the trip and stay at a hotel somewhere on the way home for one more night. We were thinking of staying somewhere near Taunton, has it would not be such a long drive for Ivan and Allen to go home, but Ian and Jo was going to go home because of baby Jamie, but they were going to spend the day with us; so Jo would follow us in her car.
We said our good byes before we set off to go and visit the Eden Project, via A394 Helston, Truro, and A390 St Austell.
As we got near the Eden Project the signs said it was full and the traffic jams were about 3 miles long. So we stopped we had a chat about what we would do.
We decided to change our route and head for Minehead instead of Taunton; this would take us via A391 Bodmin, A389 to Wadebridge, A39 Bude, Bideford, Barnstable, Lynton, Lynmouth, Porlock, and Minehead.
At Widemouth bay we stopped for fuel, then we stopped at a Wimpy in Barnstable for dinner, Jo said that she was going to make her way home from there, as she wanted to get the baby home, so we said good-bye then carried on to Minehead. There were some very steep hills on the way at Lynton and Porlock!
We arrived in Minehead having Traveled 175 miles and found a hotel to stay in called the Kildare Lodge, which was very nice and comfortable; Ian had a drink with us and then made his way home.
We had a meal but I was not feeling too good so I had an early night, well it was about 11:00. 

Day Eleven Tuesday September 18th.
Today we go home; well all-good things have got to come to an end.
We had our last breakfast and settled up the bill, and then we checked the Bugs oil and water so we were ready to go.
I had a phone call from Ian, to wish us well and to tell me that he had got home with his two way radio that was on hire, so we arranged to meet up with him at Axbridge junction with the A38.
So at 10:00 we set off for home via A39 Bridgewater, A38 Axbridge, A368, Bath, A420 Chippenham, B4069, A3102 Wootton Bassett, and Swindon.
At Bridgewater we stopped for fuel, then we meet up with Ian as arranged to pick up the radios and so they did not forget, Ivan and Allen gave me theirs as well. Then we carried on with Allen leading the way as he knows of a short cut though Bath to miss the traffic jams, it was strange now not being able to talk to the others and I started thinking that it was a good thing that we had had the radios, in fact I think it was a brilliant idea of mine and the best value for money as well.
So we reached the A420 just pass Bath at 13:00 and we all stopped to say our goodbyes to Allen, as he his going to go home, Via A46 Stroud, A38 Worcester, and A491 Dudley.
I felt sad when Ian Left us, I felt even worse now that Allen was going home, as it meant the holiday was really coming to an end. So Ivan and I followed Allen until he turned off, then we carried on our way to Swindon.
I led Ivan though Swindon until we reached the A420 to Oxford as Ivan would be going home via A420, A415 Abingdon, B4015, A329 Thame, A418 Aylesbury, and A41 Great Gaddesden.
So we stopped and said our goodbyes at 14:30 and had a quick chat about how good it all was and we went our separate ways at the next roundabout.
Now I was once again feeling very sad and sorry to see Ivan go home, but at the same time I was starting to feel pleased that I was home and the fact that we had all had a wonderful time, I had my fingers crossed that Ivan and Allen would make there last bits of there journeys ok, so I drove across Swindon and parked the Bug back into his garage at 14:45 having traveled 110 miles today and 2270 miles overall. 

Statistics:

The planed Route was only changed in small ways, except for day Ten when we added on day eleven.
According to my computer and Auto Route 2000 program we should have done 2088 miles but I done 2270 an extra 182 miles.
When I planned the trip I worked out that I would do 2103 miles and if we averaged 40 mpg we would use 52 gallons of fuel, at 85p per liter that would work out to £200. 
I used 50 gallons of fuel that averaged 45.5mpg and cost £154.24 that’s only 80.5p per liter.
I used 1.5 liters of engine oil.
I also consumed something like 60 pints of beer (or more).

The bad news:
I had two flat tyres, and the Speedo cable broke, but the Tachograph was still working.
Not bad for a 1971 bug that was fully restored by me, back in 1993.   

 Credits:

 First I must thank my wife, for letting me not only to go away for 11 days, but for putting up with me planning and talking about the trip for the last two years.
Then I must thank Ivan, Allen and Ian. For their great company help and support on the trip, I would have been very lost and lonely at times with out them.
Thanks for there excellent radios supplied by Prestige communications, who gave us a large discount price as well.
Thanks to Excel for fitting in my Bug a Tachograph and calibrating it, free of charge for me.
Thanks to the staff of all the 5 Travel Inns, The Seaview hotel, Lugger hotel, and Kildare Lodge which we stayed at and were well looked after.
Thanks to all the people that came and meet us on route i.e. Pete Harris, Harvey & Manda, Les & Sue Gore, Chris & Liz Powell, Julie & Lucy, Susan & Lee, Jo & baby Jamie, Alec Richings & his wife, 6 or 7 fiends of Terry Horwell, and Tony Godfrey. Plus anyone I have missed out.
A very big thank you to all the people that have sponsored me, I raised £1046.00, for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance.

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