Lands End - John O' Groats - Lands End.

[whole diary]

[Henry]

Rail enthusiast becomes first person to travel Land's End to John o' Groats return by public transport
Thursday 17 June 2010

A father of two has completed a record rail round trip of Great Britain raising cash for children with hearing difficulties. It^s thought that Peter Mugridge, whose hearing began to deteriorate at the age of five, is the first person to travel from Land^s End to John o^ Groats and back again solely by public transport.   



Peter teamed up with Britain^s biggest transport operator, FirstGroup, to embark on the non-stop challenge.  First Great Western and ScotRail, both of which are operated by FirstGroup, provide services stretching almost the entire length of the country.



Inverness, Thurso and Wick played an integral part in the record breaking trip with Peter using all three stations on his way to entering the history books.



Peter^s journey started on Monday (June 14) at 1315 with a taxi ride from Land^s End to Penzance.  He then caught First Great Western^s service to London Paddington and a quick tube ride to Euston.  ScotRail^s Caledonian Sleeper service to Inverness followed and then a local ScotRail service to Thurso.  A taxi transported Peter from Thurso to John o^ Groats and he marked the halfway point of his mammoth trip at 1455 on Tuesday (June 15).  The taxi dropped him off at Wick station and he embarked upon exactly the same route back to Land^s End but with an added stop in Plymouth.  He completed the trip on Wednesday (June 16) at 1457.   



Covering 2175 miles in 49 hours and 49 minutes, it is believed that Peter is the first person in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) to make the return journey entirely by public transport.   



The 43-year-old from Epsom, Surrey, is raising cash for the Mary Hare School for deaf children in Newbury, which he once attended, and aims to raise awareness of how accessible rail travel is to people regardless of disability.



A self-confessed rail enthusiast, Peter said: ^Now that I have completed the challenge, I hope that lots of people will consider donating ^ I hope to raise ^10,000. The Mary Hare School is such a worthwhile cause and really helps deaf children develop the skills they need to succeed in later life.^



He added: ^When I realised that two of FirstGroup^s rail franchises, First Great Western and ScotRail cover the entire length of Great Britain, I hoped that the company would support me and I^m very grateful to First for doing so.  It was a fantastic trip ^ I particularly enjoyed my stretch from Inverness to Wick in the Highlands of Scotland.^



Inverness, Thurso and Wick were a key part of Peter^s journey as he explained.  ^The Thurso/John o^ Groats/Wick elements at the half way point were the trickiest of the entire journey.  In order to get to John o^ Groats and catch my connection from Wick to Inverness I decided to get off at Thurso and use a taxi to get to John o^ Groats and then Wick.  The timing was tight and should I have missed the train from Wick, the whole attempt would have been in tatters.  I was also concerned that I might miss ScotRail's sleeper from Inverness to London had there been any delay on my Inverness train from Wick.  I need not have worried ^ the whole trip went like clockwork.^



^I am extremely proud to become the first person to complete the return journey between Land^s End and John o^ Groats by public transport.^



Sir Moir Lockhead, Chief Executive of FirstGroup, said: ^We were very pleased to be able to support such a worthy cause and I^m delighted our First Great Western and ScotRail services helped Peter achieve his goal.^



Tony Shaw, Principle of Mary Hare School said: ^We^ve been tracking Peter^s progress with great interest and I am thrilled that he has been successful.  The whole school has been right behind him.  We are extremely grateful to Peter for his efforts and to FirstGroup for supporting him.^



Peter^s Schedule



Departure Date  Departure Time  Departure Station  Destination  Arrival Time  Mode of Transport 
14 June  1315  Land^s End ^  Penzance  1345  Taxi 
14 June  1400  Penzance  London, Paddington  1924  First Great Western 
14 June  1930  London, Paddington  London, Euston  2000  Tube 
14 June  2115  London, Euston  Inverness  0830  ScotRail Caledonian Sleeper 
15 June  1038  Inverness  Thurso  1424  ScotRail 
15 June  1425  Thurso  John o^ Groats  1455  Taxi 
15 June  1505  John o^ Groats  Wick  1535  Taxi 
15 June  1600  Wick  Inverness  2010  ScotRail 
15 June  2046  Inverness  London, Euston  0747  ScotRail Caledonian Sleeper 
16 June  0800  London, Euston  London, Paddington  0830  Tube 
16 June  0906  London, Paddington  Plymouth  1222  First Great Western 
16 June  1239  Plymouth  Penzance  1439  First Great Western 
16 June  1445  Penzance  Lands End  1510  Taxi.


Is he the first ?

[Phil]

Sorry if this comes across as curmudgeonly but I think calling taxis "public transport" is cheating a little bit. I'd be more impressed if it had included a few buses.

[plymothian]

Yeah I didn't think Taxis classified as 'public transport'.

[grahame]

Sorry if this comes across as curmudgeonly but I think calling taxis "public transport" is cheating a little bit. I'd be more impressed if it had included a few buses.

There are 8 buses each way a day between Land's End and Penzance ... routes 1 and 1A fun by a company called Second First.

There are 5 buses each was a day between Wick and John O'Groats, 5 each way a day between Thurso and John O'Groats, and a couple of other less relevant and less frequent routes there too.

My own view is that a taxi can be regarded as "public transport of last resort" - i.e. the sort of thing to use if there isn't a piece of scheduled public transport that can be used.  And in this case, it really ought to have been bus and train; some would regard Peter as having cheated, and he could have saved this slurr.   No doubt it made the timings much more convenient for him, rather than having to wait hours at John O'Groats (where he spent a princely 10 minutes) and when he got back to Wick station.

[old original]

and at the Cornish end it wouldn't have taken much more effort...
First bus no1A dep Lands End 1237 arr Penzance 1332
and
dep Penzance 1640 arr Lands End 1732

Poor show really!!

[brompton rail]

Mind you his cunning plan would not have worked at all if he had used buses in the north of Scotland as he only had from 14.24 to 16.00. To have used the bus would have meant the journey would have been a day longer and/ or involved an overnight at, say, Inverness. Then the return journey to London would have been by the Highland Chieftain which is operated by East Coast and this would have spoilt the all First Group journey. The Pz to Lands End bus, though would only have added to First's score! (Do they still run this service or has Western Greyhound taken over?)

[old original]

First still run the 1/1A. There are currently 8 trips a day with the last one from Lands End being at a very impressive 22.45!!
They also run the 300 which is an open top DD on a circular route PNZ-L.END-SIV-PNZ in both directions.

Doing my bit for our tourist industry, I have to say there are some very spectacular views from "upstairs"


Western Greyhound also run their 501, about 5 trips a day and the 504 doing 2 trips via the south coast thru' Porthcurno

I'm not a bus spotter by the way, I just like my beer on a day out!!