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Day 117. 5,349 miles!
17 October 2007 - Land's End, Cornwall

The Homeward Run
At last the epic trip is over and we have covered an amazing 5349 miles and the scooter is still in one piece it has been a journey with laughs, tears, hard work, concentration and of course we cannot forget the water and believe me there was a lot of that stuff and it was a pleasure to see the sun and many of our supporters as we rode into Land's End on Wednesday the 17th October at midday almost four months after we started but we can claim a new World record and we are now doing the appropriate paperwork to claim that record and of course we will also be putting in for Caravan explorer of the year as we lived and slept in that caravan for four months but it has served its purpose and will now be dismantled as it is an old girl but she made the trip with some running repairs as we went.

The scooter is a fantastic model and we at Scoot-a-long highly recommend it as this one has done the trip with repairs but nothing major and completed 5349 miles into the bargain and is still in use out and around the Plymouth area and if you see it you can always stop the driver and ask about it he will be only too pleased to give you any information but now we are back and are preparing the reports and photos for our World record claim. As we came through Dartmouth we were interviewed by a reporter from the South Hams Newspapers who was getting on the ferry at the same time as us so hopefully we will get a copy of that report and post it on the web. But it is over now so please keep logging on to our web site to see what we are up to as we will be doing Draws, Boat trips and lots of other things throughout the year and we are hoping to do an auction if we can get enough to auction off so if anyone had something they would like to donate to our auction please let us know via the website and we will let you know what we are up to.

Thank you everyone for all your support but our aim is to raise money for the scooters so any help is appreciated so once again our heartfelt thanks for you support and all those we met along the way as well it was good to meet you all.

Final 'Report From The Road' & More Photos Coming Soon,
Webmaster.

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Report From The Road - 03.

1st to the 8th October 2007

On Monday the 1st October the two Johns, better known as pest one and two, set off from Plymouth after J.D. picked up J.S. to join the gang, but before we could do anything we had to go to Falmouth to get the wiring sorted as one of the wires leading to the controller had fused due to being waterlogged after going through all the bad weather. We were eventually on our way to Boston in Lincolnshire to resume the journey, we arrived back at the caravan at about seven that evening so it was heads down for a good night’s kip and ready to start off first thing in the morning.

The following morning J.S. set off on the scooter for the next phase of the journey and as we are now down to two as Geoff has had to return home as he is due surgery so it was always a case of he would have to leave it was more a case of where we would be, so with only two of us now J.D. will be doing the driving and sorting out of camp sites and towing and J.S. would do the scooter driving as he cannot drive a manual vehicle so it makes sense to do it this way.

The weather has changed in our favour so we are now on a roll and making about 70 miles a day on average but things are not always plain sailing, J.S. is pulled over by the police just outside Ipswich who say they are concerned for his safety but where do they stop – right in the middle of a roundabout with cars zooming round both sides of him, some safety concern, but he is safe and making good ground. Driving on the scooter it is surprising what you see in the respect of wildlife, we were followed by some rats who wanted to travel alongside us for a while, but the most concerning is the amount of dead wildlife along the roadside; these include deer, kestrels, owls, squirrels, weasels, rats, badgers, in fact the list amounts are endless and absolutely horrendous and not all are seen when you are driving a car, but we continued on our quest and were soon south of the Thames but we did not drive the scooter over the Dartford bridge as that would have been suicidal so we went over in the van and were soon heading towards Dover but we are having to pick our routes very carefully as the traffic heading towards Dover is very busy and it is a lot of big lorries, scary I can assure you with bloody great juggernauts passing by you and very close in fact you can almost touch some of them, but we have not been flattened yet.

We successfully negotiated Dover and Folkestone and the Channel Tunnel traffic, we stopped at a camp site in New Romney on Saturday night and had a good night as it was a large site called Marlies Farm and a good night’s rest. Most mornings we have been getting up about 5.30 and on the road by 6.45 and Sunday was no different, the only difference was the weather as it was thick mist, J.D. took a photo of J.S. disappearing in to the mist; and for that time on a Sunday morning it was surprising how much traffic was on the road and later we found out why – it was the intrepid car booters, but beside that we saw a load of vintage cars and Lambrettas so we assumed that there was a vintage rally on somewhere, but more problems as the A259 was closed and we had to make a detour which was over an hour but we carried on and out next obstacle was Beachy Head which was a very steep hill and the scooter did not like it and as the controller had been changed it had not been reprogrammed so it kept cutting out, but we carried on slowly but surely and are now in Brighton and today, Monday 8th October, is a day of rest so it is shopping dobying and a trip round the town to see if we can get some sponsorship as we are still collecting as we go round; but unfortunately we will more than likely be in Plymouth before this gets through the postal strike.

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Donations
We have been asked by people where they can donate to help our charity, well the details are you can pay directly into our bank account:

Lloyds/TSB account No. 1656943 Sort code: 30-95-08.

Or cheques made payable to 'Scoot-a-long' and sent to:

Scoot-a-long
c/o 22 Westcountry Close
Weston Mill
Plymouth
Devon
PL2 2BJ

We at Scoot-a-long have no paid staff, we are all volunteers, all donated money goes to the work of Scoot-a-long to help disabled children and adults. Many thanks for your help - every donation is important to us and helps us towards our aim.

Day 112. 5,198 miles!
12 October 2007 - Plymouth, Devon

Today is Friday the 12th of October and at long last we are here in Plymouth after a long, arduous journey only the last bit to Land's End to go now.

We had some fun just outside Poole in Dorset when we were stopped by the Police and one of them thought we should have road tax and was determined to find out and after a few phone calls it was confirmed that we had the right to be on the road. But this was the A35 and I had about two miles before we reached the roundabout to turn off to Wareham where we stopped for the night and the Police were very concerned for my saftey; so the gave me a rolling road block for the next two miles and as they went off gave me a good luck message on the loudspeaker so everyone was looking and taking pictures on their mobile phones and other camera's, so if anyone reading this was there and took a picture please can we have a copy for the web site.

We will be arriving at Land's End at about midday on Wednesday the 17th October and that will be the end but as from today we have covered 5,198 miles which is of course a new World Record which we will be claiming through Guiness. Final report will be next week.

Day 100!!! 4,500 miles!
30 September 2007 - Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire

At last the long awaited picture of the boys at John O'Groats having travelled 3,470 miles but since then they have motored down the East Coast of Britain and last reports were they were seen around Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire but trouble were the order of the trip as they had to return to Falmouth as the tiller snapped off after JD took some evasive action. Mike soon sorted that out and they were back on track, but more problems: the control unit has blown but they have travelled 4,500 miles at that stage so we are now waiting for that to be sorted.

On Monday fresh blood joins the group as JS joins the group for the rest of the trip, Geoff has to go home for hospital appointments so it will be the two Johns or pest 1 and pest 2 to the girls on the switch board at  Horizon in Falmouth so they should get some peace and quiet from those two, hope to get some more photos shortly and will try and keep you all informed.
Apologies for the delay with this post,
Scoot-A-Long Webmaster.

Day 88
18 September 2007 - Newcastle

We have hit a big problem and are at the moment stranded in Newcastle but hoping are intrepid engineer will come and get us going again as the scooter is poorly and has decided to rest which will throw all plans up in the air,  we were supposed to pick up John S in Brighton this week but it looks a though this is not going to happen and as he has hospital appointments we will more than likely pick him up at a later date, but we are having a rest day as we have travelled well over 4000 miles, wish we had a pound for every mile we would then be near our target. Hoping to get a full report and more pictures by the end of the week

Report From The Road - 02

Well we arrived in Scotland on the 4th of August and the rain is still falling. In Wales we had to call the police because of a shooter, but we also got stopped by the Welsh police seven times, but only once to tell us to get off the road. John did get stopped for going on the Motorway, but when the police found out that he had only gone on the slip road so he could turn right. They put some money into our collection box John then let the police go, most of the time they just wanted to know what we were up to, so all the phone calls to them prior to the set off was a waste of time and money.

We are suffering from water ingress to both the scooter, and us we had been expecting to get turned away from caravan site as they were full but not due to the fact that they were waterlogged.

At this stage of our journey we have travelled over 2000 miles and are closing in on our own World record. Geoff is still not good but he is getting on with what he can and Simon is doing most of the riding on the scooter as he cannot drive the van so that leaves John doing the driving. Despite all things are working out well.

On the 7th August John and Geoff were hanging about waiting for the owner of the campsite to sign our log. John decided to ask a camper to sign it so the next camper that went to the heads (toilet) John asked, after filling in the log Mr Eames asked if it mattered that he was from Liskeard.

In the middle of nowhere John did a sharp turn into a farm for coffee and as it turned out it was a look around farm and the boss asked if he could take some photos of us with the donkeys.
The next bit of our run will be short on distance northwards but long on mileage and we are expecting to test the scooter on some very steep mountain passes.

The caravan is holding together and we pray each day that that it makes it back to Lands End.

Well the Scooter failed on the mountain pass test so Mike from Horizon sent someone out to adjust it and now it climbs like a mountain goat.

We made it to John O’Groats on the 3rd September 2007 having travelled 3471.74 miles A NEW WORLD record so now comes the hard bit, extending it as up to now we have had a goal (to beat the existing record) but now we have nothing to compare with so we will push ever onwards to see just how far this scooter will go and as of today’s date 8th September 2007 it has done 3698.55 miles and we are not out of Scotland yet.

Day 81
11 September 2007 - Hot Off The Press!

We have just been informed that Geoff has become a greatgrandad for the first time. Born to grandson Paddy and wife Natalie at Burnley's Edith Watson Hospital. Grace Marie weighed in at 6lb 4oz, born at 23.00hrs last night. We extend a hearty congratulations to Geoff and of course his grandson Paddy and wife Natalie.

Day 80
10 September 2007 - Stonehaven, Scotland

Tonight we are at Stonehaven which is 15 miles south of Aberdeen and doing around seventy miles a day at the moment, as of last night the 9th september we have travelled an amazing 3751.31 miles and the story of the day is a good one.

Here we are driving down the East coast of Scotland when who should pull us over but the Grampian police, driver of the scooter was John Duckworth so we thought it was to be expected, but we had been reported to the constabulary by a member of the public who said we were riding a MINI MOTTO, for the uneducated that is one of those very small motor bikes, anyway the officer checked out the scooter and asked where we were going, Lands End replied John, no seriously said the copper, so John had to explain what we were doing, so the officer dipped his hand in his pocket and put a couple of quid in the collection tin, yes that is true a scottish policeman put money in the tin.

Day 72 - NEW WORLD RECORD!
3 September 2007 - John O'Groats, Scotland

Here we are on the 3rd September and the latest news in is that the world record has been broken and the mileage now stands at 3,471.74 miles and counting! We have now conquered the West Coast and are at John O'Groats so it is downhill all the way but we are having a rest day tomorrow to recoup some energy as we have had a torrid time getting here with the weather so hopefully it will be an easier run down. Pending the Guinness Book of Records accepting the report when we get home, it will be a new World Record.

Keep watching this space.

Day 69
31 August 2007 - Ullapool, Scotland

We have heard from our intrepid travellers and they are tonight as they were last night at a place called Ullapool on the West Coast of Scotland and they are hoping to be at john O'Groats by Monday so that will be the back of the trip broken but they are actually bogged down at Ullapool and could not move today as the weather up there has been raining horizontally according to Geoff.

Simon is now safely home with his family and is sorting things out but as of 1900hrs tonight they have travelled an amazing 3,306 miles and the record is 3,419 so soon it will be a new World Record ... so watch this space!

Day 67
29 August 2007 - Gairloch, Scotland

The Isle of Sky now behind us we are at Gairloch and heading for John O'Groats and then the East coast But-;

Another body blow for our lads as they battle round Scotland, Simon is on the way home as he has family commitments to see to and that leaves Geoff and J.D on their own for a while, the good news is that Simon did not manage to destroy the scooter which is his normal game so we are still going strong, We have been through Fort William and were given a 1.5ltr of Whiskey by the Ben Nevis Distillery for us to raffle, (and although again Simon wanted to drink it we manage to keep him from it) so thanks to the Ben Nevis distillery for that But we believe there is another distillery on the Isle of Sky and the boys are going round the Isle as I write so maybe more whiskey for our raffle.

Soon be at John O'Groats and then we hope that is the worst over as the East coast is easier and more gentle than the West and at some time in the near future Peter and John will join the Duo and come home to Lands End. We will be putting more photos on as soon as we receive them and yes I know I have been saying that for weeks but we have not received anymore yet but hopefully soon but meanwhile a picture of our holiday caravan adapted for the disabled at Looe in Cornwall.

Day 60
22 August 2007 - Clounlaid, Scotland
Update on the lads progress: they are now at Clounlaid and to date they have travelled 2,644.86 miles and they are not even at John O'Groats yet!

Day 55
17 August 2007 - Mull of Kintyre, Scotland
The last four days have been spent waiting for spare parts after a breakdown, however they are back on the road again and are now at the Mull of Kintyre so progress is still good.

Day 48
10 August 2007 - Glasgow, Scotland
Photo above is from a chap called Raymond Baxter who met the lads in Ayr. See More Photos.

Day 43
5 August 2007 - Kirkcudbright, Scotland
The weather is still against the team and they have rain again today; that, along with a scooter crash into a car the other day, has slowed them down. The team are OK, the scooter is Ok but the car was badly damaged, so it shows it is a good scooter!

Day 37
30 July 2007 - St. Anne's, Blackpool
We are expecting another 'Report From The Road' later this week. Stay tuned!

Day 11 to Day 29
19 to 22 July 2007 - Rest & Recouperation

| Visiting The Mobility Roadshow |

Report From The Road - 01 | Photo Gallery |
Well after setting off on the 23rd June 2007 we had a slow start to the trip, we had to sort out a lot of little problems with the van, caravan and scooter.

We stopped at Higher Chellew on the first night, but the scooter had been cutting out on steep hills all day so on the 24th we took it back to Horizon the problem was a program fault it was sorted out in 5 minuets then back to the campsite, we spent the rest of the day sorting out the caravan and on the 25th Jason set off from Geevor Tin mine.

We made it to Hayle but only covered 20 miles as the 2nd set of batteries would not register on the gauge so we returned to Horizon to find out we had blown the optimiser trying to charge the batteries out in the rain as explained by Mike - water and electricity don’t mix.

So on the 28th Jason set off again we only covered 21 miles that day due to the caravan needing some T.L.C, so it was on the 29th that we set of for real and covered 56 miles, but we still needed more we have some days built in but we are using them up at a fast rate as the timings are for a 70 mile day.

The batteries need to be recycled 16 to 20 times to get the maximum out of them, it took us until the 3rd July to get the first good day in and that was 78.3 miles, but by now we were wet and cold, it has rained every day and we are having a problem getting campsites at night as they are all flooded.

On the 4th July Jason went down Porlock Hill he got stopped at the bottom by the Police he had been reported for going down the hill with no breaks but after looking at the scooter he did agree that Mike had put breaks on so he was permitted to carry on.

Things are now getting better except Geoff is very ill so Jason is doing the riding and John is doing the driving, by the 7th July Geoff had improved a bit and by the 8th he was back on the scooter and the moment he got into Wales he was stopped for going on a duel carriageway on the 9th we took a day off to do the washing and cleaning the van and caravan. 

Day 15
8 July 2007 - Newport, South Wales
It is Sunday evening and Geoff is feeling a lot better, we have managed to keep going despite all and tomorrow we will have a rest day and do all the washing and housekeeping.

We are in good spirits and the better weather over the past few days has made all the difference and has bucked us up no end, anyway we are now into Wales and have a few miles to travel over the next week but we will be at the Disability Roadshow so why not come and visit us there - got to go and do the washing, now.

Day 14
7 July 2007
We have not as yet received a report from our intrepid travellers but we know they are just outside Newport and doing well after yesterday when they took a rest day due to illness, but Geoff is feeling better today and was in good humour this morning so we are hoping that all is well in the camp.

We have had a few ups and downs but we are coping well and a few setbacks were to be expected and were buikt into the timetable but we hope most are now sorted and we can get down to some really serious mileage. Keep looking at our blog and keep in touch, you can email us through the site and wherever possible we will reply.

Day 13
6 July 2007 - Bad day
Sorry for the delay in this report but a bad day yesterday as Geoff fell ill and they decide to take a rest day but had to find a caravan site to stop and it was eight caravan sites and about seventy miles later thay they managed to book in somewhere in Slimbridge as all the sites on the way were waterlogged and I cannot understand that, have we had a lot of rain?????

Hoping for a better day today and with Geoff feeling and looking Better, so as soon as they stop tonight I will do a weekly update.

Day 12
5 July 2007 - Free breakfast
Up early this morning and on the road by 6am and I may add a FREE breakfast at P.J's in Holford, a report from J.Duckworth says it was a first class breakfast and she could not feed us enough so we enjoyed a hearty start to the day. Still wet but we covered some good mileage today and are now at Weston-Super-Mare so we have left Cornwall and Devon Behind us and will soon be entering the Welsh territory.

As for Jason he got stopped by the police going down Porlock Hill as someone reported him as going down with NO BRAKES, they must be daft, as for coming back up the hill he is still recovering from that experiance. We are promised some brighter weather tomorrow which should include some sunshine and give us the chance to dry out a bit so hopefully we will do some good mileage again tomorrow.

Day 10
3 July 2007 - Good mileage today
Here we are Tuesday the 3rd July and we have covered 78 miles today so it has been a good day on the scooter using three sets of batteries but we are at Lynton, so that means Porlock Hill tomorrow which is the steepest hill in England, now by process of elimination it has been decided that Jason will do this and his reply is "Ive been stiched up" but it is always a challenge, anyway a good rest up tonight and the Hill tomorrow and a few more miles on the clock but we could really do with some good weather so if anyone has connection with him upstairs please ask. 

Day 9
2 July 2007 - New week, new challenge
Hello again everyone sorry we have not been on but we have been drying out as we have not had the best of weather yet but we are well into Devon now and making better progress as the batteries are getting stronger with each charge.

Still a bit of bad weather to come but what the heck we are hoping for better and will be having a break to visit the Disability Roadshow on the 19-22 July why not come and see us there. We are scooting along at the moment and are hoping to be around Liverpool about the 18th July but still got to tackle with Wales. Sorry there are still no up to date pictures so will keep posting some taken at Lands End hopefully a better report tomorrow.

Day 7
30 June 2007
Back again and making better progress as we had fish and chips last night in Padstow, (mind you I think we bought the shop) and are heading off towards Bude at a great pace so we will be the other side of Bude tonight but the weather is not helping as it is blowing a gale and as we are going along the coast we get it full force but we have had a visit from Jason's parents who brought with them supplies of food i.e. some pasties from Warrens so we enjoyed them. Hopefully we will get some new photos next week so keep watching us on the move and we should be in Liverpool by the 18th July as we are off to the disability road show for a couple of day's rest. Photograph is the caravan with some of our sponsor's details.

Day 5
28 June 2007
Sorry there are still no new pictures but as soon as we receive them we will get them uploaded, today is another day of trial and tribulation with bad weather yet again coming off the Atlantic but we are still on the move, we have decide we do need another set of batteries so will get them charges up and that should give us a bit more mileage but we are still well within our target as we had allowed for these troubles  so we are still in good spirits both inner and outer (Hic). Picture: Peter, Geoff and Jason taking a breather.

Day 4
27 June 2007
We are on the move again but the weather is not that good and the damp is playing havoc with the battery power but we are continuing and making progress, fortunately we have not had any abuse today and as we are going through the towns we are reducing speed so that people can if they want to throw money into our bucket but then more problems we have lost a set of charged batteries, well not lost just the power is not there. Photograph shows the team at Lands End & above John 'JD' Duckworth takes a break.

Day 3
26 June 2007
At last after months of work and planning we are on the way, we set off from Lands End at Midday on Sunday the 24th on our 5500 mile journey round the coast line of Britain.

But alas thing did not go well, after the first day we had a few technical problems which thanks to Horizon Mobility were soon sorted out, but with horrendous weather and most of the day gone we decided not to leave till Tuesday morning.

So with thanks to our host at Higher Chellew who put up with us for another night and if John, Jason and Geoff can get up in the morning we are hoping for a good days travel. Keep logging in to see how we progress and the ups and downs of our travels.
John Seamons.

Update
Sorry there are no photos today except the ones of the off so another one for you, but we are progressing at a slow pace and are tonight at Perranporth as due to the fact there are so many small cove to go down to in Cornwall it is taking a while but we are progressing at a steady rate.

Jason was the first driver on Tuesday and that was followed by John D but again we are plagued by technical problems but we had anticipated this so we are not disheartened and apart from some abuse today from a gentleman (I use that term lightly) we are in good spirits so a good night rest aided by a bottle of Rum (hic) and we will be off again in the morning.

Day 1
24 June 2007
The team set off from Land's End and will not complete their arduous journey until mid-September.

Good luck, guys, we're supporting you all the way!

 

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