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Travelling Cat #1
Travelling Cat: A Journey Round Britain With Pugwash
Having planned to travel around Britain in a van for seven months, Frederick Harrison decided he wanted to take a feline companion. Drawing up a shortlist of candidates from the throng of cats lounging round his front door like an L.A. street gang, he narrowed the field down to three.
First on the list was Cheesy, a malodorous moggy who was the nearest thing the species had yet achieved to a complete failure. Entirely indiscriminate in her sexual orientation - she once tried to mount a rabbit - Cheesy was permanently bad-tempered and, on reflection, not the best choice for a companion. Next there was Wally who, as one of the ugliest cats in Britain, was a sort of Elephant Man of the feline world - she had to be ruled out on aesthetic grounds. And that left Pugwash, the most laid-back cat in Brockley, as the winning choice. A cat of rare qualities, he was the 'user-friendly' underachiever who actually sniffed flowers and enjoyed leaning against walls.
In Travelling Cat, Frederick Harrison records, with a keen eye and even sharper wit, the people and places he and Pugwash encountered on their journey around Britain. From magic mushroom pickers above the Wye Valley to druids at Devil's Ditch, his insightful observations recall the eccentricities and idiosyncrasies of a host of colourful locals in towns and villages across the country. Beautifully written with wry humour, warmth and a sense of the ridiculous, here is an immensely funny and endearing book, embellished with photographs that are as entertaining as the text.
First on the list was Cheesy, a malodorous moggy who was the nearest thing the species had yet achieved to a complete failure. Entirely indiscriminate in her sexual orientation - she once tried to mount a rabbit - Cheesy was permanently bad-tempered and, on reflection, not the best choice for a companion. Next there was Wally who, as one of the ugliest cats in Britain, was a sort of Elephant Man of the feline world - she had to be ruled out on aesthetic grounds. And that left Pugwash, the most laid-back cat in Brockley, as the winning choice. A cat of rare qualities, he was the 'user-friendly' underachiever who actually sniffed flowers and enjoyed leaning against walls.
In Travelling Cat, Frederick Harrison records, with a keen eye and even sharper wit, the people and places he and Pugwash encountered on their journey around Britain. From magic mushroom pickers above the Wye Valley to druids at Devil's Ditch, his insightful observations recall the eccentricities and idiosyncrasies of a host of colourful locals in towns and villages across the country. Beautifully written with wry humour, warmth and a sense of the ridiculous, here is an immensely funny and endearing book, embellished with photographs that are as entertaining as the text.
- GenresNonfictionCats
112 pages, Paperback
First published September 29, 1988
21 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 8, 2019
Happy International Cat Day! If Tom Cox had been born 20 years earlier, this is the sort of book he might have written. In 1987, saddened more by his cat Podey being run over than by the end of his marriage, Harrison set out from South London in his Ford Transit van for a seven-month drive around the country. He decided to take Pugwash, one of his local (presumably ownerless) cats, along as a companion. They encountered Morris dancers, gypsies, hippies at Stonehenge for the Summer Solstice, sisters having a double wedding, and magic mushroom collectors. They went to a county fair and beaches in Suffolk and East Yorkshire, and briefly to Hay-on-Wye. And on the way back they collected Podey, whom he’d had stuffed. Harrison muses on the English “vice” of nostalgia for a past that probably never existed; Pugwash does what cats do, and very well. It’s all a bit silly and dated and lightweight, but enjoyable nonetheless. Plus there are tons of black-and-white photos of “Pugs” and other feline friends.
Favorite lines:
“Cats hate to make prats of themselves. But then, don’t we all?”
(last lines) “Warm, fed, contented, unemployable, and entirely at peace with the world. Yes indeed. Cats certainly know something we don’t.”
Favorite lines:
“Cats hate to make prats of themselves. But then, don’t we all?”
(last lines) “Warm, fed, contented, unemployable, and entirely at peace with the world. Yes indeed. Cats certainly know something we don’t.”
October 17, 2012
An observation of the UK during the 80s, done by a man and his Cat.
Frederick Harrison takes off with his adopted cat Pugwash and spends a few months travelling the UK in his camper van. It was written towards the end of the 1980s and gives a funny and realistic account of the state of the country at that time. I don't know if this was intentional, but it has always been one of the funniest and touching books I've ever read. I first got it as a present over 20 years ago, and it has remained one of my favourite travel books of all time.
Frederick Harrison takes off with his adopted cat Pugwash and spends a few months travelling the UK in his camper van. It was written towards the end of the 1980s and gives a funny and realistic account of the state of the country at that time. I don't know if this was intentional, but it has always been one of the funniest and touching books I've ever read. I first got it as a present over 20 years ago, and it has remained one of my favourite travel books of all time.
May 26, 2017
This might be a read that requires local knowledge to enjoy. I'm going to pass it onto an English friend to get his opinion.
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August 2, 2019I learned of this book in a photo in this post: https://bookishbeck.wordpress.com/201...
January 12, 2016
I was given a copy of this and had a delightful time rereading it after many years. Frederick Harrison has a wonderful turn of phrase and impish humor. Pugwash is SO photogenic - that sweet face.
But I still can't believe anyone could take a cat around unknown places without losing it!.
I'm looking forward to their adventures in Ireland: this time with Cheesy. Can smell it already.
But I still can't believe anyone could take a cat around unknown places without losing it!.
I'm looking forward to their adventures in Ireland: this time with Cheesy. Can smell it already.
January 8, 2008
A man & his cat travel around Britain in a van for seven months, illustrated with photographs. The author has a keen with & his observations are funny & endearing, as is the relationship with traveling companion, Pugwash.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews