Travelling Cat: A Journey Round Britian With Pugwash

by Frederick Harrison

Genres: Cats

112 pages, Paperback

First published September 29, 1988

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.”

[Emma Rapier · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Lisa of Hopewell]

I learned of this book in a photo in this post: https://bookishbeck.wordpress.com/201...

[Moira · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.