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Move Along, Please: Land's End to John O'Groats by Local Bus
From Land's End to John O'Groats by bus.
At 9.37 am on a Wednesday morning in September, Mark Mason boards the number 21 bus at Land's End in Cornwall. The bus travels through various villages, picking up shoppers. One of them, a woman in her sixties, tells her friend that last night she watched 'Wine and Dine' on Channel Four. The programme, her friend corrects her, is actually called 'Come to Dine'. At 11.03 am the bus arrives at its destination, Penzance, where everyone disembarks to go about their business. Everyone, that is, except Mason. He crosses to the other side of the bus station, and 17 minutes later catches the number 83 to St Ives. By tonight he will be in Redruth, home (he learns over dinner in a local pub) to Britain's first lift, installed in 1842 to save copper miners an hour's climb.
The day has seen Mason complete the first five of the 78 local bus rides that will, over the next fortnight, carry him all the way to John O'Groats in Scotland. Move Along Please is his account of the 1200-mile journey, during which he realises that your home country is often the one you know least. Combining the same mix of observation and trivia with which his Walk the Lines captured London, Mason creates a paint-by-bus-numbers portrait of Britain. We learn that the phrase 'Peeping Tom' originated in Coventry (Tom was the only man to see Lady Godiva's naked ride through the city)... that a medieval spelling mistake gave the Duke of Devonshire a chunk of Derbyshire... and that Loch Ness could hold the water from all the lakes in England and Wales combined. Amusing, informative and wistful by terms, this is the story of Britain in 78 bus journeys.
At 9.37 am on a Wednesday morning in September, Mark Mason boards the number 21 bus at Land's End in Cornwall. The bus travels through various villages, picking up shoppers. One of them, a woman in her sixties, tells her friend that last night she watched 'Wine and Dine' on Channel Four. The programme, her friend corrects her, is actually called 'Come to Dine'. At 11.03 am the bus arrives at its destination, Penzance, where everyone disembarks to go about their business. Everyone, that is, except Mason. He crosses to the other side of the bus station, and 17 minutes later catches the number 83 to St Ives. By tonight he will be in Redruth, home (he learns over dinner in a local pub) to Britain's first lift, installed in 1842 to save copper miners an hour's climb.
The day has seen Mason complete the first five of the 78 local bus rides that will, over the next fortnight, carry him all the way to John O'Groats in Scotland. Move Along Please is his account of the 1200-mile journey, during which he realises that your home country is often the one you know least. Combining the same mix of observation and trivia with which his Walk the Lines captured London, Mason creates a paint-by-bus-numbers portrait of Britain. We learn that the phrase 'Peeping Tom' originated in Coventry (Tom was the only man to see Lady Godiva's naked ride through the city)... that a medieval spelling mistake gave the Duke of Devonshire a chunk of Derbyshire... and that Loch Ness could hold the water from all the lakes in England and Wales combined. Amusing, informative and wistful by terms, this is the story of Britain in 78 bus journeys.
- GenresTravelNonfiction
320 pages, Paperback
First published July 18, 2013
10 people are currently reading
96 people want to read
About the author
Mark Mason
87 books30 followersMark Mason's previous non-fiction includes The Importance of Being Trivial, Walk the Lines, The Bluffer's Guide To Football and The Bluffer's Guide To Bond. He is also the author of three novels, and has written for most British national newspapers (though never about anything too heavy), and magazines from The Spectator to Four Four Two. He lives in Sussex with his partner and son.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
March 20, 2017
There are books of grand epic adventures. Around the world in 80 days. Across the Gobi desert on a skateboard. Sailing the Atlantic in a bathtub.
This isn't one of them.
"Move Along, Please" by Mark Mason is something much better. A journey achievable by any one of us.
He sets out to travel from Land's End to John O'Groats using only local buses. He has a fine old time and encounters some interesting people along the way.
The book is peppered with interesting facts about people and places and makes what, on the face of it, is a fairly mundane journey, into something exciting and adventurous.
It's also a look at the peculiar English trait of eccentricity.
A delightful, entertaining book for the armchair traveler in us all.
Highly recommended.
This isn't one of them.
"Move Along, Please" by Mark Mason is something much better. A journey achievable by any one of us.
He sets out to travel from Land's End to John O'Groats using only local buses. He has a fine old time and encounters some interesting people along the way.
The book is peppered with interesting facts about people and places and makes what, on the face of it, is a fairly mundane journey, into something exciting and adventurous.
It's also a look at the peculiar English trait of eccentricity.
A delightful, entertaining book for the armchair traveler in us all.
Highly recommended.
October 1, 2014
I absolutely loved this book, and not just because I feature in it. Mark Mason, for reasons best known to himself, decides to do the journey from Land's End to John o' Groats (Lejog, to the initiated) by local bus and to discover what he can about Britain and Britishness. On the way he interviews me, pub guru Pete Brown and others for their take on the subject, but the real interest lies in his eavesdroppings and his own observations. A pink-coated woman on one bus combines a zebra-print iPhone with a leopard-print handbag. Cromwell's troops, we learn, used Wells Cathedral as target practice during the Civil War and, as Mark comments, 'You have to question the usefulness of this practice. If you can't hit a cathedral...'
Perhaps my favourite bit is an observation on football, taken from one of the many books Mark is carrying in his 'library': `Nearly everything possible has been done to spoil this game. The heavy financial interests; the absurd transfer and player-selling systems; the lack of any birth or residential qualifications for the players; the betting... the absurd publicity given to every feature of it by the press.' Nothing unusual there, perhaps - except that it was written by J B Priestley in 1933.
Dip in and out and you'll find a gem on every page; read it all the way through and you'll laugh so much they'll throw you off the bus.
Perhaps my favourite bit is an observation on football, taken from one of the many books Mark is carrying in his 'library': `Nearly everything possible has been done to spoil this game. The heavy financial interests; the absurd transfer and player-selling systems; the lack of any birth or residential qualifications for the players; the betting... the absurd publicity given to every feature of it by the press.' Nothing unusual there, perhaps - except that it was written by J B Priestley in 1933.
Dip in and out and you'll find a gem on every page; read it all the way through and you'll laugh so much they'll throw you off the bus.
November 10, 2021
I enjoyed this book. In fact I was really enjoying this book. Plenty of weird facts I never knew about. Then we get to page 211 where the author is discussing unusual pub names and happens to mention The Lion of Vienna in Bolton. The Lion of Vienna he states quite confidently was in honour of..... Stanley Matthews. Now I knew this to be an egregious faux pas. So if he got this fact wrong what about the hundreds I didn't know about. Anyway I decided to knock a star off for his cock-up.
But a very good read nonetheless.
The Lion of Vienna was Bolton Wanderers very own Nat Lofthouse, who was capped by England 33 times, scoring 30 goals in the process.
But a very good read nonetheless.
The Lion of Vienna was Bolton Wanderers very own Nat Lofthouse, who was capped by England 33 times, scoring 30 goals in the process.
August 2, 2021
Thoroughly enjoyable.
I am an Aussie who has never been to the UK and many of the characters mentioned (TV personalities, politicians etc) are unknown to me but it made little difference. The inferences were easy to understand.
I like the author's gradual understanding of his own country, his casual notice of people, food, accents as well as sharing the history with his readers.
He was not afraid to overcome his prejudices (deep fried mars bars) and to share his culinary 'delight' (haggis) with us.
All in all, a very entertaining and quite educational book.
I am an Aussie who has never been to the UK and many of the characters mentioned (TV personalities, politicians etc) are unknown to me but it made little difference. The inferences were easy to understand.
I like the author's gradual understanding of his own country, his casual notice of people, food, accents as well as sharing the history with his readers.
He was not afraid to overcome his prejudices (deep fried mars bars) and to share his culinary 'delight' (haggis) with us.
All in all, a very entertaining and quite educational book.
February 2, 2023
A very enjoyable account of a Land's End - John O'Groats journey that was completed by local bus. Iwas surprised that he managed to complete the trip in only 11 days.
I thought that the author did a very good job at holding my interest - even for those sections that did not, on the face of it, seem particularly riviting. I was glad to see that he gave my home town a positive report! He was also very honest when relating te times when he felt homesick.
A fairly humourous account with lots of little-known facts thrown in.
I thought that the author did a very good job at holding my interest - even for those sections that did not, on the face of it, seem particularly riviting. I was glad to see that he gave my home town a positive report! He was also very honest when relating te times when he felt homesick.
A fairly humourous account with lots of little-known facts thrown in.
January 3, 2024
Great concept, entertaining read
I thought the concept of doing LEJOG by bus was great, found the writing a little dull and trivial in places but warmed to it after some more interesting sections where the author meets up with people and goes into more depth. Ended up warmed to the story and the journey
I thought the concept of doing LEJOG by bus was great, found the writing a little dull and trivial in places but warmed to it after some more interesting sections where the author meets up with people and goes into more depth. Ended up warmed to the story and the journey
January 16, 2018
Really good adventure full of good facts about the places visited on the way. Cost him £190 total on local buses to get all the way from lands end to john of groats ! He doesnt say how much spent on B&B’s / hotels etc !
April 20, 2020
I have read some of mark masons other books as I rate this highly,a simple idea part travelogue part trivia.highly enjoyable fun and accessable to everybody,in fact anybody could possibly do it taking into account for inflation of bus prices and timetable changes.
November 7, 2017
A very enjoyable travelogue in the style of Bill Bryson and Tim Moore. Funny and informative.
November 7, 2018
Another book done and I lapped it up like his I Walk The Lines. But he’s potentially taken the idea and the book I myself was going to write, at least on local buses.
March 13, 2022
An enjoyable read if you are into your travelogues, well written and very informative.
December 4, 2022
I love a travel book mainly for people the author meets along the way. This was more a history of the route and not so much the personality’s that’s why 4 not 5 star but enjoyable
October 24, 2024
Very enjoyable journey through Britain, the author writes in a very readable way
October 2, 2014
Hundreds of people have down the Lands End to John O'Groats journey by bike, on foot, in a car even one guy on a unicycle. But this is the first one that I have come across doing the journey by bus.
Starting at Lands End, he catches the first bus in sight of the sea and to Penzance via local roads and villages. It is not a fast way to complete this journey, but it is unique in that he has a slow moving journey throughout the country with time to look, listen and immerse himself in the places that he visits, and to sample the local (and not so local) foods and beers.
Like in Walk the Lines: The London Underground, Overground, he writes with a razor sharp wit and has brilliant eye for the things going on around him. Some of the conversations that he overhears are absolutely classic, and very funny too.
Really enjoyed this. I like his writing style, and the way that this journey develops. He finds lots to like about Britain, some to dislike still, and meets some fascinating people along the way. Just goes to prove that you don't need to visit an exotic place to have an adventure, and with his trip costing £190 in bus fares it works out at 17p per mile. Money well spent. Now where is that bus timetable....
Starting at Lands End, he catches the first bus in sight of the sea and to Penzance via local roads and villages. It is not a fast way to complete this journey, but it is unique in that he has a slow moving journey throughout the country with time to look, listen and immerse himself in the places that he visits, and to sample the local (and not so local) foods and beers.
Like in Walk the Lines: The London Underground, Overground, he writes with a razor sharp wit and has brilliant eye for the things going on around him. Some of the conversations that he overhears are absolutely classic, and very funny too.
Really enjoyed this. I like his writing style, and the way that this journey develops. He finds lots to like about Britain, some to dislike still, and meets some fascinating people along the way. Just goes to prove that you don't need to visit an exotic place to have an adventure, and with his trip costing £190 in bus fares it works out at 17p per mile. Money well spent. Now where is that bus timetable....
November 20, 2015
A bus-based travelogue with plenty of interesting trivial (and not-so-trivial) facts and reflections on life in the UK. I didn't agree with the author's views on everything but I did agree with most of his final conclusions about why it is a very decent country to live in!
I was very pleased to find that this book was available as an Audiobook. However, the narrator makes the Mark sound like a bit of a grumpy old man at times and like a pub bore at others, which isn't the impression I'd got of him when I read another of his books, 'Walk the Lines', on Kindle. Having said that, it's quite possible that the narrator's take on Mark was more accurate than the voice I had imagined but I kind of hope not.
In fact, I slightly preferred 'Walk the Lines' to this but that is probably only because I live in London and much prefer walking to taking the bus. Both books were fun and relaxing to read/listen to and I found myself quite sorry that this one didn't take an even more circuitous route in order to avoid reaching journey's end so soon!
I was very pleased to find that this book was available as an Audiobook. However, the narrator makes the Mark sound like a bit of a grumpy old man at times and like a pub bore at others, which isn't the impression I'd got of him when I read another of his books, 'Walk the Lines', on Kindle. Having said that, it's quite possible that the narrator's take on Mark was more accurate than the voice I had imagined but I kind of hope not.
In fact, I slightly preferred 'Walk the Lines' to this but that is probably only because I live in London and much prefer walking to taking the bus. Both books were fun and relaxing to read/listen to and I found myself quite sorry that this one didn't take an even more circuitous route in order to avoid reaching journey's end so soon!
January 17, 2014
This is a neat idea for a journey, traveling the length of the U.K. from the southernmost point at Land's End to the northernmost point of the mainland, John O'Groats. There's even a society for those that undertake it. The author decided to do the trip by local busses rather than driving or using long distance coaches that use the main motorways. Local busses shuttle from town to town, in and out of city centres and are the type of transport locals use to commute to work or go shopping or get to school. The scenery is better, as well!
The author makes lots of notes, meets up with various people in different locations to chat about aspects of the journey and of the local areas. He has read other books by people in the past that have done the journey and relates lots of trivia and local facts along the way.
The author makes lots of notes, meets up with various people in different locations to chat about aspects of the journey and of the local areas. He has read other books by people in the past that have done the journey and relates lots of trivia and local facts along the way.
October 5, 2016
Such an interesting book. I read this while also doing LEJOG via public transport and really enjoyed reading Mark's account of his journey plus got to learn some interesting facts about the various places I travelled through on the way.
April 13, 2015
Really well written, lots of great random facts about England. Not quite as engrossing as I had hoped, though.
July 8, 2016
As someone who reads a lot of British travelogues and loves facts and history, the book offered much to enjoy. But it is still the meanderings of 'your quite entertaining acquaintances down the pub'.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews