Eastward bound- Salisbury to Ramsgate

Cornwall to Salisbury and on to Ramsgate.

Well the first part of the trip is complete, the first 5% actually. It’s hard to put things into perspective and on trips of this length the only way to deal with it is to break it down into small bite size chunks. So here follows my first bite size blog so far.

The mist that had been hanging around the Cornish coast for the last few days finally rolled back as I threw the last pieces into Austin and headed across to say goodbye to mum and dad two hours late (don’t ask). We had a quick farewell because now that I was leaving I had to go. It was a bit rubbish considering I’ll be away for a few months, which was my fault. I had been flapping around and now that I was off I needed to be off. I never was a great son. Soz mum and dad.

The weather as we (Austin and I) drove out of the county was as perfect as you could hope for. In fact, I had to stop and put some suntan lotion on my arm to stave off firstly sunburn but ultimately Cabbies Arm (where one arm is tanned a great deal more than the other).

Considering I was running late I eventually pulled into a campsite in the middle of Salisbury having decided that it must surely be a better place to stop than Southampton. After a delightful meal of mash and spam I walked into the town for a little exercise before passing out at about eight-ish. Rock and roll lifestyle!!

We were up and gone by 7am the following morning. The rest of the campsite slept on while Austin and I stopped in a layby next to Stonehenge and ate muesli from my canteen. A courier I met in the garage was adamant that the route should be up the motorway. ‘It’ll take you for-f***ing- ever if you go the coast route’ and that I should have a sleep in the car at Fleetwood services to ‘avoid the rush hour’. This sounded a little dodgy and I wasn’t sure if I was being propositioned. I went the Coast Route.

The sun from the day before had gone and the day stretched out beneath a thick layer of cloud. Southampton, went passed, then Portsmouth and on to Hastings. Then the courier’s advice came back to haunt me, because the road from Hasting to Ramsgate did indeed take ‘for-f***ing- ever’.

I arrived in Ramsgate shattered and boss-eyed with the driving and map reading. I swung into the first campsite I found and started to unpack as I tried hard not to fall asleep before I even got the tent up. The tent next to me turned out to be very nice Dutch guy, Frank and his daughter Marije. They had been to Norwich to pick up an MG for him to work on. I hadn’t really spoken to anyone for about 48 hours and although I did my best I nearly chewed his ear off in a haze of manic driver fatigue. Like a good Englishman I showed some restraint and let them go to dinner without having to drag me along, but the next morning we all departed for the ferry terminal together.

I’ve tried to keep this brief but let me know if you would like to know a little more or more likely a little less.


Have a good week folks


Cheers Matt

matthewbutton.co.uk

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The Escape Tunes

As many of you already know I am planning to do this trip as authentically as possible. I already have the car and the route (although some of the original campsites as truing out to be a little elusive.).  I seem to have agreed the same for diet and music, too! 

I won't go into the former too much yet, and I am sure there will be plenty of blog entries with increasing despondent ranting on the subject, but I'll just say for now 'Spam' and leave the rest to your imagination for the moment. 

On a more positive note, here's the music list that I will be sticking to

• Nat King Cole
• Tom Jones
• The Monkees
• Engelbert Humperdink
• Frank Sinatra
• Oscar Peterson
• Louis Armstrong
• Count Basie
• Ella Fitzgerald
• Duke Ellington
• Billie Holiday
• miles Davis 
• Fats Waller

Oh, and if I can bare it Mum's secret shame -Cliff Richard's Summer Holiday.

A mixed bag of the good, the bad and the ugly. I shall have my musical horizons expanded even as my European ones are.

Wish me luck

I hope everyone who listened enjoyed it.

have a good week folks

Cheers Matt

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Clearly deeply mad

Well folks over the last few weeks The Escape Committee has been getting a lot of press. Austin and I have already been in the West Britain, the Cornish Guardian and the Newquay Voice. Yesterday I was invited to visit BBC Radio Cornwall in Truro to have a chat, live on air, with the splendid Martin Bailie. Everyone was really friendly, in particular the shows brilliantly cheerful producer Joy. As we all sat in waiting to go in Joy took the time to put me at ease before I went on air.

Martin Bailie and Matthew Button: Photo Nicole Fenton

Joy claimed that an interview with Martin would be just like having a chat and I would hardly even notice I was live on radio. And that was certainly true although Nic, my girlfriend, said she could tell I just how nervous I by the way I swung my legs under the chair (like a child, D'oh!).

Introducing me to the listeners as being 'possibly clearly, deeply, mad' Martin gently got me to talk about the trip, the car and the history. We talked about the motivation and the challenges of getting all the paperwork and parts in order. We chatted about the problems of getting through Syria and the new water pump. Then within two light seconds we were finished and I could draw a breath.

Just as promised it was like going to the dentist...never as bad as you imagine. I was even brave enough to have a listen on the BBC Iplayer (click the photo below if you want to have a listen). Martin and Joy will be staying in contact and following me on Twitter and i have been asked to go back in when and if i get back to tell the tale of the Escape Committee.

Job done, time to celebrate in the Kathmandu Palace (the home of the best curry in Cornwall I might add) and review. It wasn't as hard as I thought. I was a lot less squeaky than I thought I would be, but strangely a lot more nasal (i sounded like I had a cold).At least I didn't swear. But I didn't mention that the Escape Committee is going to be a book (hopefully) so lets just make it clear here-

 the Escape Committee is going to be a book (hopefully).

I hope everyone who listened enjoyed it.

have a good week folks

And if you're off to the Port Eliot Festival make sure you come and see us at the Profwriting Tent. 

Cheers Matt

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BBC Radio Cornwall

Just a quick reminder ,
I've been invited to BBC Radio Cornwall to talk about the The Escape Committee. I'll be in the studio at about 3:30.  
A bit nervous ....

Have a good week folks

Cheers Matt

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Woohoo! Triple figures!!

A big thanks to everyone for all their wonderful support even before I've left. Today the Escape Committee Facebook page has reached triple figures.
Brilliant thanks again. On a sad day it was a ray of sunshine.
Click on the image below if you'd like to join to.

Have a good week folks

Cheers Matt

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Hi Folks 

Just a quickie to show you a couple of new maps with the full route, including the Middle Eastern section. Syria marked in red in 1967 because of the Six Day War ....

and in 2011 because of the present unrest engulfing the state. 

Have a good week folks

Cheers Matt

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The media onslaught begins

Hi Folks, it's been a great week. The Escape Committee has been in all the local papers.

The Cornish Guardian

Both the Cornish Guardian ran articles on the story. Although neither of them put any contact details or mention this blog, which was a bit of a disappointment. Newquay Voice however made the effort to call me and a lovely Sarah Morcom interviewed me and wrote it up for the next weeks addition. 

Newquay Voice

Have a good week folks

Cheers Matt

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West Britain 

I'm not anti-EU or anti-global but this is just way cooler

I'm not Anti-EU or anti-global but this is just way cooler

Along with a bunch of other stuff from the original trip mum dropped off their passports from the time too. I love the idea of having duel passports (do we still have these?) and look at all those fine stamps. It's possible that I might have to travel all the way to Turkey before I even get a single stamp in my passport on this trip. 


Bit of a bummer really because they are such beautiful tattoos of travel. 

Have a good week folks

Cheers Matt

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