Billy Butlin’s bumper walk
In 1960, Billy Butlin, the holiday camp owner, organised a John O’Groats to Land’s End walking race. How many people took part and who won?
On FRIDAY, February 26, 1960, a ramshackle army of more than 700 walkers set off from John O’Groats for Land’s End, 900 miles away.
All types, all sizes, all nationalities were there — many totally unprepared for the weather in the north of Scotland, and the 10 ft snow drifts that greeted them.
There were Cockneys, north Country farmers, university graduates, mechanics, clerks, waitresses, at least two peers of the realm and the unemployed. One man had a wooden leg, another was blind. none had any of the waterproof, high-tech gear available today, and all were expected to provide their own food and accommodation, and complete the race in 28 days.
Billy Butlin offered £1,000 prizes each for the first man and women to finish — enough to buy a house in 1960 — and total prize money of more than £5,000.
Butlin defied calls from the authorities to call off the race, but the weather was so bad, and the competitors so unprepared, that more than 150 gave up on the first day. The rest struggled on southward.
Despite Butlin’s efforts to police the race with checkpoints, cheating was rife with competitors cadging lifts in lorries and cars. nonetheless, the race was an enormous national event as it proceeded south with extensive media coverage.
All competitors wore a number, so were clearly identifiable, and town bands and lord mayors turned out to greet them. The race leaders became minor celebrities, followed by autograph hunters.
The men’s race was won by 38-year-old Jimmy Musgrave, of Doncaster, in just 14 days, 14 hours 32 minutes — more than 60 miles a day. The women’s race was won by a 19-year-old apprentice hairdresser from Liverpool, Wendy Lewis, in 16 days, 19 hours, 30 minutes. More than 170 competi- tors finished within the 28-day cut-off, the youngest being 16-year- old R. Seales, of Swindon, the oldest Mrs A. nicholas, of Camelford, Cornwall.
Butlin was so impressed by the competitors’ efforts that he awarded many extra prizes.
The Big Walk, by A. Walker (pub. 1960), is an entertaining account of this forgotten chapter in British sporting history.
Stephen Magill, Toulouse, France. Where is the longest continuous straight line stretch of railway track in the world? THIS is a 297-mile stretch of line across the nullarbor Plain ( nullus, ‘no’, and arbor, ‘tree’) in southern Australia.
It is part of the Trans-Australian Railway that stretches from Port Augusta in South Australia to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.
The track is standard gauge railway, 4ft 8½ in, though the state railway systems at both ends were narrow gauge at the time.
There are speed restrictions, some very severe, owing to the unstable nature of the ground and the desert nature of the area, which is considered to be severely inhospitable. The line was completed in 1917 and is mainly single track with passing loops. In Britain, there are several lengths of straight track around the Eastern Counties area, with Selby as one focal point for the area from several railway companies absorbed into the LnER in 1923. The longest section, at about 18 miles, is from Selby to Brough, near Hull.
There is a section between Tonbridge and Ashford of about 24 miles which is almost straight, apart from a slight deviation near Headcorn.
This is a former South Eastern and Chatham Railway route, which became part of the Southern Railway in 1923.
Railway surveyors did their best to have a straight and level line when planning a route, but factors such as costs for expensive infrastructure, such as tunnels and bridges, had to be considered as well as detours for nearby places with large populations.
The Tamar, Forth and Tay bridges are examples approached by curved routes.
Brunel’s London to Bristol line is known as ‘Brunel’s billiard table’ for its generally level route, but has anything but a straight course over its 118 miles.
Alan Bowden, Bristol. Did an African country once have a flag
depicting an AK47? FURTHER to the earlier answer, the East Timor coat of arms also features a picture of an AK47. The emblem/coat of arms of East Timor was officially adopted on January 18, 2007.
It features an upside-down shield with a red border symbolising Mount Ramelau, the highest peak in the country.
The shield shows a five-pointed star with five rays of light, an open red book resting upon a yellow industrial gear, rice and a corn ear and an Avtomat Kalashnikova-47 assault weapon crossed with a golden-yellow Timorese spear above a Timorese bow.
The AK-47 has come to represent the struggle of the people to attain national independence (from Portugal) and their willingness to protect it.
Lee Alatas, Edinburgh.