I’ll follow the swallows to Africa – on my bike
ENVIRONMENTALIST Edward Beverley-Jones is embarking on an epic bike ride – following swallows migrating from his storage barn in Wales – to Africa.
The 43-year-old pond cleaner and builder, dubbed “the swallow whisperer”, is planning to ride to Morocco and back, despite having barely been on a bike in the last 20 years.
“I want to see where it is that my swallows go,” the father of three said.
“I keep all my pond equipment tools in a large old stone and timber barn in the countryside near Chepstow.
“I see the swallows swoop in in the spring, flutter about in the barn, make their nests, fly in and out to get their insect food from the nearby fields and woods, and then gather with their young ready for their trip south.”
Mr Beverley-Jones, who is from Newport and lives in Usk, added:“I started wondering about where they go and decided, well why not? I’ll follow their route to Africa. I haven’t been to Africa before.
“I plan to follow their course all the way there and as soon as I set foot in Tangier, in Morocco, I’ll head straight back.”
The birds have been nesting in his shed for 17 years.
“They say it is the same family that return to the nesting site,” he said.
“So if that is true I have known that family for the last 20 years or so.”
Despite his lack of recent riding Mr Beverley-Jones is reasonably confident – and is raising money for charity while completing the challenge.
“I feel like I am fit enough to get down there for the winter and come back with them for the spring,” he said.
“I just had this feeling, this calling, to do it.
“It is a personal ambition but I thought, ‘Why not do it for money?’
“Last year I lost a client to a brain tumour so, in honour of him, I am raising money for St David’s Hospice Care.”
He has not set an amount but hopes to raise “thousands”. He has raised more than £1,000 already.
The pond man admitted that “lots of people” think he is mad. “Well, I am, of course I am,” he said. “But you can’t have an adventure without being a little bit mad.
“If I was sensible I would not be doing this at all, and we would have nothing to talk about.”
The plan is to leave with the swallows and come back with the swallows – he said they leave “about now” and come back in March or April.
“It’s about 4,000 miles,” he said, “But it will probably end up at least 5,000 and probably 7,000 if I go through Portugal.”
He may do that to avoid Spain’s blistering heat.
His adventure will be “a traditional expedition.” He intends not to use maps “or anything”.
“I’ve not got a route, I’m just going to find my way,” he said.
“I am going to find my way using signs and local knowledge and a bit of star navigation.
“I’m going to try and find my way in French and Spanish and Portuguese, and try and work things out in various languages.
“I’m going to be going off the beaten track and finding the stuff people would not ordinarily see.”
However, he has suffered a minor setback.
“I think the swallows are actually gone,” he said.
“I’ve been in the area they normally are and there was not a swallow in sight.
“Three days ago I saw them all lined up on telegraph poles.
“I think they have gone early, the swines! And I was going to get a headstart.
“Which means I am onto a loser, seeing as they have wings and I am on two wheels.”
Mr Beverley-Jones will set off from Abergavenny’s Sugarloaf on Wednesday, leaving Wales on Saturday.
To donate visit www.justgiving. com/fundraising/ed-jones4