Kent man completes epic cycling marathon from UK to Australia
"I discovered a love for living, cycling across the world and experiencing things I never could have imagined."
Mr Murray started his journey in May 2024 and had several unexpected encounters.In the Alps, he saw a cyclist crash with a motorcyclist and had to contact the air ambulance for assistance. "As I was the only witness, I had to wait for hours for the police to arrive to interview me," he said."I was also out of water and I was saved by another guy from Kent who had pitched a tent up the mountain."
Mr Murray said when he was in India he thought he would be stranded because the hotel he booked did not actually exist."I met a man who worked at a Hindu temple and he allowed me to stay the night," he added.
While he was in Nepal, he had another strange encounter."I went to a tiger nature reserve and I was riding on the back of a lorry," he said. "A military vehicle drove up to us and told us to hide as there was a 300kg tiger nearby trying to attack motorcyclists."
Last month, he arrived in Australia and completed his journey in Brisbane."It was an incredible experience. It taught me how to handle bad situations better," he said.Mr Murray has raised £33,000 for the Samaritans so far.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story you can visit BBC Action Line.
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Telegraph
13 hours ago
- Telegraph
‘We downsized somewhere we'd never heard of'
This time last year, Jeff and Sheena Evans had never heard of Hildenborough, a pleasant Kent commuter village two miles north-west of Tonbridge and five miles south-east of Sevenoaks. Fast forward 12 months and the couple now live there with their cavapoo puppy, Beau. Their new floor-to-ceiling windows look out over greenery, trees and a carp pond – a view that's a world away from the one they enjoyed from their three-bedroom house in a gated development in Marbella on the Costa del Sol. 'The sunshine was fantastic – there's a romance about Spain and the way of life there,' says Jeff, 74. He had lived with Sheena, 70, in the country for 24 years and had intended to retire there. 'I'd play golf, and the summers were wonderful with people sitting outside long into the night every day of the week for four or five months. We miss that quite a lot.' For the most part, it was a desire to be close to their son, daughter-in-law and two grandsons that prompted the couple to downsize in the UK. 'We woke up one morning and thought: 'What are we doing? We have family and grandkids back here',' says Jeff, who runs a logistics business. Post-Brexit red tape also played a significant role in their decision. Non-EU citizens can now stay in Europe for only 90 days within any 180-day period without needing a visa and so the couple began the process of applying for a Spanish residency permit. After five years of continuous legal residency, one can apply for permanent residency. 'It was incredibly complex to get the visa in the first place,' Jeff says. 'You had to get things like reports from your doctor in the UK and take out private healthcare in Spain, which is very expensive. 'If you have Spanish residency, they don't want you to come back to England for long, which would make it difficult to see family – and if you run a business, you also have to move your tax affairs to Spain and I didn't want to do that.' Once the couple had made the decision to move back to England – and after enduring a rather 'traumatic' year of selling their Spanish house, suffering two aborted sales before it finally went through – they had to choose where to go. The last place they had lived before moving to Spain over two decades ago was Kingswood, in Surrey, and their son and his family live in Borough Green, Kent. Jeff needed easy access to London for work, so they ended up with a vast search area across both Kent and Surrey. They rented a property while they looked for a UK home and last September while visiting family they came across Berkeley's Oakhill, a 30-acre gated development in Hildenborough. 'I said to Sheena: 'Where's Hildenborough?' But it turns out our daughter-in-law's brother used to work there when it was offices and it looked lovely – a beautiful Grade II-listed building that had been converted into apartments,' Jeff explains. They went to see the site that day and the next morning put in an offer on a large two-bedroom apartment, which they bought for £930,000. They moved in two months later, at the end of November last year. Jeff decorated the apartment and, because they sold all their Spanish furniture with the Marbella house, they had to furnish it from scratch. 'That was expensive but exciting,' he jokes. Their leap of faith has paid off and they are getting to know their new area, often travelling into Tonbridge or making the 25-minute journey to Tunbridge Wells. 'I didn't know Kent that well, but it's a beautiful county and we've found some great restaurants and nice artisan coffee shops,' says Jeff. Most importantly, he and Sheena now spend plenty of quality time with their family who are only 20 minutes away, and they are making friends – helped by their puppy Beau, who joined them at the beginning of April. 'There's a path near our home and everyone stops to talk to Beau – it's like the old days when you'd chat to people over the fence,' Jeff says. 'A lot of people here are like-minded. It's not cheap to live here, but it's worth it.' House first, location second Downsizing usually has a practical impetus – wanting to reduce cost, hassle and maintenance, or free up equity for later life or to give to children or grandchildren. Yet Jeff and Sheena Evans are not the only ones seeking a complete change of scenery by moving somewhere they don't know, with research by Hamptons estate agency showing that downsizers move 40pc further than average buyers. 'In the country house market, we often find that buyers choose the house first and the location second – especially when downsizing later in life when proximity to schools and the workplace become less important,' says Claire Carter, of John D Wood & Co estate agency. 'Often the move is dictated by being a certain distance from family and grandchildren, but there's definitely an element of people seeking a shift in lifestyle and something different.' Last year, Carter sold a house to a British couple who had recently returned from 25 years working in pharmaceuticals in America and living in a Boston 'brownstone' (a 19th-century townhouse). Looking for a new start, they wanted to relocate to the UK and, with family spread between Kent and the north of England, they decided to settle somewhere in the south-east to allow their children to visit easily. 'They ended up in a chocolate-box cottage with a lake in the garden in Hadlow Down, a rural East Sussex village they had never heard of before they came to view the property,' says Carter. 'They visited on a day of horizontal rain, but the setting – and the house – completely won them over.' The sale went through in only six weeks and when she handed over the keys, Carter wrote out a full list of everything the couple might need in the area – from the nearest butcher to Waitrose and the farmers' market. 'They really had no clue where anything was,' she says. For the first few weeks, they'd text her every couple of days with questions. Look before you leap While many of those who have leapt feet-first into an area love their new neighbourhood, some inevitably don't. So research is key for those thinking of downsizing somewhere they don't know, advises Harry Gladwin of buying agency The Buying Solution. 'Local insight becomes absolutely critical,' says Gladwin, who works in the Cotswolds. 'When it's done well, downsizing can be hugely liberating. But without the right support, it's very easy to get wrong – and hard and costly to undo.' Going against the tide and moving away from most people's downsizing dream, Dave Fenwick, 77, and his wife, Rita, 71, upped sticks from Cornwall after moving there from Shropshire eight years ago. The couple have come to realise how far their 'forever home' – a three-bedroom, three-storey townhouse in Truro – was from their family, who live across Oxfordshire and Warwickshire. 'While we loved living close to the coast, we had placed over 200 miles between us and our children and grandchildren,' Dave says. The couple began researching areas further east, aiming to find somewhere a maximum of two hours from family. They looked everywhere from Bath to Telford and Devizes to Coventry. They ended up settling on a three-bedroom semi at City & Country's Burderop Park development, a collection of 58 homes near Swindon in Wiltshire. Despite not knowing the area at all well, they moved there last year. 'Living in Cornwall, once you've done places like Newquay, Padstow and St Ives, you feel as if you've pretty much seen all there is to be seen down the coast,' Dave explains. 'We're now close to so many places – we've been to Bath, Oxford and Cheltenham... We also have the North Wessex Downs on our doorstep. We can be doing something totally different each weekend.' 'It's our time in the sun' Happily, Zenos and Lynne Christodoulides have no regrets about their seaside move. For the past 13 years, the couple have lived in north Manchester with their three children and two dogs. 'We thought it would be a great place for teenagers, with lots of life and culture, plus a hippie scene – everyone's vegan,' says Zenos, 58, a teacher who is retiring this summer. However, now that the children have grown up and left home, the couple found they were 'rattling around in a four-bedroom detached house,' he explains. 'One daughter is in London, the other is in Bristol and our son is starting his career in Manchester – but he could be moved anywhere so there is nothing keeping us [there]. As we reached the stage where we stopped working full-time, we thought: wouldn't it be nice to live by the sea?' They started looking for homes in Cornwall and found one they liked but the legal report said it was built on a tin mine. That necessitated further costly reports, remedial work or both. So they did more research. 'Devon is next to Cornwall and we found a town called Brixham – not Brixton, as my mother initially thought – and fell in love with the place.' The couple, who had no mortgage on their Manchester house, bought a two-bedroom bungalow into which they moved in June. 'We have released some equity that will partially fund our retirement,' says Zenos, who has a physics technician job starting in Torquay in September. 'It's mornings-only but I couldn't retire from teaching and do nothing, so this will be perfect. I'd like to learn to surf and can do that in the afternoons.' While it's early days, the couple have found the neighbours to be 'lovely'. 'We visited in February half term and, unlike many other seaside towns in winter, it was bustling,' Zenos says. 'It's a fishing town so doesn't rely only on tourists. Everything feels like it's slotted into place and after many years of work and ferrying children around, we feel it's our time in the sun. Moving from Manchester to Devon is the best thing we've ever done.'
Daily Mirror
14 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
'I stayed at Britain's worst rated hotel chain - grim discovery in room knocked me sick'
An expert braved a mini tour of the UK's 'worst hotel chain' properties and reportedly found a tissue in a kettle, scum in a pool, a view of an overflowing skip and mismatched, tired furniture were among the delights waiting to greet him After a hotel chain was named the worst in Britain for the 11th consecutive year, a curious expert decided to investigate to see if things were really that bad at their numerous properties across the country in prime locations. Britannia Hotels has consistently been awarded the dubious title of worst hotel chain in surveys conducted by consumer magazine Which? Many of its individual properties also have low to average scores on Tripadvisor where visitors have left scathing reviews. Guest complaints include issues with cleanliness, tired furniture, poor service and barely edible food. It comes after a Brit abroad slams all-inclusive hotel food asking 'what on earth is this?' Beachgoers left stunned after rare sea creature spotted off British coast Travel writer Gavin Haines wanted to see if the reports and findings were accurate and if things were really that bad on site. He stayed at three different hotels belonging to Britannia and it's safe to say what he experienced certainly backed the research and reviews. He had contacted Which? editor Rory Boland about the "abysmal" overall customer satisfaction ratings and was advised not to even bother visiting. "With over a decade of dismal reviews, our results suggest that Britannia should be avoided at all costs," he was told. Despite this he braved a stay at the Royal Bath in the traditional coastal town of Bournemouth. The grand hotel has a rich history - it was opened in 1838 on Queen Victoria's Coronation Day and was the first hotel in the town. It is set in its own landscaped grounds with spectacular views out to sea, which, its dedicated wedding website claims, makes it the perfect spot for your special day. However Gavin found the venue's interior special in a very different way. "The mismatched furniture looks like it was sourced in haste from a house clearance shop and makes me feel homesick," he writes in the Telegraph. "While the views make me want to call the Samaritans (if we can reasonably describe a rusty air conditioning unit, some broken guttering and fag ends on an enclosed flat roof as views)." He couldn't even bring himself to make a brew to improve his experience because the kettle had tissue inside it, "for reasons I'd rather not speculate on". One of the Royal Bath's selling points is its spa with a heated indoor pool, steam room and gym. Unfortunately this also let the side down with a reported "line of scum" clinging to the tiles in the pool. On Tripadvisor, where the hotel has a 2.6 score out of 5, one recent review backed his slimy discovery. In July this year, one visitor was looking forward to a spa day with high tea that had been booked by a friend but was incredibly "disappointed" by what they encountered. "The Spa and pool was shabby, dated with missing tiles and broken lockers," they revealed. "Nobody was at the desk so we had to wait to be allowed in. The crescent shaped pool was full of kids and toddlers, a tiny jacuzzi and sauna which were full and there were not enough loungers to accommodate everyone and hardly creating a peaceful luxurious experience!" The high tea was more of a low point as well with, "sweaty cheese and curling bread". When it came to Gavin's dining experience, he did note that there probably wasn't anywhere else in the popular town where you could get a three course meal for £15 in such grand surroundings, but you "get what you pay for". In his case it was a rock hard bread roll, overcooked and undercooked (quite a feat) carrots in the beef stew and a glow in the dark dessert. Unfortunately his nights at other properties in the group were on par. The "ironically named" Palace Hotel in Buxton (3 out of 5 on TripAdvisor), like the Royal Bath, is a beautiful old building in a classical style set in five acres of gardens. Sadly he didn't get to admire these out of the window of his room that was "so cold I didn't want to get out of bed". Instead he was met with the choice view of an overflowing skip and old furniture dumped in a grotty car park. While other visitors were similarly disappointed with the hotel, with many on Tripadvisor complaining of dirty rooms with poor facilities, there were those who appreciated its faded grandeur: "This hotel has lots of character & charm, yes parts are dated but that adds to its beauty," shared one. Another agreed: "For me the grandness of the building and the aspect looking out of the town was wonderful. Room didn't have a window - as a result I had the best night's sleep - didn't know what time it was! I'd visit again - can put up with a bit of outdatedness for the charm and style of the place." Meanwhile, Gavin's not-so-magical mystery tour had more delights in store at the Grand Burstin, Folkestone (2.7 out of 5 on TripAdvisor). The hotel made headlines in 2022 when chunks of its facade blew off, plummeting below onto a coach in the car park. Two people were injured. The year before a family cut short their stay there and likened it to Fawlty Towers - the disastrous hotel in John Cleese's classic comedy. So Gavin probably arrived with some understandable fear and trepidation, which would have been entirely justified but here he was treated to rose petals in his room. However it seemed these weren't a romantic welcome token from a thoughtful housekeeper and instead, "had presumably featured in a recent low-budget dirty weekend". The spa facilities here were described as "scuzzy" and evoked "verruca socks". With plenty of Tripadvisor reviews of the various properties calling out their tired appearance, there are also those that highlight improvements that have been made, especially at the Royal Bath. Britannia has invested £1million there recently but it seems, as with a lot of its premises, it's pot luck what room you are allocated. One horrified guest says they were given a "cheap, nasty and dinky" room without a window in the "stinking" East Wing. While on the flip side, another was reportedly allocated a "spacious" room with a sea view, despite not paying extra for it. It's a similar pattern at the Burstin. While the reviewer wasn't at all impressed with his room, others had a very different experience. One returning guest was perfectly happy with their allocation in August this year. They wrote on Tripadvisor:"Another superb stay here. But this time an even better room with an even better perfect sea view. Room was lovely clean and comfortable Well done Grand Burstin." Another who was wary of what to expect after reading poor reviews shared: "I was pleasantly surprised by the hotel. Its not the Ritz or something flash and modern, it is what you pay for - a budget hotel."
BBC News
16 hours ago
- BBC News
M20 in Kent to close overnight for Operation Brock removal
A stretch of the M20 in Kent is to close overnight for the Operation Brock contraflow system to be traffic-holding measure for lorries queueing to cross the English Channel was set to be deactivated between 20:00 on Sunday and 06:00 BST on road will be closed between junctions eight and nine, heading towards London, and junctions seven and nine heading towards the coast.A Kent and Medway Resilience Forum (KMRF) spokesperson said the removal of Operation Brock, which was deployed on 16 July, was due to a decrease in expected tourist traffic. Once the system, between Maidstone and Ashford, has been dismantled, the motorway will reopen with three carriages on each side of the road and the national speed limit back in place.A spokesperson for National Highways said: "These times have been chosen to minimise disruption to road users and ensure the roads are suitable for the traffic."Drivers are being advised to follow diversion signs over their SatNav management plans will remain in place in Dover to deal with any unexpected disruption, the KMRF added. Longer-term solutions The contraflow system is used to hold freight traffic heading towards LeShuttle in Folkestone and the Port of is is funded by the Department for Transport (DfT), with decisions on its use made by the Kent and Medway Resilience Forum (KMRF).A BBC Freedom of Information (FoI) request to National Highways revealed Operation Brock cost more than £2.7m to roll out across 10 occasions between Howe, highways and transport strategic resilience manager at the KMRF, previously said tourist traffic was "causing huge chaos" in DfT said it was looking at longer-term solutions, which could include off-road sites. A KMRF spokesperson said it was "committed" to removing the system "as soon as the data showed that would be possible and we are pleased to deliver on that promise".It said its work with central government to identify a better traffic management solution would continue.
