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"It is 1953, and I am ten years old and about to set off on a train journey of a lifetime." This is the start of John's adventures which include travelling across Wales by six different modes that few can match. Stowing away on a freight train in Ireland, unexpectedly attending the 'piping off' of Scotland's first-ever Nationalist MP at Stornoway, scaling Norfolk's highest point by its north face, and Britain's highest, Ben Nevis!
John travels to the coastal extremes and mountain summits through the British Isles with fascinating accounts of his experiences. The breath-taking background to his journeys - great mountains, bucolic countryside, spectacular coastlines - and impressions of three great cities are all described in detail in this exciting book. Travelling mostly by train as well as by road and sea, John's natural inquisitiveness and spirit of adventure emerges at age eleven as he bunks off scout camp to ride solo in a steamer on Lake Windermere.
A real-life British Isles Odyssey.
About the author
John Davies was born and raised in Port Talbot, South Wales, and began writing in 2002 when he retired after thirty years as a chemist with BP Chemicals, Baglan Bay. John says that he only started writing for children after his granddaughter Freya was born in 2010. John now has two other grandchildren: Ayla, born in February 2013, and Osian, born in December 2015.
John has previously published works with a strong Welsh influence, including Hewl: Stori Geraint Griffiths and Chester to Chepstow, and the children's picture book, Trevor the One-Eyed Tractor. Darren the Dragon, published in 2013, was the first of a popular series of children's books released by John. A further three books have been released since, the most recent being Darren and the Duke of Darkness. John also published his first children's poetry collection, How to be a Dog, in 2014. John intends to concentrate on these genres, as he believes they satisfy his childish nature!
