A minefield, sandstorms and muggers – you take them all in your stride if you’re a farmer or agronomist.
At least, Rupert Gillingham from North Yorkshire and Sam Fenton from Humberside do. They encountered all three recently, tackling the 4500-mile Plymouth to Banjul Challenge.
This “ultimate unsupported banger race” involved driving from Devon through France, Spain, Morocco, western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal and into Gambia. No chance of calling out the AA or RAC while they were on their Herculean 20-day trip…
The vehicle of choice of Team Agricola was a 1993 VW Golf bought off eBay (the rules state that the car must cost less than £100).
Before they set off, they enlisted the help of ex-British Rally champion Jonny Milner in kitting out the car, which they nicknamed ‘Merlin’. The vehicle held up well well - it also proved useful to tie their tents to at night to stop them blowing away.
The pair hopes to hand over £6000 to Round Table Children’s Wish and Yorkshire Cancer Research thanks to their efforts.
Hearing about their trip has reminded me of three things: 1) People do some incredible thing for charity, 2) I’ve never liked camping anyway and 3) Maybe I ought to renew my AA membership, after all.
Ive only got 4 months still to go, before our little baby boy arrives. Im starting to get nesting instincts kick in.