An adventurer who set off six months ago on a mission to visit all 238 RNLI lifeboat stations around the coast of the UK and Ireland on his great grandfather's 96-year-old motorcycle is finally nearing the end of his journey.
Harry Bott, from Benington, is aiming to finish the trip of a lifetime by October 15, having raised more than £6,500 for the RNLI charity.
The trip did not get off to a smooth start. On day 1, back in April, he had a tyre blowout just a few miles from home but, undeterred and with a little help from his dad, he got the Sunbeam motorcycle back on the road.
Harry explained: "The 1926 model 1 Sunbeam motorcycle belonged to my Cornish great grandfather, who bought it second hand in around 1932 and used it for 20 years to commute to his job as a shipping agent in Falmouth.
"It then spent the next 67 years in the granite barn next to his house until, in 2019, with help from my father, I gave it a full mechanical restoration and put it back on the road."
Harry said the idea for the trip came after he rode - and pushed - a Puch Maxi moped from Hertfordshire to Falmouth in summer 2020.
"I then decided that I wanted to ride a bike around the entire coastline of the British Isles," he said.
"I planned the route according to the map on a tea towel of every RNLI Lifeboat station, given to me by my cousin."
The trip of around 7,000 miles has taken him twice as long as the three months he predicted before he set off, owing to numerous breakdowns and stopovers to enjoy the surroundings.
Harry has just reached his £6,500 fundraising target for the RNLI, which he said is "really amazing", but added that he is "really keen to raise as much money as possible for the RNLI voluntary lifeboat crews, which provide an essential 24-hour rescue service throughout the UK and Ireland".
To support Harry and make a donation, visit justgiving.com/fundraising/harry-bott.
It cost £139.2 million for the RNLI to run in 2020 - all of which was donated by the public - and volunteers make up 95 per cent of the organisation, supported by expert staff.
The RNLI, which celebrates its 200th anniversary in 2024, rescues 23 people on average every day.
For more about the charity, visit rnli.org.
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