This is the story of Will and his two friends who sailed to England in 1967 to see the world. Aerogrammes. letters, diaries and postcards help to tell of their adventures in this A to Z.

“Right Said Fred”   Bernard Cribbins  • 1962
"Right, " said Fred, "Both of us together 
One each end and steady as we go" 
Tried to shift it, couldn't even lift it 
We was getting nowhere 
And so we had a cuppa tea ...

52 Weltje Road, Hammersmith, London, England. 11-4-67

Cooee Cobbers.  Received you letter from “Down Under” the day I arrived back from Scotland and it was sure good to sit back and read all the news. 

Well, over here things have been pretty hectic as usual.  I arrived back from Wales and stayed at the flat a few days while I got some clean clothes together from the laundromat and even worked one day as an employment agency rang me up but I told them I was going back to bed.  Anyway, they rang again an hour later. 

Extract from Diary Friday 31^st March

Manpower Employment Agency offered us a job.  Graeme and Phil accepted but I went back to bed.  Phone rang again 9 am.  Offered me the job again working at London Business School near Trafalgar Square moving furniture – new office building, modern desks etc.  I arrived at 10 am, worked until 3.30 pm, had breaks for morning coffee and afternoon tea and 1 ½ hours off for lunch which cost 4/3 for soup, fish and chips, trifle, coffee, bread and kangaroo butter.  Also had Danish beer 2/1.  Got paid for 8 hours – 48 shillings.

I only did 3 ½ hours work moving furniture.  Still, that’s the first money I’ve actually earned since leaving Australia as my teaching pay still isn’t through.  They owe me about £70 so should be good for a few beers the day it arrives.  Took off the following day for a tour of Scotland and if you get my card from Glasgow you would have heard I at least got there. 

Extract from Diary Saturday, 1^st April

I slept in, packed bag, left home by tube at 1 pm to Hendon Central (North London) reaching the M1 at 2 pm and walking two miles.  I hitched a ride at 3 pm in a red Morris 1100 along the M1 for 130 miles. The guys were Grenadier Guards – parachutists who had had spent 25 years in the army.  One was migrating to Australia in December (on the Fairsea).  He saw my Australian flag on the bag and gave me a ride to Nottingham.  

However I got lost and hitched a ride by 110 back to the M1.  There I almost got arrested by Feds for standing on M1.   The driver of an Austin A30 gave me a lift to Derby and gave clear instructions so I caught a bus back to Nottingham, strolled around the town and then asked the Feds the best place for accommodation as there were no hostels for miles.  At 8 pm I thankfully checked into Glenhaven Guest House.  The B&B cost 18/-.   Mrs Simpson, the landlady, was pleasant and the room was very comfortable.  Feeling hungry, I walked up street to have a bite to eat and enjoyed ham, egg and cheese rolls, milkshake and coffee.   I moved on to a crowded pub where many young couples were around as it is Saturday night and had two beers.

 Summing up – interesting day, fantastic road, that M1, maximum speed 70 mph (crawling with cops in jags). Will read my maps more carefully in future but time for bed now, ready for early breakfast and Scotland tomorrow with a bit of luck.

Sunday, 2^nd April

At a quarter to eight I was up and ready for a breakfast of bacon, savs, baked beans, eggs, cornies and three cups of tea and toast.  The radio was playing Nottingham Fair by Frank Ifield.  I left the guest house at 9 am and strolled out to the road north. First off I had an offer of a lift in a Triumph to out of city limits, walked a mile and then thumbed an AEC lorry which I rode in all day.  Its a good way to see the country, high up with lots of windows and a good view.

We drove through Doncaster, Ferrybridge, to Scotch Corner, Applyby, Penrith and Carlisle.  Just before Carlisle we stopped for lunch at a Truckies Diner high in the hills. It was very cold, with patches of snow lying around.  There we had a good meal in front of blazing fire. From there we travelled to Gretna Green where I saw the Blacksmith’s Shop, scene of runaway marriages just across the border.  Thence to Lockerbie and Abington where the lift ended after 280 miles. I waited ten minutes and got a lift all the way to Glasgow (30 miles), with an Irishman from Derby (Furniture Van) who is going to Australia in December.

After strolling around the town and seeing the Clyde River I walked to the Youth Hostel. Dinner was canned meat and vegs but there were no plates or cutlery provided so some French birds offered me a spoon and I ate from the pot. It is truly an international hostel – three Scotchmen (pissed), two Swiss, one Italian/Swiss, one German with an American accent, plus a few French and Aussie women. I talked for hours with these guys about things to see etc. If I had more time I’d go to Ireland tomorrow as it is only about a £1 from near here. But I must see Scotland first.

Monday, 3^rd April

I arose at seven and strolled around the town. – pretty grim old place.  Down to the Rubbity for a Scotch and tonic (3/6) and lunch.  (Ed. Rubbity is short for Rubbity Dub which is Australian slang for Pub). After catching a bus to the outskirts I waited ten minutes for a lift in a lorry followed by another short lift in a Vauxhall.  The driver nearly rolled it trying to pull up to give me a lift.  He spun it almost into the wall.  I then took another bus to Alexandria near Loch Lomond where I started to walk to a pub for a beer and decided to go on past Loch Lomond Hostel.  The road was too narrow for hitching and there was no place for cars to stop.  

View of Loch Lomond and Ben Lomond from Luss. Postcard from Dixon Studios Photo by J Arthur Dixon

I walked 14 miles in the rain along “where the sun shines bright on Loch Lomond”.  I reached the little village of Luss where I dined in style at the Calquhoun Arms on grilled trout (I earned it- cost 14/6).  This made me feel stronger so I set out again for another three mile walk to a youth hostel at Inverbeg. At 8pm, where the road was too narrow even for a pedestrian, a Scottish baker pulled up even though I wasn’t hitching and gave me a lift – through the mountains, past Ben Lomond, through Tarbet, Arrochar and Cairndow, beautiful little villages on the banks of Lochs with snow capped mountains rising steeply behind them.  Over “Rest and Be Thankful” Peak and down to the village of Inverary on Loch Fyne which is a testing place for submarines we found an Australian sub was at anchor and the pub was full of Strine (Australian) sailors.  The Youth Hostel was comfy and I met (among others) two Aussie birds who have done quite a bit of sailing.

Next day I took a ride with some Lord in his Rover who bought me coffee and biscuits in a posh Pub.  We pushed down to Lochgilphead and up to Oban, a fishing port which is also a popular seaside resort in the summer season for lunch. There are no steamers from Oban to Fort William until the Summer season so my cruise I’d planned on Loch Linnhe will have to wait. I took a bus as far as Ballachulish and then travelled across the loch on a four car ferry.  A guy on the ferry offered me a lift for the remaining twelve miles and took me through Fort William, up the valley to Glen Nevis where I stayed at Glen Nevis Youth Hostel.  Ben Nevis, the highest peak in Britain, was in front. The snow-covered mountain dropping steeply to the lochs looked fantastic. 

My next lift was with a Ford Cortina to Fort Augustus, including a personally conducted tour of Loch Ness (didn’t see the monster but the driver insisted it is real) to Inverness which is a higher latitude than Moscow and it was bloody cold.

 Bolted out of there by Healy Sprite to Carrbridge (a small village) for lunch and then through the Scottish Highlands Ski Resorts by lorry to Perth, Scotland with a couple of Aussies from Perth W.A. I crossed the Firth of Forth bridge the next day (longest suspension bridge in Europe) to Edinburgh, the capital. The guy in the truck who offered me a lift from the layby was telling me about a little racket the toll collectors were running last year.  They put in 2/6 for every third or fourth car and after making much money they are now in gaol. The city isn’t as depressing as Glasgow and the shops look fairly modern.  The buildings still look dirty but the castle on the hill is interesting. I caught a bus to the Youth Hostel which is large and very international.

The idea of hitching back to London wasn’t appealing so I caught the coach (£2/10 to London, 350 miles, 12 hour trip) for air conditioning, heating, reclining aircraft type seats, plus toilet) Very enjoyable after all the effort to get to Scotland.